Hope | ✔

Chapter 23: A Solution

Fabian had listened to the three voicemails Jaimie-mae had sent him earlier. He listened to them over and over until he couldn't take it anymore. His heart hurt for her. She sounded so genuinely concerned. And what was crazy was that she was concerned... for him.

She hardly brought up herself in any of the voicemails and in each one she asked how he was. He knew that he couldn't really call her back because then she would be all he would think about. He was already doing that, but it would just be two times worse if he heard her voice other than in a voicemail.

Fabian was holding a grudge on his dad and the amount of tension in the house was suffocating. In order to avoid it, Fabian went out and hung out with his friends constantly. He also fooled around with Flora to get Jaimie-mae out of his mind.

To him and all his friends, Flora was annoying as hell but he still hung around her because she was good at... entertaining him and his friends.

Also she was good at blackmailing because she came from a good background. That was why he kept her around, she could easily blackmail him. At first, he thought she was a sweet girl, but that changed in a few months and he started to hate her company.

She had the money to blackmail, but at the restaraunt was where he had to end it. He couldn't have her talking to Jaimie-mae like that.

After Fabian had dropped Jaimie-mae off at her house, he noticed how... un-upset she sounded. She didn't shout or cry or even get all clingy like a lot of other girls had done to him in the past.

He kind of felt hurt that she didn't seem upset that he had told her he liked her and then a few days later smooshed faces with another girl. She didn't seem like she cared, but he did.

He wanted her to shout at him. And break down in tears. And ask why he played with her feelings. But she didn't do any of that.

Now he was sounding like the emotional torn up girl instead of the opposite way around. He had taken Jaimie-mae's place.

When he saw Jaimie-mae tell off Flora in her own, still slightly kind way, he filled up with this pride because she stood up for herself without causing a huge scene. Not many people could do that without really losing their temper and lashing out. Hell, if he were in her shoes and he was a girl, he would have flung himself over the table and slapped Flora across the face. But he was a gentleman and he'd never put his hands on a girl. That was the only thing keeping him from knocking some sense into Flora.

His other friends didn't know the things he knew about Jaimie-mae. They didn't know she was shy, even though it was a little obvious. They didn't know that she had PTSD, but she never acted like it. She didn't let it stop her. They didn't know that sometimes she could get easily emotional. But he knew and it never showed. And he was proud of her for that.

What he wasn't proud of was that she held her tongue and kept all of her emotions pent up inside her. He wanted her to talk, and he'd get her to do it. Because he cared for her.

As friends of course.

He hoped his dad would atleast let them enjoy each others company, as friends. If he didn't, his dad would get a lot more than the silent treatment.

What his dad did was harsh and Fabian tried to understand where he was coming from, but his dad literally ripped away something that made him happy. Hell, she saved his life. He couldn't do that. It was his turn to help Jaimie-mae out.

When he got home it was late and the house was quiet. He was trying to tip toe but he wasn't a small dude. It was hard getting up the stairs without making a noise. Just as he got to the top of the stairs a small figure stood at a door and he almost fell backwards.

"Jeez, Mason! What are you doing up?" Fabian asked in a whisper yell.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Mom and Dad just finished yelling at each other."

Fabian sighed and walked up to his brother. "Come on little man."

He walked him into his room and waited for him to get into his bed. After he was in his bed, he pulled the covers over him and pat them down tightly. 

He was about to go to his room and collapse in his own bed, but Masons pleading voice stopped him. "Hey bro. Can you sit here for a while?"

He nodded tiredly and slumped down on the floor against his bed.

"Why are mom and dad fighting?" Mason asked quietly.

Fabian shrugged. "I don't know. Its probably nothing. Maybe me."

"It's not you," Mason said surely.

"Yeah. Maybe not."

"Why hasn't your friend Jaimie-mae come back yet? I wanted to give her a picture i drew for her."

Fabian's face fell more at the mention of Jaimie-mae's name. But then he remembered what they talked about in the car. "She's coming over on Thursday. You can give it to her then."

Mason sat up in his bed excitedly. "Really?"

Fabian chuckled and pushed Mason back into his bed. "Yeah really."

"I like her. She's cool."

"Yeah, she is. I like her too," Fabian said in a whisper. 

The words drifted off with the cool breeze of the night and he thought them over in his head. He realized that there was a way around the problem he had.

He was going to wait for her, because in all honesty, he didn't want anyone else.