The Other Me

17. Talk

I wait for Bran at the entrance to the gymnasium, since he's got seventh period. Sure, I could have just walked home, that would have been faster, but not that much. And less companionable. Besides, I need him to cheer me up. I should feel good about the fact that Ginny didn't have sex with Kevin, but now I feel bad because I thought he'd do something like that. He's right. I should have trusted him.

No. Wait. Shit. I let him talk me into blaming myself. This is his fault. He broke up with me. He invited Kevin over afterwards. And I'm sure he knew how Bran would interpret that, but he didn't bother to explain anything. Neither to me nor to Bran. I'm angry. He wanted me to think something happened – and now he acts like I'm at fault for distrusting him. That jerk.

I look at my cell phone. Seventh period ended five minutes ago, so they should have finished changing. The first students are already leaving the gym. Still, I have to wait another five minutes before I see Bran exit the building. Shit. He looks like he's about to burst.

"We're going," he barks at me, making me flinch. I follow him quickly. He unlocks his car, not bothering to look what I'm doing. I slip into the passenger seat, trying to find a clue in his expression. He's furious.

"Uh, Bran, what happened?" I ask carefully. He snaps his head around, glaring at me. I wince. I don't think this is my fault, but angry Bran is a rare sight. Like, not ‚I'm slightly pissed off'-Bran, but ‚I'm going to kill the damn fucker'-Bran.

"You know, I've tried playing nice, but that's over now!" he growls, starting the engine. Maybe he shouldn't drive like this. But I don't have the courage to tell him. Yeah. My life is safer if I keep quiet. Probably. "God, I don't even know where to start! He just pisses me off. Acting all high and mighty. I know he's not okay. And he knows I know. So what's the damn point?"

I think I get where he's coming from, though I still don't know what happened. Taking a deep breath, I fasten my seatbelt as the car leaves the parking lot.

"And then I stayed back to talk to him! I only wanted to let him know that it's okay and that we can talk and that he doesn't have to keep that act up. But then he didn't come out of the locker room and I went back to see what's taking him so long and now he's making out with Kevin!"

Oh. Oh. I avert my gaze. So now he's going for it. Did he lie to me? I flinch as the car stops suddenly. Bran parks at the sidewalk.

"Out! Right now! I'm not going to take any of this shit any longer. You guys need to talk. Right now."

He exits the car and slams the door shut. What the fuck? And then I realize what he wants me to do. Barge in on my ex doing ‚I don't want to know' with that jerk. Just imagining the way he'll look at me is too much. My legs are weak. I can't do this.

"Julian! Get. Out."

Uh~. I want to curl up and hide. Bran opens my door and drags me out of the car, not caring that I'm still stuck in the seat belt. I hurry up and unfasten it so I don't get strangled. Well. Maybe I shouldn't have done that. I'd rather die. He locks the car, not letting go of my arm.

"Bran, I don't think that's such a good idea. He doesn't want me-"

"So what?" he asks, incredulous. I startle. "If it's about whether you should do what he wants or what you want, why give in?"

"Well, I don't think I want to go in there right now," I mumble.

"Meaning you want him to fuck Kevin?"

"No!" I snap. God. Why's he acting like this?

"Then go kick that idiot's ass! And I mean both of them," he replies with a shrug, dragging me back to the gym. He's got a point. Still, I don't think I should be doing this. Then again, if Ginny hates me, he hates me. That's not going to change because I back down when he's putting his hands on someone. I doubt he'll enjoy me marking what's not my territory anymore either, but that's what Bran said, right? Who cares? If he's going to be mad at me anyway, I might as well show him I can get angry, too.

That's the spirit. Let's go kick ass.

Suddenly, I'm running – and Bran lets go of my arm.

"Go get him!" he shouts after me, then whistles loudly. Some students who are still hanging around are looking at us questioningly, but don't bother more than that. I enter the building, then run down the stairs three steps at a time, jumping down the last six or so. Focusing on my anger, I tear open the door to the locker room.

"Shit!" Kevin shouts, obviously noticing someone's entered. Good. I took care not to be quiet. He jumps away from Ginny, removing his hand from his pants. Oh, you didn't just do that. No, you didn't. He's dead meat.

"Get the fuck out," I hiss, barely containing my anger as I step closer. Kevin narrows his eyes at me, but I won't let him say anything. "Don't think I care what you have to say, asshole. And don't think he cares either. So just fuck off."

He opens his mouth.

"Fuck. Off. Or come at me. I don't care that I'll lose. But I'll make sure to kick your balls so hard you're going to sound like a fucking girl for the rest of your life," I snarl at him, now only an arm's length away from him.

He opens his mouth again, but this time, it's Ginny who's faster. Something hits my head on the side and sudden pain explodes. Shit. Ouch. I stumble a few steps backwards, swirling around to see what's happening. Ginny's panting.

"Who do you think you are, huh? It's my  fucking decision who I'm going to screw!"

"Well, then this is also my decision!" I shout back, returning his glare with the same intensity as I keep a hand on my aching jaw. Shit. He actually hit me. Damn. That hurts. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Kevin open his mouth.

"Stay out of this, Kev!", Ginny barks at him. It's written all over Kevin's face what he thinks about that.

"Fine," he spits at me, then storms out of the room.

"Jerk," I snarl after him, then see Ginny take a step closer. I flinch, jumping backwards in case he decides to have another swing at my face. He doesn't. Still, he closes in on me. I stumble backwards until I hit the wall.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Well, that one's easy.

"I love you."

He stops, startled. All the anger drops from his features – and is replaced by hurt. He presses his lips into a straight line.

"How can you say that?" His honesty is disarming me. He doesn't know anything.

"Because it's true," I reply, my knees suddenly weak. I think all the adrenaline in my body has decided to evaporate spontaneously. I feel lightheaded. "I know I shouldn't have done it, but if you'll let me explain-"

"I'm sick of your explanations," he hisses, narrowing his eyes at me. "I've endured all this shit for a year because I thought something happened. Then you forget everything, but nothing changes. Because nothing happened. You're just an asshole. Don't act like you care about me."

Shit. The corners of my lips twitch as sadness floods my body. I lean against the wall for support. Because he believes what he's saying. After all those years together, he thinks I don't care. I can't even remember a time when we hadn't been friends. It was always us.

"Please, Ginny. Just listen to me. If you don't want to have anything to with me afterwards, that's fine. So, please," I beg him quietly, looking him into the eyes, hoping he can see that I mean it. Sighing, he turns around and sits down on a bench, rubbing his eyes.

"Talk."

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Thanks for reading guys! Do you think he can fix it? Like, just fix it? Magical snap of fingers and, voila? Sounds so easy...

XOXO

T.