Love Lessons

Chapter Thirty Four: Long Live

34| Cole

~*~ Long Live ~*~

                Jess’s father was released from the hospital a day before we had to return to school. Jess insisted that she stay home for a while longer to help her father, but we were all against it. My father had stayed in contact with us every day since her father had woken up and her father was transported to my house to not only recover, but to see better doctors. Jess wasn’t happy with that decision either, but my father insisted that since he was single, he needed male bonding time. Our fathers seemed like perfect best friends because they did nothing but watch sports on TV and talk about violent movies.

                It was better that her father was at my home because not only was he in a better house where he could move around in and not have to worry about paying bills, it was also closer to school. That was the only way Jess let her father stay here. In less than a month, her father was comfortably living at my home while Jess and I were cozy together at school.  We didn’t talk about it much, but my mother never returned. I didn’t hear anything from her since she moved out and I know Jess wouldn’t hear from her. I was happy that my mother was out of our lives, it made everything easier and made me realize how much I loved Jess. It was just disappointing to know that your mother threw a hissy fit and caused a family to break up because she didn’t approve of Jess.

                My father and I were bonding a lot more. He was still busy with his work life, but he made more time for me. Now that my mother was out of the picture, it seemed as if it was less stressful for us to do things. My father didn’t mind coming home and he was actually happy when he walked in the door and according to Jess’s father, he was already looking at women on TV. The holidays were enjoyed in our home and I didn’t have to worry about being away from Jess for an entire month. My father was already treating her as if she was his own daughter and they would share burger ideas. The warm feeling in my house never existed when I was younger, and now I was enjoying every minute of it.

                Valentines Day was around the corner and all the guys were talking about what they were going to do for their girls if they had any, and others were talking about a party they were going to where they would hook up with a girl once again. I was growing nervous with ideas, I knew it was something Jess didn’t want to think about, but I knew her well enough that she was hoping for something great. I didn’t want to be cheesy or cliché and that was the most difficult part about this whole holiday. I even tried asking Tyler what he was doing with Jerry, but instead he just turned red. We were sitting on our futon playing Grand Theft Auto as I ran through ideas.

                “Don’t tell me you bought him a toy!” I grimaced. Tyler’s face turned bright pink and he coughed uncomfortably.

                “Of course I didn’t do that.” He groaned.

                “What are you doing? How does that even work? Are you the man in the relationship, because from what I’ve heard, you’re definitely the girl.” He punched my arm and muttered nasty words under his breath.

                “You’re an idiot, maybe that’s why you can’t come with even a shitty idea for Valentine’s Day because your head is full of fuckery.” He sighed.

                “Well, are you taking him out or is it the other way around?”

                “I’m taking him ice skating.”

                “Isn’t that cliché and really gay?” I laughed, causing me to get another punch to the arm.

                “He never learned and he always thought he would look less masculine if he ever went so he’s never been. “ He shrugged as if it was nothing important. I was in fact, very impressed. Sure, it was somewhat girly but the fact that he actually thought about something he said was something within itself. I never knew he was slightly romantic.