Trying to Fix You

Chapter 6 {Jeremy & Shayla}

Shayla walks up the familiar steps to Jeremy's front door and rings the doorbell. It seemed like forever since she was here last; before everything fell apart, back when everything was perfect...or so she thought.

~ 2 YEARS AGO ~

Shayla's sitting on the floor in front of Jeremy's couch trying to finish Geometry homework when all of a sudden she hears Jeremy yell, "Think fast!" She screeches as he tosses a football in her direction, knocking her bag of Doritos all over her homework. "Jeremy!"

He chuckles and rushes over to Shayla with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Shay. I was aiming for Luke."

She rolls her eyes and pushes some Doritos off her paper. "Yeah? Well, your aim sucks."

Lucas shakes his head with a smirk before giving playfully pushing Jeremy in the shoulder. "I'll go get the vacuum."

Jeremy sits down on the floor in front of Shayla and begins helping her pick up Doritos. "I really am sorry."

She shrugs with a small smile. "It's alright, I guess it's partly my fault for thinking I would get any homework done over here. Not with you two horsing around."

He looks up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah...what were you thinking?" He snickers and continues picking up Doritos.

She smiles and looks behind her to see if Lucas is coming with the vacuum then turns back to Jeremy. "Jer, can I ask you a question?"

He smirks. "You just did."

She rolls her eyes before looking at him seriously. "Has Luke said anything about me?"

Jeremy's eyes widen as a small smirk appears on his face. "Wow, now there's a loaded question."

Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink as she continues picking up Doritos. "No, I'm just...I want to make sure he's not upset with me. He has been acting really strange and distant lately. I'm just wondering if I did something to make him upset."

He stops picking up Doritos and looks at Shayla seriously. "He's probably just stressed with school...you know, grades and everything. I don't think it has anything to do with you." He shows a small reassuring smile. "I wouldn't worry about it."

She nods once with a small smile. "Thanks."

Lucas walks back into the living room with a ugly, beat up old vacuum. "Uh, Jer? When was the last time your family did any vacuuming? Cause I don't think this thing has worked since 1967."

~ PRESENT TIME ~

Jeremy's watching TV in his living room when he hears the doorbell ring. He drops the remote and slowly walks over to the front door. He opens it and his eyes widen slightly in surprise when he sees Shayla. "Shayla? What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you for a second. Can I come in?"

He nods once and moves out of the door way, motioning for her to come in. She walks inside and he closes the door behind her before walking over to stand in front of her. "Is everything okay?"

Yeah. I just wanted to know... She pauses for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. "...you've been talking to Madyson, right?"

Jeremy puts a hand on the back of his neck and glances down at the ground. "You're not here to yell at me, are you? Because I just don't think it's right to make her feel any worse. She's already drowning in so much regret and heartache, I just want to help her." He stays quiet for a moment, observing her reaction then decides to continue with what he was going to say. "It's what he would've wanted, Shay."

Her look of sadness is quickly replaces with a small smile as she nods. "I know it is." Her smile fades as she glances at the ground. "I just don't think I'm quite ready yet."

He nods in understanding. "I know and it's okay. We all deal with things in our own time."

"What did you do to...you know...deal? I mean it has been over a year and I still can't seem to shake the feeling of sadness everyday."

Jeremy shrugs and glances at the ground. He honestly didn't know how to answer that question. He was still sad, Shayla didn't carry around anymore sadness than he did. He was just better at hiding it and moving on with his life.

"He was your best friend."

Jeremy looks up at her with empathy. "And he was your boyfriend...maybe that kind of love is just harder to get over." That was the only reasoning he could come up with. He didn't understand why he was the only one who seemed to acquire some peace through all of this but he desperately wished he could lend some of it out to his friends. 

Shayla nods and looks down at the ground once again while fiddling with the end of her shirt. "Yeah, maybe."

He steps closer to her with a small smile. "Hey, it will get better. I promise."

She smiles briefly and nods before looking up at him with a small smirk. "You think we're still close enough friends to hug?"

He smiles with a small chuckles. "I think we'll always be close enough to hug, Shay. Even when you don't talk to me for over a year." He gives a playful glare before stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey! That goes both ways." She says into his chest, referring to the fact that he didn't make much of an effort to talk to her either in the past year. 

"True." He pulls away from the hug while keeping his hands on either side of her shoulders. "And I'm sorry for that."

"Me too."