Met You When I Was Sixteen

37.

We stepped out of the suffocating room, into the waiting area where just one couple was sitting. Sem wasn't there. He didn't wait. I don't know what made me think he'd wait. But I guess it would be nice since we just finished a literal therapy  session of an hour.

I sighed deeply, making Cody rest a hand on the lowered part of him. Back. I looked up to be met with a comforted smile. "Where were you guys supposed to meet?"  We walked further down the little platformed floor.

"That new cute cat cafe that did open not do long ago." He smiled. "Still a big fan of cats, I see. Didn't change, did it?" He remembered. Cody remembered. "You know it." A proud smile forms it self on my face while he is staring at my side profile.

He couldn't help but smile too.

We stopped our tracks when arriving at his car and I immediately got a gut feeling in my stomach. His car didn't change all this time. And it gave me major flashbacks, he seemed to notice as he got to stand in front of me, so the car was at least out of sight for me, a big part of it.

"Brooklynn, about -" he tried to apologize once again for what it looks, but I didn't let him. The younger me would let him beg for my forgiveness. She would make him apologize over and over again, until they finally got the balls to forgive him. Or until she got absolutely sick of it. But present me wouldn't.

She had forgiven him; she wasn't sober. But still, she forgave him. He told me to say  it again when I was sober. Cody realized the hurt he had caused me. He apologized.

But growing up made me realize that there's so much more than paint dropping down every inch of your body. Yes, Cody broke me. He broke me when he walked away, when that video about me having paint drop down my underwear spread around the whole school, on his account. and I got made fun of every single day until  someone else did something embarrassing that my video wasn't 'trendy'  anymore.

But Sem also broke me, in many different ways, to the point he made me beg for my life, covered in all kinds of bruises and cuts, while he stood there watching me bleed till I blacked  out.  And only then, he was satisfied. What Cody did didn't bother me anymore.

It wouldn't hunt me down to the point I couldn't sleep. It did before, but then we are talking about some three and a half years ago. "Save if Cody, I already forgave you. Remember?"  I started to walk in the direction of the cafe; it wasn't that far either. Cody started walking with me and did a little sprint to keep up with me. "I mean.. you did yeah, but." — "I wasn't sober. I know." My hands where now in the pockets of my jacket as I looked at the floor, counting the amount of side walk tiles.

"Yeah okay... I guess you did say that's you'd like to hear it once I'm sober.." I stopped walking and turned around so I was face to face with him, standing in front of him. "Here I go.." - "I... forgive you, Cody Williams." He had the same smile he did when we walked into his office earlier. We both started to chuckle and continued walking.

Until I plastered this serious expression on my face. "But that doesn't mean we're friends tho. "He still smiled, he couldn't stop smiling. "I'll take that, for now.."