Chase & Adrienne

39

CHASE

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

A violent, overwhelmingly guy action movie: the only way I truly distract my mind from worrying about Adrienne going to talk to Luke. I mean, sure, I trust Adrienne wholeheartedly, but I wouldn't trust Luke as far as I can throw him, especially after he cheated on Adrienne. My hate for him has only grown, festering like a fresh wound. It takes a true idiot to pass up a girl like Adrienne. It's his loss. 

My eyes are fixed on an annoying glare on the TV screen when the sound of the doorbell makes me jump. This is a little surprising considering I've been listening to gunshots and booming explosions for the last hour and a half. I kind of forgot the outside world was a thing for a little bit, especially because I've had the house to myself all day again. Mom and Dad are shopping for new carpet, an invite that I politely declined. 

After the initial spook, I get up to answer the door. I keep my eyes glued to the screen for as long as I can before the TV is just out of view. I pause it and throw the door open. Adrienne stands on the other side. 

"Hey, how did it go with--?"

I am interrupted by Adrienne rushing into my arms, resting her hand against my chest. I put the remote down and hug her back, not sure if this is a good embrace or a bad embrace. 

"Adrienne?"

When I try to pull away, she tightens her grip. I'm starting to get a little freaked out. 

"Is everything okay?" I ask cautiously. For a second, fear grips my heart. Did something terrible happen? Is this a goodbye hug? Is she getting back together with Luke? It hasn't even been 24 hours yet...

"Everything is perfect," Adrienne finally answers, looking up at me with her huge, glittering eyes. 

"Why did you have to fake me out with the desperate hug?" 

"It was not a desperate hug," she huffs, picking the remote up and making her way to the couch  with it. I follow after her, still pretty confused. She un-pauses the movie and waves me over to sit beside her. I do. When I sit down, she scoots next to me and leans against me. She snuggles up to me like a cat, burrowing her head into me to get comfortable. As much as I want to just stay in this moment with her, I gotta know what happened with Luke. I reach over her for the remote and pause the movie once more. She sits up and stares at me, wounded. 

"What gives, Chase?"

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?" She looks down, and I can tell she doesn't really want to talk about it. Well, too bad. I need to know. 

"You know what I mean."

Adrienne sighs. "He was drunk, okay? On Saturday. That's why he cheated on me."

My heart sinks. That must have been so hard for her to hear. I grab her hand, trying to offer some kind of emotional support to her. 

"I'm so sorry, Adrienne. Are you okay?"

"I'm great," she says, which surprised me. I must look perplexed because she laughs at me. "I'm great because him doing that led me back to you."

"Yeah?" I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear so I can see her face clearly. I hadn't really thought of it like that before. Heck, maybe I owe Luke a thank you in a weird kind of way. 

"Yeah," Adrienne says, grinning. "And I'm really, really okay. Talking to Luke helped a lot. He's getting help with his drinking, and he really did care about me. He's not a bad guy when he's sober. He's really not."

When she says this, I can't help but make a face. The only time I ever liked Luke was the time he was drunk. I don't tell Adrienne this. Instead, I focus on the good parts. She's okay, and Luke didn't hurt her as badly as I thought. 

"So, what it sounds like to me is that everything's taken care of," I suggest, gauging her response. She purses her lips matter-of-factly and nods a little, like we're deciding on some kind of important business agreement. 

"All of my loose ends are tied," Adrienne agrees. A smile dances across my lips. 

"Alright," I say, clapping my hands together. "I have a proposal for you, Ms. La Londe."

"I'm all ears, Mr. McCarthy," she plays along. 

"I am offering you the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a one Chase McCarthy's girlfriend. No purchase necessary."

"That's quite the offer," she says, stroking her chin like she's thinking really hard about it. "What's the catch?"

"The catch," I say, dropping the business facade to take her hand again and look deeply into her eyes, "is that you better prepare to be protected, spoiled, shown off, supported, and loved like never before."

I swear that Adrienne blushes.

"You've got yourself a deal," she whispers, leaning in to give me a long, lingering kiss to seal the deal. I kiss her on the forehead and pull her close to me. We sit like this for several long moments. Adrienne breaks the silence. 

"Do you remember the first time you kissed me? In the library?"

I groan, "Ugh, let's not talk about that. That was so awkward."

"It wasn't awkward! It was sweet!" Adrienne argues. I scoff. 

"How?"

"Because," she says, "that day, some tiny part of you knew that we'd end up here. I couldn't see it yet because I was so afraid to love you, but you saw it."

 "I guess I did," I admit, realizing that there was something in my gut that day telling me to kiss her, something that had never spoken to me before. 

"I'm so glad you saw it," Adrienne says, her voice so genuine. "I'm so glad you saw me."

I take her hand and squeeze it once. 

"I love what I see," I tell her, "and I always will."

And when I see the smile on her face, I decide then and there that, boyfriend or not, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make her smile just like this.