Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Patience"

TW: Verbal Abuse

We all met up at the airport the next morning, just two hours before Valerie's plane would be leaving for Boston. We all sat around in the waiting area, trying to squeeze in just a few more minutes together before she and Stephen went to go through security. I could tell Valerie was sad, and was probably still upset about the conversation we had yesterday, but she was putting on a brave face.

"You'll visit soon, right?" she said for the upteenth time

"Of course we will," Veronica replied, smiling as she leaned her head on Valerie's shoulder and hugged her. "I'm really going to miss you. It's going to be so weird not having you around."

"We're all going to miss you," Keto said solemnly. He was sitting across from her next to Arjun, who nodded in agreement. As usual, Stephen looked completely awkward sitting around with us, and I couldn't help but feel bad for the guy.

"Stephen," I said slowly. "I...I hope your job goes good."

His expression remained like stone, as did his voice. "Thanks, man," he said, nodding his head once. He wouldn't even look at me.

Valerie reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. "It'll go perfectly," I heard her mumble to him. She was smiling up at him like he was the greatest thing in the world. A bit of envy made its way into my heart. She had once looked at me like that. Did she still feel anything for me at all, especially after that kiss in the storage room? When she looked at me, there was no hint in her eyes to tell me she was thinking about that kiss. Meanwhile, it replayed in my mind over and over again.

We sat in silence for the next few minutes. I couldn't figure out anything to say. And when the time came for Stephen and Valerie to go through security, everyone else stood, and I kept trying to figure out how to say goodbye.

Valerie gave Veronica, Keto, and Arjun tight hugs, then turned to me. "Randall..."

I extended my hand to her, very aware of the fact that Stephen was staring intently at me, like he expected me to swoop up his girl and kiss her. Boy, did I want to. She was my girl first, and now that I knew why our relationship had never gone anywhere, I wanted to try and start over with her. But that chance was gone now.

She took my hand and I pulled her down to hug her. She returned it.

"Goodbye, Randall," she whispered in my ear. There was a crack in her voice, and when she pulled away, I could see tears in her eyes.

"See you later, Val," I said, trying out a smile.

She turned to Stephen and took his hand, then walked off towards security with their carry-on bags. We watched them until they were gone.

Veronica heaved a sigh. "Guess we should go," she said, grabbing her purse. "How about lunch? Keto can pay."

"Hey!" Keto said, but he didn't laugh at the comment as he usually would have.

"Lunch sounds fine," Arjun said. "I can drop us all off at my place before I go to work afterwards. If you still want to spend the night, of course."

"Yeah, that's fine," Veronica said. She patted my shoulder. "Well, let's go! I'm starving!" She started off, Arjun following her. Keto moved to take the handles of my wheelchair, but froze.

"You've got it, right?" he said sheepishly. "Sorry. Habit."

I smirked. "It's okay, man." I frowned then, and glanced around him to make sure Veronica and Arjun were far enough away to where they probably wouldn't hear us. "Keto...can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Sure."

I paused to gather exactly what I wanted to ask. Whatever was happening between Arjun, Veronica, Keto, and Stephen, it must have been something Valerie didn't know about. Or maybe it was that they simply just didn't like or approve of Stephen. Whatever the case was, I could tell this had been going on for a while now.

"Why...why do you guys avoid Stephen so much? Do you really not like him?"

Keto's face blanched. His eyes darted towards Arjun and Veronica, then back to me. "I...I don't want to talk about it," he said hurriedly, and started to leave. I grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Come on! Whatever it is, you guys have been hiding it for long enough!"

We held each other's gaze for a moment, then he sighed.

"Fine...but don't tell the others, okay? They'd kill me! And definitely don't tell Val!"

I promised I wouldn't, and he started to explain. My blood ran cold as he talked.

"A couple months ago, we went to drop off some stuff at Stephen's apartment for Valerie to take. It's a long story. And you were at a doctor's appointment. You know, that time Ms. Harlow took you? Anyway, Valerie was there too, but she was in the bathroom or something. I think Stephen was in the kitchen, because when we were leaving, we could hear him talking to his roommate. He...well, we overheard him talking about you."

My heart was pounding. "What did he say?" But I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know.

"He said awful things," Keto said with a shudder. "You know...he seems really possessive of Val."

"I know, Val told me, but what does that have to do with what he said?"

"He said that he didn't know what Val saw in you...I think he's jealous of you, really, since Val still has feelings for you and everything-"

"Wait, what?"

Keto raked his fingers through his hair, cursing. "Forget I said that! What matters is that Stephen is a jerk about you, so he doesn't get to be friends with us."

I was still trying to process the fact that Val could possibly still have feelings for me. I mean, yeah, she kissed me, but what if that was just a moment of passion? And I wasn't going to let Keto just leave me hanging like that! "Keto, what did he say?!"

"He said he wished you died in the car accident, all right?!"

My hands were shaking. My mouth ran dry. I could feel the eyes of everyone else in the airport staring us down. They'd overheard the conversation, I'm sure. Why would Stephen wish such a thing? Was it because he thought I'd take Valerie from him? Was he so desperate to have her that he'd rather me die so I could be out of the picture? I realized with a start that my internal volcano was staying dormant. I was so exhausted at this point I couldn't even be angry. I was just sad.

"Don't listen to that, okay?" Keto said, taking the handles of my wheelchair. I let him do it. "He's just a jerk...a jerk that's dating our best friend."

And that was the worst part right there. It wasn't that I couldn't have her. It was that she was with someone who could say such horrible things so easily, like they were second nature. Who was to say he wouldn't be cruel to her, too? He was already possessive of her.

"Let's just forget about the whole thing and get lunch," he muttered as we caught up with Veronica and Ajrun. Arjun was giving us a weird look, and I had a feeling he knew that Keto told me everything. Maybe Veronica did too, because she was giving her brother a suspicious look, too.

Yeah. Let's just forget anything bad was happening.

I really wished I could.

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Listen to "Patience" by Guns N' Roses!

Peace✌️~ A.J.