I Promise || Adopted by Peterick

_23_OK?

All the way to the park I can't keep my mind from wandering. I can't shake the feeling of being a disappointment, like everything I do will be wrong. I stare at my feet as I walk, playing with a stray string on my sweater. Right as I reach the edge of the grass surrounding the play structure I kick a pebble so that it skids along the sidewalk until it hits the grass and stops. I stare at it for a moment, becoming lost in my thoughts.

A car rushes past me and I'm brought back to the present. I push my bangs back from my eyes and stuff my hands into my pockets. The park is surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon. I pick a spot of shade near a tree and lie flat on my back. I study the clouds for a while, picking out shapes and faces.

Pretty soon someone lays down next to me. I don't need to look up, I know who it is. He takes out his phone and hands me an earbud. We listen to music for a while in silence. I'm overcome with a sense of peace for the first time in the past couple of days. I sighed and let my chest rise and fall in time with the beat of whatever song was playing.

I had been listening to music more often lately, Echo was constantly sending me new albums and bands to listen to. They were always fantastic, I found it hard to believe there could me so many talented groups that hardly had any publicity. A lot of the videos of live bands were from performances in hole in the wall bars and tiny park concerts. Seeing them made me smile though, to see how people acted before fame had corrupted their minds.

I guess I had started to doze off thinking so intently because suddenly Echo was gently shaking me. I opened my eyes slowly to see him hovering above me, he grinned down at me that infectious smile that I couldn't help but return.

"Hi." He leaned back away from me to sit on his heels. I just pulled my legs to my body and sat up.

"Hi."

"So what did you want to talk about?"

I sigh and hug my knees tightly to my body. My stomach was tugging at me in anticipation for the conversation I was about to have.

"James." I decided it was easier to just answer his questions with short sentences for the time being. He nodded and ran his fingers through his hair and was quiet. "Did he tell you what he said- almost said in the basement?"

Echo cleared his throat and scooted a bit closer to me. "Yeah, I felt like a piece of shit afterward too."

"I know the feeling." I hear him sigh as I bury my head in my knees. His arm wrapped around me tentatively, like he wasn't quite sure how to comfort me. I didn't blame him, I wouldn't know what to do in this situation either.

"Want to know what he told me though?" His optimistic tone surprised me enough to make me look up at him. I wasn't crying, which I was grateful for, but I knew I didn't look great today so I was a little hesitant to look him straight in the eye.

"What?" He smiled softly as he picked a piece of hair out of my eyes.

"He said that he knew you liked me a lot, that he could see it in your eyes. He said that he almost didn't say anything because he knew it was pointless to fall for someone who already had eyes for someone else. He wasn't necessarily angry at us, he was upset with himself for being so attached to an unrealistic idea."

I bit my lip, thinking about his words, it did seem like a very James thing to say. He was always reading theories and telling me about philosophical studies being conducted throughout the world.

"Really?" I finally asked. He nodded and pulled me back to his side, wrapping his arm around my back as I lay my head on his shoulder. We're content in the moment, the sun barely brushing us from under our tree. I close my eyes and let myself let go of my anxious worries I had been bottling up for what seems like weeks.

Echo presses a kiss to my cheek, the the corner of my mouth before I catch his lips for a second just as his phone chimes loudly from his pocket. He groans as he pulls back to check it. I lick my lips and lean back slightly as he taps in his pass code.

"Its James." He turns his phone toward me so that I can see the screen where there's a picture of some retirement home sign. The timer in the corner ends as a message comes through from James on the app.

Stopped to visit my grandparents. There's WiFi here if you wanna talk now.

"Are you ok to talk with him now?" He looks over at me with genuine concern.

"Yeah." I nod and he types in a message quickly before hitting send.

I'm with Lucy Skype me if you get a chance.

"And now we wait," I try to make light of the situation, but the thought of all three of us talking made me a little worried. I knew that things should be ok between us now, but I can't help but worry about awkward tension that might form between us. The thought of something so trivial ending our friendship made me sad.

I lay back in the grass and put my head in Echo's lap as he continued to mess with his phone and occasionally play with pieces of my hair. I pick a handful of grass out of the dirt to peel apart and tie together in a string. A couple of minutes later Echo gets a call from James that he answers, grinning at the screen immediately.

"Hey dude, how's the old folk home?" I can almost hear the disgust in James' voice when he answers.

"It smells like prunes and baby powder." Echo laughs as I chuckle silently. "Where's Lucy?" I hear and perk up. He's looking for me, that's a good thing.

"She's down here," he switches the camera around so that it faces me.

"Hi," I grin and wave at the black dot on the back of the phone.

I hear him laugh on the other line before Echo switches the camera back and they go off in their own conversation as I close my eyes and soak up the happiness I feel in this moment right now.

I had a shitty week, so here's an update.

Hope you all have a good weekend. <3