Corner Store Girl: Janoskians: Luke and Jai Brooks Fanfiction

Chapter 15: To New Beginnings

He looked just as confused and shocked as I did. I instantly turned to the girl beside me, trying not to show the true extent of my feelings.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity, but I'm afraid I can't take it," I quickly blurted before speeding out of the room. I didn't wait for either of their reactions. A cook almost knocked me over as I flew through the kitchen, and I struggled to find the almost hidden opening in the counter and finally decided to hop over it instead.

Once I got outside I ran to the end of the block, across the street, and onto the park bench. Thankfully, there was no one there. I let myself breathe heavily, as if I could exhale all of my thoughts and memories and inhale comfort and peace. Soon enough I was holding and rocking myself silently, until I calmed down. I had been staring at a bunny run up and down the park for about five minutes until I heard his voice behind me.

"Alex?"

I didn't turn around.

I knew exactly who it was.

"Leave me alone."

"Alex, please."

"I said, leave my alone," I grit through my teeth.

"I'm sorry."

I turned around to him, astonished by the apology. "What?"

"I'm sorry for everything. For being crap to you while we dated, pushing you for things you weren't ready for, for, um, touching you, for all of it." His eyes were glued to mine and in his voice I was surprised to hear some genuineness.

I couldn't believe what he was saying. I had never heard him say the words 'I'm sorry'. "Yeah, right," I huffed while shaking my head.

"I know I'm sounding corny, but I'm not the same as I was before. I've changed."

From what I've seen, this was true; he's changing. The voice I heard coming from the chair earlier could never be connected to the Zach I dated. It was sad, exhausted. Those two words could never be used to describe him before. He was always an energetic jerk, yet always happy. I cocked my head at him, studying his appearance. He was wearing long khaki pants, despite the summer season, a short sleeve blue and black button-up, and green tie. I half-smiled noticing his fashion sense was still crap.

He smiled in response to mine. "What?"

I quickly lowered the corners of my mouth. "Nothing." His face looked down in disappointment. "What happened to you?"

"Can I sit down?" He asked pointing to the space next to me.

I quickly slid to get closest to my edge of the bench, but there wasn't a big enough piece of furniture to provide the amount of space I wanted in between us. When he sat down, I practically flinched at the thump of his body landing on the wooden bench. He may have been a fit guy, but he seemed to weigh a ton right now.

He was staring at the ground and rubbed his hands together. "Cancer."

I was immediately alarmed. "Oh my God. You have cancer?" My eyes widened at the thought.

"No, no," he shook his head. "My mom."

I didn't want to, but I felt bad. I knew his dad died when he was little, and his mom was all he had left. She was actually sweet, even though he was so mean to her. She was a great woman; whenever Zach and I would fight, she would always try to help me see the good in him, but in the end, she was the one who told me to end the relationship.

"I-I'm sorry." I say.

He looked up at me and studied my face, searching for the sincerity. I guess he found it, because he apologized yet again for everything he had done to me; I was starting to believe his regret.