Give Me A Chance (boyxboy)

Thirteen

Coming back from the game, I have a renewed sense of something that's probably close to happiness. So before it fades, I go to apologize to Liza.

I knock on her door and again Killian answers. His face immediately falls. "Hey, man," he says, a sad look in his eyes. "Liza told me you were staying here cause of some family issues. Sorry I had to kinda pull the rug out from under your feet by coming back."

I don't want him to be sorry.

"I knew it wasn't long term, Killian," I say. I shift my weight between my feet. Besides, this is your home, you deserve to be here more than I do."

"Have you got things figured out, then?" he asks me carefully. "Cause if you need, you could sleep on the couch, if you're not picky." He rubs his arm.

"I've got it figured out now," I tell him. I stuff my hands in my pockets, feeling kinda guilty.

"You sure?" he asks. "You seemed in rough shape when you stormed out of here in the middle of the night." I cringe. I forgot he was there when that happened. "Liza was really worried about you. I'll go get her. If she acts like she doesn't care, don't believe her."

He leaves me at the door. I hear him tell Liza that it's me, but I don't hear her response.

She comes to the door a second later, her arms crossed over her chest. "Look who's back," she says haughtily. I don't think she's really mad. I think she's probably just disappointed with me. I said some things I shouldn't have. I implied some things I shouldn't have.

Before she can say anything else, I stop her. "I came here to apologize," I tell her. My hands are out placatingly in front of me with the intention of making peace. Her eyes narrow. "I know I was out of line that night. I'm sorry about what I said to you. I was distraught and had just heard my father throw slurs at my name like it was everyday language, and I thought I had nowhere else to go."

Her expression softens a little.

I continue. "Lashing out at you was not the answer, I know, but I didn't know where to put all the anger I was feeling. I know using my current circumstances as an excuse would be immature and wrong, so I'll just say this; I'm sorry I was such a dick to you last week and I hope you can forgive me. You're my best friend, I obviously still want you in my life." What I don't tell her is that I've already lost one best friend. It would kill me to lose another.

She uncrosses her arms. She leans against the door frame. "You had me worried sick," she snaps. "No call, no text, not even a voicemail. You avoided me in class, you avoided eating lunch with me, I didn't know what to do with myself at school. You were the thing I looked forward to. Your humor, your charm."

I sigh. "I know," I say. "I just wasn't sure how to make things better. We've never been on bad terms. I thought it was Quinn all over again. I thought you hated me."

"I could never hate you, Lyam," she says softly. "And if we're ever on bad terms, I promise I'll make an effort too, because I know it's partly my fault for saying nothing."

"Sounds like a plan," I tell her. "And I should probably let you know I got hit by a car the night I ran away from here in the dark and the rain like a stupid romance movie trope."

"What?" she demands.

"It was going really slow. All I got were some scrapes. No biggie,"

She laughs. "Wow," she says. "I leave you unsupervised for one night and you become a car accident statistic."

"That's an over-exaggeration,"

She rolls her eyes. "Maybe," she says weirdly. She pauses for a second. "You know, I'd love to meet your frisbee friends. Partly because whenever I see you with them, you look pretty happy and secondly, I won't be the mistress of your friend group. I am not a side piece."