Do Better

Thirteen

Jhene

"How about 'What Happens in Vegas'?" Krissy asked, holding the DVD in her hand.

"Seriously, Krissy? That's so old." I laughed as I finished pouring us both a glass of wine.

"And?"

"Fine. We can watch the movie from the 1800s." I teased, carrying the glasses into the living room and setting them on the coffee table.

"Oh, shut up. It's like 2009 or something." She rolled her eyes, popping the disc into the DVD player.

As the previews began playing, my mind drifted off...

This definitely wasn't how I had imagined my Saturday night; calling my best friend over at 2AM to have a long talk outside for hours, then stay up to watch What Happens in Vegas like the entire Aubrey-talk hadn't happened. Ignoring it for a little while longer was not a problem, but I still allowed it to bother me. Getting Krissy's opinion opened my eyes to realize that I wasn't entirely right. He deserved a chance to explain his point of view, and I needed to give him that chance. Whether he'd want the chance or not was the only thing holding me back at this point. I feared asking him to talk then get rejected for it.

"Still thinking about him?" Krissy asked from beside me as if she had the power to hear my thoughts.

"Maybe." I sighed.

"Call him."

"I can't do that. It's 4:30 in the morning." I laughed.

"Yes you can." She argued and took my phone, searching for Aubrey's number.

"Krissy, quit!" I reached for my phone but she put her arm out, preventing me from doing so.

"He answered." She whispered, throwing my phone at me like it was a game of hot potato.

"Aubrey?" I answered, sympathetically.

"Jhene? What's wrong?" He answered in a normal voice, confirming that he wasn't asleep.

"You weren't asleep were you?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm sorry I called this late." I apologized.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, knowing that something was odd. It was pretty obvious that something was going on, considering that I had called at 4:30AM, despite the time zones.

"Yeah, um, everything's great. I'll call you later, okay?" I winced at how pathetic I sounded for calling him, then trying to hang up.

"No, don't." He answered too quickly.

"Okay, hold on a second." I spoke, then motioned to Krissy that I was going outside to talk to him.

Stepping out onto my porch, I looked up at the sky, hoping that this conversation would go good. Hell, I hadn't even had time to think about what I was going to say.

"Alright, you still there?" I asked once I had convinced myself that I had to do this.

"Yeah."

Sighing, I felt my voice crack with my next sentence, "Aubrey, I'm sorry." I pressed my elbows on the wooden railing that stretched across the porch.

"For what?" He asked, confused.

"For cutting you off like I did." I bowed my head down, feeling the urge to let out all of my emotions right then and there. I couldn't bare hearing his voice; all it did was bring back all of the memories that we experienced.

"It's not your fault. I'd do the same if I were you-"

"No you wouldn't," I cut him off. "Because I was wrong. I was so wrong for ignoring all of your calls, for pushing you away, for avoiding you at the concert. I didn't give you the chance that you deserved." Running my hands through my hair, the first tear fell.