Dear Mitch (Merome)

Chapter 5

Btw I'm not writing out the whole diary. I'll make references to what I should have put though :3

After Dad left, I pondered a little, thinking about the diary.

He'd said their first married couple argument was days after they married.

He'd said he'd never told Mom what had happened.

He'd said everyone just assumed he and Mitch had grown apart, especially after my birth.

Did he ever see the future like it was? With his children in the middle of a cracking relationship? Or as someone who threw away what he'd wanted?

Two weeks after that fun experience, Lachlan and his family were comin over. Lachlan's wife was skipping the trip, but he was bringing his son, Ben. His full name was actually Benjamin, though Lachlan sometimes just called him Benja, earning sad stares from Dad. Benja was his name for Mitch...

We picked them up from the airport. Lachlan was a tall man, with blonde hair and sharp blue eyes. Ben was short-haired, between blonde and brunette, like his mother, and had bluey-green eyes.

He grinned at me now, in the backseat while Lachlan sat up front. Mom and Katie were off buying dresses, and I'd decided to come here instead, and yes, I didn't mind. Ben was 15, a year older, and again, yes, I liked him, I'll admit it. He was nice, and was tall like his dad. There was a running joke to see who'd be taller between the two of them, and the gap was growing shorter by the years. Lachlan would constantly push down on Ben's shoulders and go on tiptoe to get a head above him, but then Ben would surge up as well, causing Lachlan to scowl. Right now, he was about 1.8 metres, so not too far off.

As we got out the car, I made a beeline for Lachlan, then stopped myself. "Can't let Dad know what I'm up to..." I muttered to myself, and walked over to Ben instead. He grinned at me, and I smiled back. Wait a moment...

"Hey Ben, have you ever met Mitch?"

"Like Mitch Hughes?" I nodded, and then he did. "Yeah, Dad still goes to see him every now and again. Dad says that your dad and him aren't really close anymore." I agreed sadly. "I think I wanna start trying to find him, but I don't know where to start. He's definitely out of New Jersey, that's a given, but that just makes life hard, him being out of state. There's just another 49 to go." Ben stared. "Why do you want to find him anyway?" He asked, edge to his voice, and I hesitated a little. How does ones self answer this question? Honestly or evasive?

"Look, I found this thing, but I wanna keep it private. Just, long story short, it involved Mitch, and I wanted to know more about him, since Dad always talks about him in a way where he seems to not wanna talk about it but it comes up and then he kinda acts sad and I just really want to know who this dude who can put this effect onto my dad is?" I said all at once, and Ben miraculously managed to understand. "Okay, well... Mitch is kinda a pig, since he eats quite a bit. Dad always calls him out for it. He's got shortish hair, brown like yours-"

"I know his appearance, I was wondering more about his personality, like is he an idiot?"

"He's actually really smart. Had a better GPA than your dad. I don't know about mine, seeing as we're Aussie..." Ben grinned. "He talks about your dad a lot, and he's kinda self-deappreciating. Likes to laugh." Ben shrugged. "Where does he live?"

"Uh. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, near his parents." He lived around about where he used to?...

Hmm...

I nodded and gave a quick reply, before rushing off to the diary. I wanted to talk to Ben, but what use was it when I didn't even know what to ask?

5th August 2022

Dear Mitch

I went to your house today, except... it wasn't yours. Not anymore. I saw the vlog you made, saying you were moving out of New Jersey and back to Florida. Fair enough. I'd move away from myself if I could as well.

I heard his song on the radio today. It's by Leona Lewis and it's called 'Better in Time'. It's a pretty old song, but speaks volumes to me. Here's the first verse.

'It's been the longest winter without you...

I didn't know where to turn to...

See somehow I can't forget you...

After all that we've been through... yeah...'

The chorus goes something like this...

'Thought I couldn't live without you,

It's gonna hurt when it heals too, oh yeah,

It'll all get better in time,

Even though I really love you,

I'm gonna smile because I deserve to, oh yeah,

It'll all get better in time...'

This song reminded me so painfully of you that I parked outside your old house and just sat there, crying for a solid ten minutes. People who walked by looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I am. I have a loving family, an amazing daughter, and I ask for the one thing I cast away in a weaker moment.

It hasn't stopped hurting. Maybe it never will.

Love, Jerome

Oh.

I reached for my phone and shoved my headphones in, before buying the song and playing it. Yeah, should have consulted Dad, but it was a meagre amount of money.

He still noticed, of course.

"Taylor. What's this song you bought?" He asked, walking into my room seconds later. I glanced at him in shock. "Well, that was fast. Usually takes a few hours for you to normally notice..." Dad looked at me , and I hastily moved on. "It's just this song I found somewhere. Listen to it." I pulled out the headphones and turned the volume up, before hitting play.

Dad managed a full five seconds before mumbling an excuse and running off.

I felt kinda bad about doing that to him, even all these years later, but it felt like it was fair. My hint I knew, and his hint he knew I knew but didn't want to risk saying anything in case I didn't know. Confusing, right?

In any case, I was still questioning why it took me weeks to finish what would take hours. Less than 50 letters here, but then again, most made me pause and think, and I continuously had to hide it.

Like emotions, I guess.

So uh, I didn't really expect 18 votes on the last chapter. Mainly because of the fact that the votes were less on the other chapters and I expected it to follow that trend, but also because I don't know how I feel about it. Either way, thank you all for blowing my mind with that :3

Amber