like real people do./ arvin russell

0.2

"you don't hate him natalia, you're in love with him."

"excuse me?"

i was currently working on my truck again, just making sure it could still run so i wouldn't have to worry about getting a new one, lenora had come over to "help" but really she was just bored out of her mind while arvin was at work. arvin worked at a auto shop, one of the only ones in town. i didn't blame her for being bored either, harry was currently with one of his friends hanging out, it was one of the only families i trusted harry around so i didn't mind him being over there, but being alone and not knowing if he was doing something stupid or not didn't sit right with me. so, i accepted lenora's ask to come and watch me work on my truck, i don't know how, but she got me to explain why i never hung out with her and arvin.

"i have never seen two people who are so much alike but also complete opposites, and i know for a fact that arvin don't hate you so why do you hate him."

i sighed, because it was stupid too still hate him over something that happened when we were in school, i hadn't seen arvin in over two years, after we all graduated he left coal creek and i assured myself that he was never coming back.

"in the third grade, arvin told everyone in class that my daddy beat me, which he did but it wasn't because he hated me, he did it to make me stronger, i never told anyone that arvins daddy did unimaginable things and put arvin through them, and then when i started to have to wear boy clothes, him and everyone else made fun of me until we graduated, i mean shoot, people still look at me funny, but i can't help it."

lenora didn't know what her brother did because he never told her, and neither did i, but arvin and i had been friends since he moved to coal creek because his grandma knew my momma, so when we stopped talking and i had only hung out with lenora of course everyone knew something was up, but i wasn't gonna tell nobody.

"arvin is a dumbass but he means well, i know he does, and i wish i could have you see it through my eyes cause i know both sides of the story but i can't. but you should talk to him, or at least try to, and not only because he's my brother but seriously natalia, just talk to him, move on before it kills you."

lenora was a smart girl, and she was right about arvin, i knew she was by the sincerity in her eyes and the fact that they've known each other for their entire lives basically. i just nodded in response and soon the sun started to set so lenora said her goodbyes and headed home for the night knowing her grandma would freak if she was out to late.

harry was bound to be coming home soon so i cleaned myself up and headed inside to start cooking dinner, once it was done, harry still hadn't come running through the doors and i knew the street lights would be coming on soon so i was starting to worry. i put dinner aside and went outside to wait for him, harry was a smart kid and he wouldn't get himself in trouble i know it, but just because harry was a smart kid don't man others kids are.

around 8 o'clock i had popped open a pack of smokes and lit one to try and calm my anxiety, i saw an unfamiliar car pull up to our house, as i looked closer i saw arvin with his hair flopping around and cuts and bruises all over, when i looked closer i saw harry curled up into a little ball asleep, or at least i hope he was just asleep. i got up quickly and walked over to them, arvin picked him up and carried him towards me, the same emotionless face kept on.

"arvin what the hell happened!"

he nodded towards the house without a word and i led them inside and towards the living room where he placed harry gently on the couch. tears formed in my eyes but i knew arvin was looking at me so i held them in and walked to the kitchen to get water and some medicine.

"he was with his friend at the diner, i was there like usual and saw them playing when a bunch of kids older than they were pulled up, i got him out of there without a scratch on him but...but the other kid he got pushed to hard, hit his head on a rock, his mom had pulled up right as i was beating the shit out of the guys, harry was crying and i picked him up while explaining everything to the other kids mom, the cops came and so did an ambulance, they marked it as self defense so luckily i'm not in jail but the guys were caught and the other little boy well, i don't know how he's doing. i felt like absolute shit, i pushed harry away from the boys just in time cause i knew him but the other little boy he just wanted to fight back, and he tried, its all my fault. harry's fine he just passed out on my shoulder when i was talking to the cops, when he wakes up he may be a little scared at first so be careful."

arvin sniffled and wiped his eyes on his old t-shirt, he always wore the same two t-shirts and i didn't know how i had never noticed it until now.

"arvin your bleeding..."

he was, his eye looked bruised and his lip was cut up, a gash on the side of his face to top it all off and his knuckles were bruised and bloody, but when weren't they you know.

"i'm alright."

i wet a washcloth and walked over to him, pressing it gently on his gash to clean it up, i put a bandaid over it when it had stopped bleeding and then i cleaned up his lip until it had stopped bleeding, i hadn't been this close to arvin since when we first started being friends, we were playing tag and i fell down, he fell on top of me and told me i had beautiful eyes, i smiled at the memory but shook it away immediately and went to grab arvin ice.

"i-i'm sorry for being the one who had to bring him home, i know you hate me and all but, i didn't know your house phone number and i needed to leave before things got worse."

i shook my head and gave arvin the ice wrapped in a towel, he placed it on his eye and smiled at me.

"thank you for caring enough to save him, i don't know what i'd do without him.."

i cleaned up the dinner i had made, throwing it into containers and putting it in the fridge for another time, just trying to look at anything other than arvin.

"natalia?"

i had given up on looking anywhere other than arvin cause i could feel his eye on me while i moved, so here we sat, right across from each other in my much to small kitchen.

"hmm?"

he took the ice off his eye, placing it in the sick before walking over to me, he was only inches away from me to where i could notice everything, i noticed how big his muscles had gotten, and how his eyes were a hazel green and not just brown, i noticed how his hair had grown since highschool and it was parted down the middle which made his curls sit in weird ways but it worked.

"can i kiss you?"

///

a/n:

me ending a chapter on a cliff hanger? nah not me- :,)