Thursday Nights | ✓

TWENTY | 12/24/15

TWENTY | 12/24/15

H A R R I S O N

I'M FUCKING EIGHTEEN, in college with a girlfriend and somewhat of a future ahead of me, and somehow, I find myself sitting in a familiar holding cell. Quietly staring at the ground, I realize that I'm simply back at square one. Suddenly, I feel sick to my stomach, wondering if this is the world's cruel way of telling me that I will never move on and grow up. I squeeze my eyes together and try to force out the thoughts.

"Harrison Gage," Sheriff Banks sighs, looking through some file -- my file, "How did we end up back in this situation?"

"Beats me, Sheriff," I casually say, shrugging as if nothing is wrong, "I was just trying to live life."

"You know, Mr. Gage, tonight is a very unfortunate night to get arrested. For both you and me," the older man responds, "because I was trying to live life by spending time with my daughter and my girlfriend this Christmas Eve, but you just happened to ruin that."

Fuck, thanks for making me feel worse.

"Sorry," I mumble, looking away from his disappointed expression. I don't even feel like myself from one year ago; I feel like a completely helpless child.

"Harrison," Sheriff says, calling my attention, "why are you really here?"

I avoid his question and ask, "Can you please call Arden?"

Sheriff Banks stares at me for a few more moments before breaking away his gaze. He grabs his phone and calls Arden, throwing glances at me every few seconds like he's waiting for me to detonate.

Everything has been going downhill with my familial relationships ever since Thanksgiving. Some pent-up anger was let out, some unkind words were tossed around, some tears were left unshed. I had genuinely made the intention of fixing things with my family, especially since Arden had been encouraging me through everything. However, things turned sour, and I'm in an even bigger mess than before.

"She'll be here soon," Arden's dad tells me before sitting at his desk to work on some paperwork.

Arden and I haven't talk to each other for the past two days aside from a few texts here and there. I practically forced her to focus on her dad and make the most of her time during Christmas. Reluctantly, she agreed, but we would meet up the day after and exchange gifts. I guess our agreement is now cut short.

"Harrison?" A voice says from the doorway.

I allow myself to smile, barely noticing the Sheriff's absence from the room, "Hey, Arden."

"You idiot," she lightly chides, grasping my hand through the bars, "What happened?"

My smile drops into a frown, and I scrunch up my eyebrows, "I honestly don't know, but I-I feel like I deserve it."

A concerned expression appears on her face, "What do you mean? You don't know why you're here?"

I shake my head as a response. Arden simply squeezes my hand.

"Your parents are going to come and pick you up, right? They can't just leave you here, especially on Christmas Eve!"

I lean my head against the cold bars, "They're not going to come."

"What?" Arden asks, outraged, "Why?"

"My parents said that if I got arrested again, then they're just going to leave me to r-rot."

I trip over my last word, voice cracking and hands shakings. A sudden feeling of sadness and darkness overwhelms me. I know that getting arrested is horrible, but this time, it's not my fault. Except, they don't think that at all. Sheriff Banks just showed up at my house and took me away, seemingly enough to prove that I will forever be a delinquent. He asked me why I'm really here, but I have no idea what the fuck is going on.

I tell the story to my girlfriend, and she quietly sits there, various emotions displayed on her face.

"You know what?" Arden defiantly says, "I'll bail you out because I care about you, and because I love you, Harrison."

This is the first time that either of us said those three little words. We've only been dating a few months, but that didn't mean the emotion was nonexistent. I mean, Arden and I know it just by our gestures and other words of appreciation, but we just never physically said it.

"I love you, too, Arden," I say, the roughness of my voice slowly being etched away, "I love you so much."

"I'm going to bail you out," she reassuringly repeats, and I wonder who she's trying to convince more.

"Babe, it's fine," I say, scuffing my shoe against the floor, "I don't want you to do that for me. You shouldn't hold that responsibility, got it? I need to learn how to take care of myself."

Arden looks like she wants to protest, but I know that she understands where I'm coming from. I'm honestly jealous of her ability to help others in different situations and then understandingly step back when needed. Arden Banks is the epitome of good, and even though she has her flaws, it makes her an even more beautiful human being -- someone that I could never be like.

"I'm staying with you," she demands, "I know you don't want me to help you, but I'm still going to sleep on this floor right next to you because I need to know that you'll be okay."

It's also times like these where I realize how much changed between us. I would've never believed that Arden Banks would be my girlfriend, my best friend, my family. I was just some fool who pretended that life was an adventure when in reality, nothing was going right. She was simply Arden, the badass yet sweet girl who had her own demons to deal with.

"Okay," I finally agree, sitting down on the floor, our backs almost touching if it weren't those stupid bars in between us, "I'm sorry for ruining to tonight for you."

"You didn't ruin it at all," Arden whispers, "I get to have your company."

I let out a laugh, and slowly, all the weight on my shoulders begin to fall off, "Arden, I was framed by someone, but hell if I'm going to let them ruin my life."

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LOL WHEN THURSDAY NIGHTS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LIGHTHEARTED. AHAHAHA NOT ANYMOREEE.

I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS CHAPTER. IT'S KINDA SAD IN A WAY BECAUSE HARRISON, IN ACTUALITY, IS A VERY SAD PERSON. HE JUST HIDES IT.

AYEEE FOR 20 CHAPTERSSs

I LOVE YOU ALL!

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--thyselves
(lol previously known as islandarc)