Radio Waves (manxman)[Match Maker Series]

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jake's POV

"Open the door Jake!" Gerard shouted. My friends had been outside my door for fifteen minutes now trying to get inside but I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. 

The trip from the bus station to my dorm room was very much a blur and I couldn't remember much of it apart from a lot of crying. I remembered seeing Wesley and Gerard talking to a few other people near the dorm building and running past them with my head down. Gerard had called out to me but I'd sprinted to the elevator which was just closing and had excused myself to the two people already on board.

I'd gone straight to my room, dropped my bag at the end of my bed and then curled up in a ball on top of the covers, which was where I was currently.  I didn't know how long I'd been here when the knocking started.

"Jake?" Frankie's voice penetrated the wooden door. "What's wrong? Let us in to talk so we can try to help you."

"You can't help me." I sobbed.

"Shit!" Wesley's curse rang out clearly.

"Mind out of the way guys." Charlene said from somewhere outside a moment before I heard a key in my lock. There was bustle of activity at my door as my friends all poured into my small room.

Frankie fell to his knees beside my bed and cocked his head to the side to look me in the eyes. His outline was blurred by tears but I could see the concern written all over his face. Gerard also came into view and pushed a tendril of hair back from my brow. "What's happened?" Gerard asked in a soothing yet concerned tone of voice.

"Gabe told me to go." A fresh wave of tears streamed from my eyes. "He told me to go home, he doesn't ever want to see me again."

"Son of a bitch!" Lydia spat. "I should cut his nuts off and put them in a blender, then I'll spread them on bread and make him eat it."

Wesley shuddered. "Remind me not to eat your nutella anymore." He looked from Lydia to me. "Who knows what she has mixed up in that little glass jar." I knew he was trying to make me smile but my smile had deserted me. "Why did he say those things to you?"

I explained what had happened to Laura during lunch and then at the barbecue, how she'd asked me not to tell Gabe she'd been feeling unwell with headaches. I finished by telling them about his explosive outburst at the hospital. Telling the story in my own words was no less painful than when I'd gone through the actual events myself.

"Don't read too much into it Jake. I know it's hard to believe right now, but I think he was just frightened and hurt and really worried about his mother. You are the closest person to him and sometimes when our emotions are running so close to the surface we tend to lash out at the person closest to us. He loves you, you are the closest person to him. I'm not excusing what he said or how he reacted, but I think you both just need a little time to let things calm down." Wesley sat down on the other bed in the room with the girls surrounding him.

"Since when do you talk sense? Who are you and what have you done with Wesley?" Gerard gave Wes a joking shake and Wesley chuckled.

"I'm right here. I do have some sense you know, I just haven't been using it until lately," he admitted.

"I don't think you should be alone right now," Frankie said pulling my attention away from the others again.

I took his hand which was resting on the bed and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I love you guys, you know that right?"

Frankie nodded and kissed my cheek. "We love you too. That's why we hate to see you hurting like this. We'll figure out a way to fix it though."

"No!" I sat up and caught his shoulders. "Don't try to fix this Frankie. I don't want to push him even further away. He already hates me but I'm going to respect  his wishes and just stay away from him. I have some exams coming up but once they're finished I'm going to go home for a while, to my parents. I'm going to lick my wounds and then I'm going to move on just like I did before." That was a lie. I knew getting over Gabe wouldn't be easy, it would be impossible. Getting over my ex had been hard to do after he'd betrayed me but then I'd met Gabe and he'd been everything I could possible dream of the perfect guy being, but he wasn't perfect. Who was?