for, liar

Epilogue

The least I could do is apologize. I could take back everything I said, tell Miles to forget about the other night, and make amends the way people in love tend to do.

That's all I would have to do.

It would make things okay and we can move on from the hardest part of our relationship consumed by secrets. That would be, of course, if he told me the truth.

Instead, I guess I could take matters into my own hands. I'm just hoping it won't get to the point where he'll never forgive me since I made it my mission to seek answers he refused to give me. I was hoping he was going to call me at some point over the past few days or at least stop by to finish the conversation he forced me out of just so we can at least try to understand where the other was coming from.

I force myself out of bed and change out of my pajamas, sliding on my winter boots and bringing myself out into the cold to get to my car and make the drive to Miles' condo. When I arrive, his car is nowhere to be seen so I pull right into the driveway. I get out and walk to the front door, retrieving the spare key carefully hidden under a gnome in his front yard.

His car is gone so he must be too. I don't know what I expect to gain from going back into his condo.

I stick the key in the lock and slowly turn it like my sneakiness would scare off any bad omen coming at me for trespassing. The door creaks as I push it open all the way and step inside. All of the lights are off like I had expected.

I walk down the hall to the living room to look around. Everything's tidy and in the same place as when I left a few nights ago.

I make my way to Miles' bedroom. The comforter is piled at the end of his bed with his sheets all twisted up on the mattress. His dresser drawers are open and there's a few pairs of shirts and pants laying on the floor in front of it. There's a bunch of empty hangers in his closet and his duffel bag that he has for travel that's usually hanging on the side hook is missing.

He's gone and I have no idea where he went.

...

Miles

They need to get a new "Now Leaving North Carolina" sign. It's all dented and clearly hasn't aged well since they put it up. I never got the point of those signs in the first place. If you're driving towards something, you know you're leaving somewhere else. Most places just have the "Welcome In" sign and leave it at that. That's how it should be instead of taunting me with the feeling that I'm leaving something behind.

206 miles later, the familiarity starts to sink in and I can turn off my GPS. It hasn't been too long since I was back in the mountains of Tennessee that I made my home for three years. I can't say I miss it one bit.

I take only a handful of turns, keeping an eye out for the slick icy roads to avoid going off the side of one of the mountains until I get to my destination. I really never thought I'd be back here after I left in June.

The cabin looks the same, just the way I left it. Hopefully Trent and Reed kept the place tidy while I've been gone. They obviously haven't taken good care of my car that still remains in the driveway, untouched with its front bumper hanging on for dear life.

I park right in front and climb out to take a better look at it. I guess calling it totaled wasn't necessarily the truth but it is still very fucked up.

The cabin door opens and I hear my name echo from the porch and around the trees.

Trent slides down the stair rail and runs over to me with open arms. "Miles! No way! What are you doing here, man?"

He's excited to see me. I don't know why he would be. I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms.

"I thought it would be a good time to catch up." I tell him.

"Come on in. Reed is going to be ecstatic to see you."

I doubt he will. He's never been the welcoming type unless it benefits him in any sort of way.  That's what got us in this mess in the first place.

Revised;