limerence ; wes tucker

three

promises aren't always meant to be broken.

Wes needed to think; he needed to go somewhere and clear his head. He sat in his car for what felt like hours but was only twenty minutes before deciding he knew where to go.

As he looked down at his phone, he remembered all the hateful things people said to him for so long. He couldn't help but remember their laughing faces; all because they didn't understand.

Truth be told, Wes didn't even know why he cared so much if people knew. He was confident in his body, but he knew not everyone would react the same, and it scared him to think that he could lose someone because of his identity, so he kept it locked away.

Vanessa knocked on his car window, waving before getting in and sighing deeply.

"You know, Orion isn't gonna do anything. She's all talk no action you know that." She put her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it back and forth. Vanessa knew, ever since Wes told her when they were about 14 years old.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Wes asked as they laid on his living room floor at some ungodly hour of the night.

"Yeah, anything in the world." She smiled at him.

"What if I were a boy? Like if I woke up one day, and I happened to be a boy. Would you still love me?" He asked it so carefully, scared of what she would say to him.

"Yeah, I'd love you no matter what. You know that." She laughed quietly.

"Promise me?"

"I promise. I wouldn't think twice about loving you."

That was the night that Wes realized he was in love with Vanessa; he knew he couldn't let her go.

As he started the engine and began driving, he couldn't help but think what would have happened if he and Vanessa never became friends. He probably would be alone right now, scared without knowing what to do.

He drove them to what Wes called 'Keep A Kiss Lake'. The name comes from a drunken night and two unsuspecting teenagers, but every time he would go there he would remember everything so vividly.

As they got out of the car and sat in the grass they looked out into body of water, and Wes couldn't help but feel a few tears fall down his cheeks.

"Wes! What's wrong? Is everything okay?" She hugged him tightly, but he just wiped his eyes and looked at her.

"Everything was so much simpler when we found this place. Why can't we just go back?" He sighed, throwing a nearby pebble into the lake.

"I know, I feel like that too. Maybe we could just act like everything's okay. Try and forget that sna- I mean Orion, and talk about good things that have happened to you." She smiled.

Wes thought it over for a bit.

"Good things that have happened to me? Hm, concerts, music, my family, you. Stuff like that." He smiled at her, and he saw the blush creep on her cheeks as she looked away from him.

"No sappy stuff, I don't wanna cry." She laughed at him, picking a small flower bud from the ground.

"This is you now, but one day you're gonna be a blooming flower and nothing will be able to stop you." She said as the lights of a jeep came into view. Wes quickly looked up.

"Cody? What's he doing here?" He asked quietly.

"Well, I can't cheer you up alone, so I called reinforcements." She giggled as Cody, Dakota, and Jonah, who happened to be some of Wes's best friends, all emerged from the Jeep.

They all sat around him, talking and laughing about stories that never left their friend circle, until Cody's face turned stone cold.

"Yeah? What's up, man?" Jonah asked, and when Cody showed him his phone, he bit his lip and sighed hard.

"Vanessa, I need you to see this." Cody showed her the phone when the screen was on a tweet sent from Orion's Tumblr page.

orionnichole: i can't expose mr pretty boy yet, but me and his little girlfriend used to be best friends. reminder never to give out your Apple password.

That post was followed by semi and full nude pictures of Vanessa, and apparently the entire school's groupchat found out about it.

Vanessa broke into tears, standing up and starting toward the street. All of them took that as a signal to hop in their cars and follow her. Wes in particular.

He followed her on the road for almost twenty minutes, telling her to get in and he could help her and that he was sorry. He couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. Orion did come for him, he didn't mean for Nessa to get caught up in their drama.

After a while, Vanessa did get tired and got into the car in which she fell asleep about two minutes in to the drive back to her house, where Wes laid her down on her bed and kissed her forehead before leaving back home.

When he made it inside, he could hear his parents fighting. They were fighting about him, as usual. He sighed, trying to ignore it as he went upstairs.

Once he had gone to his room, he immediately called Orion.

"What the fuck is your problem dude? Why bring Vanessa into this?" He yelled, and she said something that only angered him more before he calmed himself.

"Oh really? And what's that?" He sighed.

"You promise that if I do this, you'll fucking leave her alone?" He felt as if he were about to cry.

He breathed shakily as she responded.

"O-okay. I'll do it." He hung up quickly, picking up the picture of him and Vanessa from seventh grade. Tears glistened in his eyes and he sighed.

"I'm so sorry. You deserve so much better." He whispered, clutching the frame to his chest. He set the picture down, going to the bathroom and staring at his own reflection.

"Look at you; so pathetic. You had one job: protect Ness, and you can't even do that right. You're making a deal with the devil and you know it. I just hope it's worth it." He immediately turned off the light and left the bathroom to go and lie back on his bed.

Wes sent Vanessa a text that night as he was going to fall asleep.

i love you, so much more than you could ever know.

After tomorrow, he knew he would never get a reply.

-
Authors note: hi 😊 hope you guys are loving this book so far. It's a pretty emotional roller coaster but it's worth it imo. Love you guys
If you have questions my Twitter is @/murdrized