‹ Prequel: Me, You
Status: attempting to post every saturday!

Take a Hit

Four

“Larry’s such a goddamn douche,” I grumbled.

Halvo just nodded in agreement as he pressed play on the next episode of Orange is the New Black. We spent most of the night before and our Saturday morning like this. Lounging around in the living room with blankets and popcorn, binge watching the new Netflix series everyone was talking about.

“But, he was put in a weird position, y’know?”

“I guess,” I leaned over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in his lap. “Stop hogging all of the damn food.”

“I at least deserve this since you didn’t even let me finish my dinner last night,” Halvo pulled the bowl away from me, “The least you could’ve let me do was say to our good friend, John.”

My shoulders tensed at the mention of John and the night before. I groaned loudly into the couch cushion, “The fact that John probably knows that I’m in Arizona makes me want to throw up.”

“Sweetheart, this isn’t Manhattan. Tempe’s not that big of a city and he was bound to find out eventually.” He popped a fistful of popcorn in his mouth before adding, “Plus, how mad could he really be?”

Words could not describe the hatred John probably had for me, although, I chose not to tell Halvo this, “I’m just not ready to face him.” I looked over at him, “Please, Halvo. Just keep this a secret.”

“Fine, whatever.” He waved a careless hand at me, eyes glued to the television. The doorbell rang and he gave me a funny look, “I’m not expecting anyone... are you?”

I shook my head and he got up. Sinking into the couch deeper, my heart ached thinking about the mess I made.

Halvo swung the door open, “John? W-what are you doing here?”

My blood ran cold.

“I just felt like I haven’t seen you in forever, man. I thought I saw you at In-N-Out yesterday, but it made me think that we could hang out tonight. Grab a beer or something.” John’s voice was deeper now, raspier too from years of singing and cigarettes and alcohol.

My life was a fucking sitcom. Of course, I abandoned him in a hospital after I took his virginity. Of course, I ran into him my second day back in Arizona. Of course, he was standing at the fucking doorstep of the house I was hiding in.

“Uh,” Halvo coughed, “I’m feeling sort of under the weather and probably shouldn’t go out tonight. Maybe next time, alright?”

I could hear the door swing but a hand firmly slapping against it, “Hey that doesn’t mean we can’t hang out in here or something.”

“I-uh, yeah sure, come on in.” He said loudly, “Let’s go into the kitchen to see if there’s any beer in the fridge.”

Heavy footsteps came close, but not too close to the couch and faded away into the next room. This was my cue to flee. Outside was out of the question. Too noisy. Too easily caught. I had a feeling John wasn’t over to just have a beer, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

I bolted up the stairs as quietly and quickly as I could with Ruby following closely behind.

“Shoo,” I closed the guest bedroom and Ruby began whimpering and scratching the door.

“Is that Ruby?” John asked, his voice muffled as I crawl underneath the bed.

“What?” Halvo asked nervously.

Her whimpering grew louder in response and I cursed underneath my breath. This fucking dog was going to be the end of me.

“Do you not hear that? She could be hurt...” I heard his heavy footsteps come up the steps.

“Uh, s-she might’ve just left her toy in the room or something.”

“Hey girl,” John was right outside the door and I wanted to scream, “Are you missing something in there?”

No, but you are. Your best friend. We were best friends and best friends forgave each other. We were Lou and John. John and Lou.

The door slowly creaked open and I held my breathe. Please for the love of God, Ruby, just don’t come near- The damn dog bolted straight to the bed, scratching at the floor beneath, trying to get to me.

Her tongue darted out to me as a scooched farther and farther away from the edge. Slowly, my hair caught on to the metal railings of the bed and pulled, forcing me to let out an accidental, “Fuck.”

“What the...” John swiftly dropped to his knees and lifted up the bedding that covered the space below the bed.

His green eyes pierced mine, causing me to bang my head against the metal, this time letting out a louder, “Fuck!”

“Louise?” His bottom lip trembled.

“Ruby dropped her toy and I tried to get it, ha.” I sputtered, scrambling to get out from under the bed.

“I thought I saw you last night,” His eyes darted between me and Halvo and I was starting to really regret choosing to stay with Halvo. Calmly, he asked, “How long have you been in Arizona?”

This could also been translated as, ‘How long have you two been going behind my back?

God, the seven years changed him. What the picture didn’t show was how much age has caught up to him. His skin was rougher from age and the crinkles around his eyes were deeper. Everything about him seemed sharper than his 18 year old self. But, he didn’t seem angry when he looked at me. Just blankly, like a stranger. It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know this man at all.

“She arrived in Phoenix three days ago,” Halvo answered for me and I shot him a glare.

John glanced at him to acknowledge his response, but rested his eyes back on me again, “How long have you two been in contact with each other?”

I said, “Not long.”

Right as Halvo said, “Seven years.”

John’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed nosily. I wanted him to scream at me. Tell me that I’m the worst person he’s ever met because I was. I deserved every single drop of hatred and misery in his words because I poisoned his system with it all. I knew that for sure.

“How’s Liam?” Was all he asked.

“He um...” I maintained steady eye contact with him, “He... past away this past April.”

“That must have been hard on you.”

Not as hard as it was to see our friendship die. Not as hard as it was to walk away from that hospital seven years ago.

“It was, so I thought it was my time to come home.” My voice cracked when the final word came out.

We broke off our eye contact when his phone began to buzz. His eyes flickered down to the screen and back up to me, “That was Mia. I-I better get going.” John looked over at Halvo and said, “I’ll... see you later, man.”

Before he walked out of the bedroom, he tossed a “Bye, Louise” over his shoulder.

His heavy footsteps went back down the stairs and out the front door. The house fell silent once the door closed. I glanced up at Halvo, who was quietly petting Ruby.

“Fuck.”
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WOW, it's been a while haha.
I could explain myself. I got a job, got promoted to manager, and I'm now graduating high school. That's the short version.

I always thought back to this story. I really left it on a shitty cliffhanger.
I would absolutely love to continue this story, but only if people are interested.
So please comment if you're still reading! I understand it's been a long time.
I just need an indication of whether or not I should bother with it.

I just wanted to put a short chapter out!
And yes, John DID get a text from Mia... wonder what that means.

So yeah, comment your thoughts on the chapter/me bringing this story back.
I'm back, baby.