Falling

5

I rang the bell and was greeted warmly by Mrs. Huntington, Lacey's super-sweet grandmother. I knew her really well, and I'd spent lots of time with her and Lacey as a kid learning about so many things, from Antarctica to the Solar System. She'd just returned from a two-week long holiday in the Maldives and it felt great to see her again. "Hey, Mrs. Huntington! How was your trip?" I asked this knowing I didn't give two shits about her trip - it was out of pure courtesy. "Oh, good! I had so much fun. Did you know-" "Is Lacey home?" I interrupted. I knew I was being rude, but I just had to see her. I was so worried. "Right upstairs in her room." She sounded disappointed, probably at the realisation that I really didn't care much about her trip. I felt bad, but I had to prioritise Lacey for now. "Thank you." I replied. I tried to sound as apologetic as possible, trying to stress to her that I really did care about her trip and was sorry for the interruption.

I walked silently up the beige-carpeted stairs and knocked on the smooth white door of Lacey's room. I noticed it was locked, which was never a good sign. After about five seconds, Lacey opened the room door. She stared at me, speechless. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Did she want me here? Was I invading her space? Had I come to check on her too quickly? Did she need more time? A host of questions raced through my head, but I was relieved when her expression softened. "Ethan...what are you doing here?" "I just came to...you know, check on you. Just see how you were holding up. I know how hard it must have been for you." For some reason, she seemed angered by this. "You know? You? You've never even come close to being in a relationship, let alone get your heart shattered by some asshole who doesn't even care about you! You know nothing, NOTHING about what this is like. You know how worthless he made me feel? I just can't deal with it." Despite all her rage at the world, her voice was starting to crack. "I just...can't" she continued. "I loved him so much and I-" In that moment, I rushed towards her and gave her a tight, tight hug. She started to sob, and I felt terrible, like it was somehow my fault she was in this state. "He never loved me, Ethan! He never loved me." She kept repeating it until it sunk in. "Shhhhh." I hushed her, cradling her head in my arms. "It's okay, it's okay. Shhhh." I comforted her. I had been with Lacey through thick and thin, and was glad that I was the one to comfort her, the one she would open up to. I preceded to sit down next to her on the ocean blue couch. She put her feet up and lay with her head on my lap, tears still rolling down her cheeks. I stroked her head, running my hands through her lemon-and-coconut scented blonde hair, and continued to whisper into her ear. "It's okay, Lace. Everything will be okay." After about five minutes of silence and head-stroking, she seemed to have calmed down slightly. Enough to talk without crying her eyes out, anyway. "Thank you, Ethan. I really needed this." I smiled, but inside I was slightly disappointed. 'Wait, needed?' I thought. 'Like it was over? Oh.' I had really enjoyed this. I was able to comfort her, to be there for her when she needed me most. I thought of myself as a knight in shining armour, coming to her rescue. Even when she was sobbing, she was still absolutely beautiful. I smiled and was about to wave goodbye when she stopped me. "Hey, Ethan, um, do you have any plans today?"

"No, nothing. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you could, you know, maybe stay a while longer."

BULLSEYE! I was euphoric. '5 inches in at this point!' I thought. Trying as hard as possible to stifle a scream of pure joy, I stayed calm. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind?"

Next thing I knew, we were sat on the couch trying to pick out a movie to watch. It was really, really cold outside and Lacey's central heating wasn't working, so it wasn't exactly warm inside either. She and I were huddled up on the couch with a comfy blanket shared between us, holding two mugs of hot cocoa that had been whipped up by Mrs. Huntington. "Well?" Lacey said expectantly. "Well what?" I was slightly confused. "Well, what movie would you like to watch?"