One Day

Part 7 - Falling

I walk out of the room. I don't want to hear what he has to say or see his reaction. My mind is going a thousand different directions.

Are we doing the right thing?

Can two people really fall for each other that quickly?

We've been friends for a while but not really close until the last month or so. I think back to how it all started and smile – his little cousin (well not so little, he's 15) had a crush on a girl that worked with me at Sonic and Jace would drive him up to see her since he couldn't drive on his own. And that's where it all started. We hadn't talked much since we graduated high school three years earlier but we would talk every time he was there.

I was impressed that he seemed to have things together – unlike most guys our age. He didn't go to college but instead worked hard and was preparing to buy his first home. He made me genuinely laugh which wasn't something I had done a lot over the past year but I seemed to be laughing at his every visit. The visits started out slowly and then, as the weeks passed, he started to come visit me alone. Soon enough, he came by every time I worked and claimed he was just addicted to our slushies.

His visits were innocent enough. He would sit on the patio and wait for me to have some down time while he drank his slush. Some nights he would come late and stay until I closed the store claiming he was just making sure I made it safely to my car.

And then my dad died...

I'm in my bedroom but I can hear him pacing. I'm trying not to listen but the sadness in his voice catches my attention.

"Nothing's happened, I swear. I don't know, I just can't do this anymore," he says as he continues to walk back and forth.

I make my way into the living room unsure of what to do.

I sit on the couch and shrug my shoulders when he looks at me. I'm not sure if it's regret in his eyes or concern but I can tell this is one of the hardest things he has ever had to do.

"I have to go, I'm sorry," he says as he makes his way to the couch next to me.

He shuts his phone and lets out a long sigh. "I can't just sit here. Come on."

"Where are we going?" I ask looking at the clock. It's already late.

"I don't know but I can't sit here," he says angrily as he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the door. "I've loved that girl with everything in me for the past three years and I just broke up with her in a matter of minutes. I obviously don't know much of anything anymore."

We step outside into the cool May air and walk towards the Jeep.

Thanks for reading One Day! I try to post each weekday and look forward to where this story takes us as it is a work in progress.

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