Verge of collapse

Chapter 25

Christopher 

"Just text or call me, if you want me to come back." I tell her as I'm about to walk out of the house.

"I will." She assures me and kisses me sweetly.

It will be weird seeing Andrew after all these years and I would rather have her with me. But it seems like my grandma likes her, so maybe it's a good thing that she'll spend some time with her.

I open the door and walk out still thinking about the things that might happen while I'm gone and I can come up with only good things. I don't technically remember where he lived. Shit, I should've asked my grandmother. This shit feels so weird. Being back here, I did come here every year, but only for a day or two and now I'm with Katherine. This whole trip with her meeting my family is making me happy and nervous at the same time. I really want them to like her. I guess they all do, even my dad, he just doesn't like her parents. Which again is another shitty problem that came out of nowhere.

I walk down the street of the small neighborhood. I look at the lined up small houses that I used to see everyday. I used to ride my bike here with my friends all the time and I was thinking to myself, will I ever get that family life. It's a strange thing to think about it as a kid, but then you become a teenager and your thoughts change into just having a girlfriend and cool friends. When you get even older, more mature, you start to think about the future. Girls think that we don't care about those things. We do, it just doesn't hit everyone at a young age.

I notice a very familiar green house at the end of the street with a front porch. I remember sitting there as a kid, on the stairs of that dark wooden porch, and drinking soda with my friends. When was the breaking point of my life that it changed everything so much?

I walk onto the porch and press the small ring button next to the door. He's grandmother died and I don't even have an idea what to say to him. I know that they were close. She helped him a lot to get into a college and then helped him to pay the tuition. I ring the bell again and a moment later I hear some rushed footsteps. Andrew, a much older version that I remember, opens the door. He is older but he still looks like the nice kid that he was back then with the brown hair and brown eyes. He was always the smallest in our group and now he is as tall as I am.

"Chris." He gasps, his eyes widen in surprise. "I haven't seen you in years."

"Yeah... I heard about your grandmother. I'm so sorry." I say and he opens the door wider.

"Thank you. Come on in." He says, stepping to the side.

I walk into the house that I once came to have lunch and play. Why the fuck does time have to fly so fast? He leads me into the kitchen and I take a seat at the table as he grabs two cokes from the fridge.

"Coke okay?" He asks, holding up the cans.

"Yeah, sure." I say and take one from him. He takes a seat opposite of me.

He opens the can as he asks, "How many years it's been?"

"Five, I think. When my grandpa died."

"Yeah... Only now I get what you felt that day. The poor woman did so much for me." He says, sadness taking over him.

"You're in Manchester right?" I ask him and he nods after taking a drink.

"Yeah, in medical school."

"That's very cool."

"And where are you right now?"

"I'm in Berkeley."

"Wow!... So, still living in San Francisco, huh?" He asks, lowering his eyes.

"Yeah, I thought that it's better to stay there if I'm already living there." I say, playing with the cap of the can.