Unloved (Leafycynical)

14

A/N: Hi, everyone. I just wanna say a quick thank you to everyone for nearly six hundred reads! That's half one thousand! Anyway, here's chapter fourteen, I hope you like it!

"Lemonade" by Flower Boy

You are like lemonade

When it's too hot outside to play

You are like the sunshine

When It's been raining for days

Time with you goes by so quickly

But it always seems so slow

/

All I wanna do today is lie in the shade

You pull the bark from the trees

I pick the pedals and the leaves

I know the water's calling you, but don't leave

"M-Mr. Paul?" I asked, shocked. He squinted and moved his glasses up a little.

"Calvin? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Mr. Paul. W-what are you doing here?"

"Well I work here, of course. How have you been? I remember how you and Austin used to hang out. Don't look at me with those sad eyes. You were a great friend to my son, and I'm glad he had you."

It was like he already knew. I tried not to be around Austin's dad too much after what happened since I figured it wasn't too good for him and I should just leave him alone. Sure, it had been years since Austin died, but I somehow still felt bad for him, and Austin immediately came to mind whenever I saw him or thought of him. He could tell that was the case.

"Well, how are you?" he asked.

I sighed. "I guess I could be better. What about you?"

He gave me a concerned look. "I'm doing just fine, Calvin. Now, what have you got for me today? A kitten?" he asked, pulling on a pair of latex gloves.

"Yeah, I found him in the street. I-I think he's hurt."

"Alright, well, let's take a look." The cat screeched its protest when he gently took it from my arms and placed it on the examination table.

"What have you been up to? You still in college?" he asked. I considered lying to him; I knew that's what he wanted to hear, but with a sigh of defeat, I gave him the truth:

"I dropped out."

He looked up from the cat for a moment. "Why?" he inquired. Again, I was conflicted with what to tell the man.

"It was too hard," I said quietly.

"Well, what are you doing now? Do you work for a computer company or something?" Oh wow, he really thought highly of me. I remained quiet for a few seconds, not wanting to disclose my "occupation".

"Calvin?"

"I-I'm a YouTuber," I blurted.

"Oh...well, I didn't know folk got paid for that," he said, taking off his gloves. "I'm glad you found something you like."

In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to jump out the window. I couldn't stand a minute more of the embarrassment.

"You don't have to be nice about it," I said, looking down, "I know I'm a failure. That's why I didn't want to tell you."

"Calvin, It's quite alright. I don't see you any different than I would if you told me you had three degrees."

But I knew it was a lie.

"I should probably be on my way now," I said, getting up from the chair I was sitting in. "You can mail me the bill for the cat. I'm not keeping it," I said. He handed me a note pad and I wrote my address on it. He tore off the sheet I wrote on and put it on the desk.

I was confused when he handed me a business card.

"My cell phone number is on the back. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to tell me, Calvin. Alright?"

I looked at him for a second before replying, "Okay. T-thank you, Mr. Paul."

"Alright then, you go on. Have a nice day. And drop the 'mister'. I'm just Paul."

I forced a half-assed grin. "Okay. Thanks, Paul."

"You betcha," he affirmed and gave me a wink before I left the room.

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I pushed the door open slowly. I knew Niall was still there, but I thought maybe he wouldn't hear me if I was quiet. I knew that I basically promised we'd talk when I returned, but I really just didn't want to.

Apparently, I wasn't quiet enough, because Niall walked in from the back door and was looking at me. I stood there, just short of frozen as he neared me.

"What did you do with the cat?" he asked, his voice low.

"I uh...I just...forget the cat. What did you want to talk about?" I knew what he wanted to talk about, and just the knowledge alone made me even more nervous

"I really owe you an apology, Calvin. I'm so sorry. I never should've hit you. I regret it so much. I was just impatient and confused. I'll leave now if that's what you want. God, I can't stand you being afraid of me, and I'm really sorry, babe." He looked as if he might cry.

I didn't know what to say, but I was relieved that he wasn't trying to leave me.

"I got a good hit in too, Niall." At my words, he looked confused for a minute.

"So you don't want me to leave?" he asked.

"I...Niall, I know I said I didn't want your help, and...I was scared you were going to leave because of that. I'm sick and I'm tired and I'm done with all of this shit, but, Niall...it took me a sec to figure out why I'm still here. It-it's you. You're the only reason I didn't already do it."

That bright, beautiful smile was back. "It'll never happen again, baby, I promise," he said before picking me up and kissing me hard.