Inked

16

I pulled away from him and looked straight into his eyes.

"Move in with us. Please. I know you think it would be better for you to stay with him, but I'm telling you it's just going to get worse. Let me help you."

He avoided my eyes and remained silent.

I grabbed his hand and interlocked his fingers with my own, holding on firmly.

"Mason, it's not good for you to stay around him. I care about you, okay? I lo-"

"Okay. I'll move in." He removed his hand from mine and stood up briskly. I glanced up at him in confusion at his sudden action. He ignored me and held out his hand to help me up, to which I took without hesitation.

We made our way to the car while still hand in hand. I still hadn't fully processed what had just taken place, but one thing definitely began to sink in.

'I almost said I love you to Mason' I thought. I slowly began to panic.

'He cut me off before I could finish. What does that mean? Does he not feel the same way? Of course he doesn't, we've only known each other for a little while. How the hell could he love me back? Especially after all the drama and hurt I've caused him.'

I looked over at him from the passenger's seat, about to apologize when he says something completely unexpected.

"I love you too, Ro." 

______________________________________________________________________________________

I sat on my bed  listening to music when I suddenly hear a crash downstairs. I know that is was probably my dad stumbling around after a few and decide to ignore it since my mother is probably back from work by now.

About five minutes later there's another crash followed by a string of curse words.

"Rowan, could you come down here and help me clean up this damn mess? That cat son of a bitch knocked over some of your mother's shit again!" My dad yells drunkenly up the stairs at me.

"Sure, dad. Be down in a second." I yell back down at him. I sigh and get up from my bed to go and clean up whatever mess 'the cat' made now. When I walk into the living room I notice two things, that my mother isn't home yet and  that there is no way in hell that a cat broke this much shit.

I sigh in slight annoyance, but thank my lucky star that my dad isn't an aggressive drunk, just a clumsy one.

About half way through cleaning, I begin to dream about what my life would be like if my mother hadn't just settled for my father, but actually found her soul mate.  I feel tears burn my eyes and spill onto my cheeks.

I bolt out of the house and down the street as fast as I can, sobbing over the life that I could have had.

Eventually I stop running and slow down to a wander. There's a small park that I had never noticed before with a matching tiny pond and bench in the center where ducks sat peacefully atop the water, occasionally poking their heads beneath the surface to catch a snack. Near the pond is a long, white wooden bench with a girl about my age sitting on it.

As I approach the bench, I notice that there are tears streaming down the girl's cheeks and on to pink elephant plushie which she is clutching to her chest.

I sit down beside the girl and gently place my hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I ask her calmly. She looks over at me at first in surprise, but eventually a grateful expression crosses her face.

"Don't you think you should tell me your name before you start asking personal questions?" She replied sassily, despite the tears still slowly making paths on her cheeks.

"Alright, then. I'm Rowan. What's your name?" 

"I'm Callie. How old are you Rowan?"

"I'm eleven and a quarter." I reply proudly. "What about you?"

Callie smiled slightly at me. "Twelve and a fifteenth."

I looked at her in confusion. "You can't just split your age into fractions!"

"Why not?" She replied. "You did."  I huffed in defeat and decided to return to my original question.

"Well, Callie who is twelve and a fifteenth, what's wrong?"

The slight smile on her face disappeared and was replaced with the same expression that I found her with.

"I got into an argument with my dad, so I decided to come see the ducks to calm down. It was real bad too, but all my fault." She said, voice breaking.

"I'm sure that's not true. Do you want a hug? That's what always makes me feel better when my dad gets bad. My mom gives me a big hug and I feel alright again. Wanna try it?" I offer.

"Sure, why not." Callie replies, shrugging sadly.

We both get off of the bench and wrap out arms tightly around the other and remain there for a few minutes. When we pull apart, Callie smiles at me genuinely.

"Thanks, Rowan! That really did help."

"No problem! You're my best friend now." I say matter of factly.

"How so? We just met." She points out.

I shake my head at her. "Doesn't matter. We both told each other something and that's what friends do."

"Best friends." She corrects me.

'Right!"