You Can Be My Romeo
Chapter Five
“I haven’t heard that name in a long time,” he said quietly and I looked at him sadly, “I ya- I heard that you were here- Back in town.”
I looked at him, his hands shoved in his pockets, the nervous look of him, “Mikey?”
“Yeah,” he said and I nodded my head, “Can I come in?”
“Um, we’re closed-“
“I just wanna talk,” he said and I sighed and looked at his sad eyes, “Jewels, I’m here at three in the morning- I just wanna talk.”
“All right,” I sighed and opened the door to let him in, knowing this was going to happen sooner or later, I was just hoping for later, “Do you want a beer?”
“Sure,” he said and I nodded my head, went behind the bar and poured him a drink and gave it to him, he was sitting in front of me on the other side of the bar, just looking down at the drink.
“Soooo-
“Why’d you leave?” he asked and I looked at me.
“The million dollar question-“
“I come back from an away game and you’re just- you’re just gone. No note, no calls- Nothing!”
“James, I-“
“If it wasn’t for Stammers telling me that you were I Florida, I would have probably called the cops- I should have called them. Juliet you left me and you didn’t even justify it by telling me why,” I looked into the man’s eyes in front of me, a lot’s changed in the four years that I had disappeared from his side, he had seriously grown up and somehow managed to become even more handsome than the day I left, “Why Juliet?”
I knew my eyes were watery, “I was scared.”
“Scared? Why were you scared? You had no reason to be- I was there-“
“Not all the time,” I said and he looked at me, “You would be away so much and leave me alone so much- I was scared about how much I wanted you- How much I needed you! I’ve seen what those other girlfriends- Your teammates girlfriends’, half of them are there for the money- James, I don’t give a shit about your money-“
“I know that! I’ve always known that! But that doesn’t explain to me why you left me!”
“I didn’t want to be that clingy girlfriend!” I yelled and then sighed and looked down, “I saw what those other girls were like, I didn’t want to be that, so I took myself away from becoming that.”
“Which one told you that?” he asked, looking at me with a sharp, “Which one told you that you were being clingy?! You were not! You know I hate that and I would have told you- Juliet, I love you! You shouldn’t have left!”
“I know,” I breathed and then walked forehead and leaned against the bar looking at James, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” he looked at me confused.
“Tell everyone that you broke up with me,” I said and he looked at me and sighed.
“I had hoped that you would come back, but when you didn’t, I didn’t want people to know that you just ran away,” he said and I bit my lip and looked down. When I felt his hand take mine, there was an electrical spark that I always felt when he touched me, “I still want you to come back.”
“Ro,” I breathed and he gave me a small smile, “You have a new life in Pittsburgh, it’s probably a million times better than what you had in Dallas,” I said and he nodded his head, “You don’t want me there to ruin it- Trust me, you’re better off without me.”
“You know that’s not true, Jewels- You know that!” he barked and I looked at him, “You’ve been by my side since the beginning, since I first started to play hockey- Fuck! You volunteered to be the goalie!” he said and I nodded my head, “Do you remember what I used to tell you? After you would ask if I wanted you to be the goalie-“
“That you didn’t want to hurt me,” I said and James gave me a small smile and nodded his head.
“I still don’t.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I said and he sighed, he still held my hand, “I can’t take that back, I wish I never hurt you-“
“Then be with me again- Come with me! Come to Pittsburgh,” he said and I looked at him sadly, “I’m here all summer, but when the season starts- Come to Pittsburgh with me.”
“Ro, you know I can’t-“
“Yes you can! You dropped everything before- You can do it again!” he growled, standing up and giving me a hard look.
“It’s not that simple-“
“Do you love me still?!” he asked and I snapped my head up and looked at him.
“Wha-“
“Do you love me still?!” he repeated and I let out a sniffle.
“Of course I do- I never stopped-“
“Then come with me, Juliet!” he demanded and I looked at him, I looked him up and down, physically he had changed, he was bigger, more muscle on him, he looked good, he looked damn good, “Juliet?”
“I can’t, Ro-“
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both,” I breathed and he looked at me confused, “I don’t want to be that weak little girl who always has to need her boyfriend around- I don’t want to get scared and run away again- I don’t want to hurt you again!”
“You’re hurting me right now!” he barked and I sighed and turned to start walking around the bar, James met me halfway and pushed me up against the wall, his hands pinned at my hips, “Do you know how long I waited to see you again?” he breathed against me, his body close to mine, “To be able to touch you again- To be able to hold you.”
“Ro-“
“To be able to kiss you,” he breathed, we were looking right at each other, when he leaned down, I knew there was no stopping him.
James pressed his lips against mine and they were just like I remembered, just like I missed. One hand was on his neck, the other on his chest, both of his still on my hips and I felt him slipping his fingers under my shirt to sneak feels of my skin, something he use to do all the time.
He pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine; I was looking down, “Jewels, come back with me.”
“I’m sorry,” I breathed and he looked at me, I saw the hurt and confusion in his eyes, “I’m doing this to protect you- I don’t want-“
“How are you protecting me?! Do you even hear yourself, Juliet?!” he barked and pulled back, “You say you love me, but you ran away!”
“I did,” I breathed and James looked at me, “James, I ran away from you- You don’t want me.”
“You’re fuckin’ nuts if you would ever believe that I don’t want you!” he growled and came at me again, pushing me against the wall, his hands pinned on the wall next to my head, “I’ve been in love with you for years, Jewels- Years!”
“I know-“
“And you give it all up because you’re afraid- You ran instead of talking to me!”
“I did.”
“That’s fucked up, Juliet!” he growled and I looked up at him and sighed, he was angry; he had every right to be angry.
“I know.”
“I tried so hard to get over you- So fuckin’ hard, but I just couldn’t,” he said and I knew the tears were coming, “We grew up together, we were best friends,” I felt his hand on my neck, his thumb rub my cheek, I leaned into his big hand and looked up at him, “We fell in love.”
“We were each other’s first,” I breathed and James nodded his head, “You’ll always be my Romeo, James, but I can’t keep doing this to you- We both need to move on-“
“You can’t tell me that I’ll always be your Romeo and then fuckin’ tell me to move on- You can’t do that, Jewels!”
“I’m serious!” I said and James glared at me, “You need to get over me- I’m the one who hurt you, I’m the one who ran away, I’m the one who did this- You should hate me! I hate me!”
James sighed and backed away, shaking his head, “I could never hate you, Juliet,” he said and then headed for the door.
When it closed, when he was gone, I let out a cry, grabbing onto the wall as I slid down until my ass hit the ground and just cried, ‘…You’ll always be my Romeo…’
I looked at him, his hands shoved in his pockets, the nervous look of him, “Mikey?”
“Yeah,” he said and I nodded my head, “Can I come in?”
“Um, we’re closed-“
“I just wanna talk,” he said and I sighed and looked at his sad eyes, “Jewels, I’m here at three in the morning- I just wanna talk.”
“All right,” I sighed and opened the door to let him in, knowing this was going to happen sooner or later, I was just hoping for later, “Do you want a beer?”
“Sure,” he said and I nodded my head, went behind the bar and poured him a drink and gave it to him, he was sitting in front of me on the other side of the bar, just looking down at the drink.
“Soooo-
“Why’d you leave?” he asked and I looked at me.
“The million dollar question-“
“I come back from an away game and you’re just- you’re just gone. No note, no calls- Nothing!”
“James, I-“
“If it wasn’t for Stammers telling me that you were I Florida, I would have probably called the cops- I should have called them. Juliet you left me and you didn’t even justify it by telling me why,” I looked into the man’s eyes in front of me, a lot’s changed in the four years that I had disappeared from his side, he had seriously grown up and somehow managed to become even more handsome than the day I left, “Why Juliet?”
I knew my eyes were watery, “I was scared.”
“Scared? Why were you scared? You had no reason to be- I was there-“
“Not all the time,” I said and he looked at me, “You would be away so much and leave me alone so much- I was scared about how much I wanted you- How much I needed you! I’ve seen what those other girlfriends- Your teammates girlfriends’, half of them are there for the money- James, I don’t give a shit about your money-“
“I know that! I’ve always known that! But that doesn’t explain to me why you left me!”
“I didn’t want to be that clingy girlfriend!” I yelled and then sighed and looked down, “I saw what those other girls were like, I didn’t want to be that, so I took myself away from becoming that.”
“Which one told you that?” he asked, looking at me with a sharp, “Which one told you that you were being clingy?! You were not! You know I hate that and I would have told you- Juliet, I love you! You shouldn’t have left!”
“I know,” I breathed and then walked forehead and leaned against the bar looking at James, “Why did you do it?”
“Do what?” he looked at me confused.
“Tell everyone that you broke up with me,” I said and he looked at me and sighed.
“I had hoped that you would come back, but when you didn’t, I didn’t want people to know that you just ran away,” he said and I bit my lip and looked down. When I felt his hand take mine, there was an electrical spark that I always felt when he touched me, “I still want you to come back.”
“Ro,” I breathed and he gave me a small smile, “You have a new life in Pittsburgh, it’s probably a million times better than what you had in Dallas,” I said and he nodded his head, “You don’t want me there to ruin it- Trust me, you’re better off without me.”
“You know that’s not true, Jewels- You know that!” he barked and I looked at him, “You’ve been by my side since the beginning, since I first started to play hockey- Fuck! You volunteered to be the goalie!” he said and I nodded my head, “Do you remember what I used to tell you? After you would ask if I wanted you to be the goalie-“
“That you didn’t want to hurt me,” I said and James gave me a small smile and nodded his head.
“I still don’t.”
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” I said and he sighed, he still held my hand, “I can’t take that back, I wish I never hurt you-“
“Then be with me again- Come with me! Come to Pittsburgh,” he said and I looked at him sadly, “I’m here all summer, but when the season starts- Come to Pittsburgh with me.”
“Ro, you know I can’t-“
“Yes you can! You dropped everything before- You can do it again!” he growled, standing up and giving me a hard look.
“It’s not that simple-“
“Do you love me still?!” he asked and I snapped my head up and looked at him.
“Wha-“
“Do you love me still?!” he repeated and I let out a sniffle.
“Of course I do- I never stopped-“
“Then come with me, Juliet!” he demanded and I looked at him, I looked him up and down, physically he had changed, he was bigger, more muscle on him, he looked good, he looked damn good, “Juliet?”
“I can’t, Ro-“
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both,” I breathed and he looked at me confused, “I don’t want to be that weak little girl who always has to need her boyfriend around- I don’t want to get scared and run away again- I don’t want to hurt you again!”
“You’re hurting me right now!” he barked and I sighed and turned to start walking around the bar, James met me halfway and pushed me up against the wall, his hands pinned at my hips, “Do you know how long I waited to see you again?” he breathed against me, his body close to mine, “To be able to touch you again- To be able to hold you.”
“Ro-“
“To be able to kiss you,” he breathed, we were looking right at each other, when he leaned down, I knew there was no stopping him.
James pressed his lips against mine and they were just like I remembered, just like I missed. One hand was on his neck, the other on his chest, both of his still on my hips and I felt him slipping his fingers under my shirt to sneak feels of my skin, something he use to do all the time.
He pulled back and leaned his forehead against mine; I was looking down, “Jewels, come back with me.”
“I’m sorry,” I breathed and he looked at me, I saw the hurt and confusion in his eyes, “I’m doing this to protect you- I don’t want-“
“How are you protecting me?! Do you even hear yourself, Juliet?!” he barked and pulled back, “You say you love me, but you ran away!”
“I did,” I breathed and James looked at me, “James, I ran away from you- You don’t want me.”
“You’re fuckin’ nuts if you would ever believe that I don’t want you!” he growled and came at me again, pushing me against the wall, his hands pinned on the wall next to my head, “I’ve been in love with you for years, Jewels- Years!”
“I know-“
“And you give it all up because you’re afraid- You ran instead of talking to me!”
“I did.”
“That’s fucked up, Juliet!” he growled and I looked up at him and sighed, he was angry; he had every right to be angry.
“I know.”
“I tried so hard to get over you- So fuckin’ hard, but I just couldn’t,” he said and I knew the tears were coming, “We grew up together, we were best friends,” I felt his hand on my neck, his thumb rub my cheek, I leaned into his big hand and looked up at him, “We fell in love.”
“We were each other’s first,” I breathed and James nodded his head, “You’ll always be my Romeo, James, but I can’t keep doing this to you- We both need to move on-“
“You can’t tell me that I’ll always be your Romeo and then fuckin’ tell me to move on- You can’t do that, Jewels!”
“I’m serious!” I said and James glared at me, “You need to get over me- I’m the one who hurt you, I’m the one who ran away, I’m the one who did this- You should hate me! I hate me!”
James sighed and backed away, shaking his head, “I could never hate you, Juliet,” he said and then headed for the door.
When it closed, when he was gone, I let out a cry, grabbing onto the wall as I slid down until my ass hit the ground and just cried, ‘…You’ll always be my Romeo…’