worth the risk • dean portman

chapter five

dean

Thinking about Chicago always gives me a mixture of feelings.

On one hand, I'll always love it. It's home, you know? But on the other hand, it brings me memories that I don't ever want to relive.

Believe me, it's not fun having your dad walk out on you one day in the middle of fricking nowhere and suddenly you're the man of the house. Imagine having to start working at just eleven years old so you could help pay the bills and provide for your mom and little brother.

Not that fun.

Don't worry, I don't need a pity party or anything. These are the feelings that I always get when the holidays come around, it's really not a big deal.

I'm a bit nervous to go home, even though it's only for a few days. It's just that some old friends back home aren't exactly thrilled about how I got to escape our neighborhood, and they didn't.

As soon as school ends, Fulton and I drive back to his house so I can grab the bag that I packed last night. However, I make him drive to Morgan's before we go to the airport. I can't leave without saying goodbye to my girl, because what kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't do that?

When we pull up outside of Morgan's house, she quickly looks to the huge house adjacent to hers. After deciding the coast is clear, she sprints down the walkway and jumps into my arms. "Don't leave please."

"I have to." I mumble into her hair, kissing her head once I've finished talking. "It's only for a few days though, babe. I'm flying back on Saturday morning."

"That's still four days too long." she says with a pout. "How am I supposed to go Black Friday shopping without you?"

"You have Sadie and Ella, remember?" I point out with a laugh. "Besides, no offense, but there's absolutely no way I'd ever wake up before eight in the morning unless I have a flight or something important. That's just ridiculous."

I see a smirk break free on her face, so I lean in and kiss her for a few seconds while I put her back down on the ground. When we pull apart, I give her one more hug and a kiss on the forehead, then wait until she's in her house safely to get back into Fulton's car.

I stare at the windows of the other house as Fulton turns the car around, and I think I might be hallucinating. There's a face in the one of the windows with a look that seems to be a death glare or a big frown. Either way, it sends chills down my spine.

I don't know for sure if who I saw in the window is who I think it is, but if I'm right, I'll be pissed off. This Jake kid better figure out that he'll never be with Morgan, and that's the end of discussion.

Once we pull up outside the airport, I say goodbye to Fulton before walking inside. You'd think that I'd be a bit nervous to fly by myself, but I've been flying to and from Chicago by myself since I was fourteen. This whole thing is a piece of cake for me now.

Since I don't have a suitcase with me, I skip the whole check in thing and head straight for security. I'm not surprised to see how long the line is, but I become annoyed anyway. This is literally the only thing I hate about airports. The security line is always too long.

When it's finally my turn, I hand my ticket and license to the lady and wait until she finishes asking her questions to pass through. After basically being forced to tell her my entire life story, I breathe a huge sigh of relief when she finally lets me step forward.

I grab a bin from the pile and throw my backpack onto it. Then, I unzip the back pocket and place all of the chargers, along with my wallet, next to my backpack. I push the bin forward and wait until I'm gestured to walk through the metal detector.

Once everything has been done, I throw my things back into my backpack, zip it up, and walk towards my gate. My flight isn't until six, and it's only an hour and a half flight, so I don't think I need to eat an actual meal. I'm almost positive my mom is making something, but I buy myself a sandwich just in case.

Besides, I don't know how the finances were this month and I don't want my mom spending too much money just to make me food. Yeah, I'm buying a sandwich.

I walk into the convenience store closest to my gate and browse around until I find something that I like. After I've picked out a sandwich, I grab a bag of chips, some candy, and a water. Once everything is paid for, I walk back to my gate and put my earbuds in until I hear them call my section for boarding.

Somehow, I end up getting the whole row to myself. I can't even try to figure out how I got this lucky, so I'm going to make the most of it. I take the window seat, and then throw my bag in the seat next to me. Once my seatbelt is on, I lean on my backpack and use it like a pillow.

Clearly I'm a genius, because I think I just took the best hour and a half nap of my life. I woke up as the plane was touching down in Chicago, and the sheer greatness of my nap masked my feelings of nervousness completely.

Now, I'm currently walking towards my mom and instantly smile as she comes running over to me.

"My baby boy, look at you!" she says happily as she pulls me into a hug.

"Hi Mom, how are you?" I ask as I hug her back, feeling as a huge sense of comfort washes over me.

"Better now that you're here!" she answers with a smile. "C'mon, I've got meatballs on the stove and rolls in the oven. I hope you're hungry."

"You bet I am."

I let the smile on my face break free and throw my arm around my mom's shoulder, smiling even wider as we walk and I listen to all of the things that have happened since I left for Minnesota back in August.

It's good to be home.

**a/n**
hi guys! i'm finally back to writing!!! school's finally over, which means i have 2 weeks to knock out as many chapters as i can. i'm sorry it took me so long to publish a chapter, but i've been so busy with school and tests that i just haven't had the time. now that i'm on winter break, i have all this time on my hands to write! the creative juices are starting to flow again, and i've got some reeeeeeally good ideas for this story so please stick with me! see you guys soon, love you!
-c