𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 - Chris Sturniolo

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮
1 ½ years ago

Lori was lying in her bed looking at the ceiling. Then the door knocked and her father's head looked into the room. Lori did not look at him.

"Lori, honey, don't you want to have dinner with us sometime?"
"No."
"Oh, come on, you haven't been out in a while." She looked at him. "I don't want to." She said. Her father came into the room and closed the door.

He sat down next to her on the bed and stroked her hair. "What's wrong, my daughter?"
"You know that."
"I'm sorry about the way things ended with Chris, but didn't you think about contacting him?"

She turned away from her father because she didn't want to talk.
"It's better for him if I leave him alone, he's made it clear he doesn't want to hear from me." "Lori..."
"No dad, just leave me alone." He sighed and did as she said.

Tears welled up in my eyes, the conversation wasn't going the way I wanted it to. He left, to go to her.

I went back to meet his brothers in the living room. "He's gone." I said and a tear of mine dripped on the floor.

The boys looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry, I thought he would stay." Said matt and took him in his arms.
"I think it's just time to really get over it, I don't have a choice."
"Lori, no, who knows if he'll change his mind." Nick said.

I looked at the clock it was 8:15pm.
"I have to go home, my plane leaves tomorrow morning." I said.

Tomorrow was Friday but I had gotten a day off from school because of the wedding on Saturday. I wanted to help my mother with the preparations, so I left early.

"Come on, I'll drive you home." Said Matt.
"No, I'll walk, I need this to think." I said, and broke away. "I'll see you next week and nick you on Saturday."
"Yeah, bye."

His pov

When I arrived at Jess' house I called her.
"Hey Chris, when will you be there?"
"I'm standing in front of your house."
"Why don't you ring the bell?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Oh, okay."
"Are you coming out?"
"Yeah, sure."

I waited a moment until she stepped out of the front door. She smiled at me and when she was with me she wanted to kiss me as a greeting and I stepped back as if out of reflex.

She looked at me asking.
"What's wrong?" she asked. I took a deep breath. I didn't know what to say or what I was doing.
"I think it's better if I don't meet your parents."

"WHAT? Why? Do you want to break up?" she asked angry.
"We're not even really together, Jessica."
"So you want to end it?" she was so angry that I was afraid she would hit me for my next words.

"It's better for you, you need someone to love you." Her jaw dropped.

"Are you saying you don't love me?" She just showed me a side of her I didn't know.
"I don't love you."
And then her hand landed squarely on my jaw.

"You asshole."
"I'm sorry."
"You should be, I can't believe I was going to introduce you to my parents." She was such a bitch at that moment that I wondered how I had put up with her for months. I rolled my eyes and left.

"I don't even get an explanation?" she said and I turned around again.
"Isn't the fact that I don't love you enough for you?"
"You managed to pretend you did before." I shook my head.

She raised her eyebrows and laughed.
"Oh my god it's her isn't it? Your little dumb blonde ex."

I just looked at her and clenched my jaw.
"I can't believe you'd leave me for her." "
If you ever feel real love, you'll understand, Jessica." I said and walked away.

She threw all kinds of abuse at me until I couldn't hear it anymore.

When I walked through the front door, Matt and Nick came running around the corner.
"You're back already?" asked Matt.
"No, I'm your fourth quadruplet, you idiot." "Haha, very funny Chris. What happened?" asked nick and they followed me into the kitchen.

"I need to think, leave me alone." I said and went upstairs.
"Chris, you can't leave us standing here not knowing." Said Nick as he followed me up the stairs.
"Yes I can and I will. Now please leave me alone." I said and closed the door of my room.
...
The next morning I woke Matt up a little earlier than usual.
"Wake up, you have to leave earlier, I have to talk to Eline before school."
I didn't close my eyes all night, I couldn't sleep, her words were going through my head all the time.

And I came to the conclusion 30 minutes before that I still love her, all the time. I was just too stupid to admit it. How could I think that I could ever just be friends with her?

"Chris, it's 6 o'clock, her plane left at 5, you're late."
"What plane?"
"To austin, her mom's getting married tomorrow." Shit, I forgot.

Nick came into the room, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on here?"
"Chris wanted to talk to Lori, but it's too late." Matt explained.

"Won't you just tell us what we missed yesterday?" asked Nick.
"I ended it with Jessica."
"Thank God, I kind of didn't like her," Nick said. "So what now? What about Lori?" Matt asked, still lying in his bed.

"I have to talk to her and tell her that I feel the same as she does." I said.
"FINALLY," my brothers yelled.
"But I guess it will have to wait until Monday." I added.

Nick thought about it for a moment.
"I have an idea."
"What is it?" I asked.
"You fly to Austin instead of Nick." Said Matt.
Yes, that was a good idea.
...
After school nick got a call.
"We have to go to Lori's, she forgot the present for her mother. Her dad isn't around anymore either, so 'I' am supposed to bring it." Said nick and winked at me.
"But we don't have a key." Said Matt.
"The spare key is under the doormat." Said nick.

So we drove to her place. It would have been enough if nick had just gone in, but somehow I wanted to go with him.

"Where did they leave Scooby?" I asked as we entered the house.
"I think they gave him to one of the neighbors for the weekend." Nick said and closed the door.

We went upstairs. "Where's the present supposed to be?"
"She said it was in the nightstand on the left." Said Nick.

In her room I smelled her scent and it smelled so good. I looked around her room. She had changed it a bit since the last time.

Everywhere lay her stuff to draw around and on the walls hung pictures and things she had painted, on many pictures you saw me and that hit me. And then I saw a picture of us on her right nightstand.

It was a picture of me, my brothers and her. She was standing between matt and me, everyone was looking at the camera except me, I was looking at her. I had almost forgotten that the picture existed. And next to the picture was my promise ring.

I took it in my hand and I remembered how I had given it to her, how happy we had been and how much we had loved each other. And it pleased me that she still felt the same. I put the ring in my pocket, I wanted to be able to give it to her again.

Nick looked at her walls. "She's so talented and she doesn't even know it."  He said.
"You're right." I decided we couldn't keep Matt waiting that long, so I opened the cabinet in front of me and what I saw made my heart beat faster.

There were all kinds of drawings of me in there. Me in the cafeteria, me in Linsey's closet, me playing just dance and more pictures of me.

Nick came up to me and said before he saw the pictures in my hand.
"Bro the left nightstand not the right one you idiot." Then he saw the pictures in my hand.

"Oh wow, if I didn't know her I would think she was obsessed with you. But the pictures are awesome." He said.
"They are. How could I have thought she didn't love me anymore?"

"Because you're just stupid and blind, now put the drawings away. We're supposed to be getting her mother's present, not snooping around." He said and he was right, I hesitantly put the pictures back and closed the drawer.