Hate to Say I Told You So

Chapter Twenty One

The next few weeks sort of went by in one of those romantic comedy montages. We would hang out, read together, drink coffee, have deep conversations about the Whitman versus Yates, he would come to our place for dinner, and I would go to his for dinner. We would hang out with Finn, go on double dates with Collin and Heather, it felt almost perfect.

Then one night, Ross and Finn hung out alone again.

The second I saw Ross in English that next morning, something seemed wrong. He never said anything, though. He acted normal in class, at lunch, walking me part of the way home. Everything seemed fine. He stopped by on his evening run and told me to come to his house to finish homework with him. As soon as he left, I collected my things and started walking. Was something wrong? Had his dad come back? Did they have to move again?

I walked faster than normal and rang their bell. Ross answered wearing the dark gray shirt I loved on him since it made his eyes look bluer than usual. His hair still dripped from the shower and he smelled all fresh and clean as he stepped out onto the stoop in his bare feet, closing the door behind him and giving me a peck on the lips. He stepped back and smiled before saying "Holy shit it's freezing out here."

I waved hello to April in her living room-turned-studio sketching while Belle & Sebastian played in the background. I knew that back in the city she managed a little gallery and made her own art on the side, but I didn't know what she did in Elm's View.

Ross led me up the half staircase to where his room was. It had light blue walls, hardwood floors, and he situated his bed under one window, his desk under the other, thick black notebook sitting in the center of it, pen stuck in there marking his place. At Ross' house April allowed us to have the door closed, but I could only come over with April there. We did homework for a while before Heather came in. She and Collin seemed on the mend, not still broken up, but not back together. She had decided that it made more sense to date Collin since Peter lived farther away, and had several female visitors in her absence. She hung out for a bit, but then she disappeared to do homework of her own.

After Heather left, Ross sat there, looking at me, an amused half smile on his face. His hair had dried and stuck up at odd angles.

I let out a self conscious half laugh, "What?"

Ross looked down, "Nothing."

I readjusted myself on his bed so I looked at him, "Well it's got to be something."

Ross ran a hand through his crazy hair, making it even crazier, and my hand reached out to try and fix it, "It's just something your brother said to me last night."

That wasn't good. My hand dropped, and I didn't like where this could go, "Well, what did he say?"

"He just wished you would call your dad back and-"Ross trailed off.

"And you what?"

"And I kind of agree with him." He mumbled.

I couldn't believe he had just said that. Ross, the guy who had said that he would be there for me when it came to my parents, didn't feel like he did enough, the guy who hadn't spoken to his dad in over a year, telling me that I should speak to my negligent, alcoholic father? That seemed too rich.

"Says the guy who hasn't spoken to his dad in over a year." I could believe I said that out loud, and I immediately regretted it. I looked down at my homework so I wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

I heard him walk over to where I sat from where he had worked at his desk. Ross tucked a finger under my chin to make me look at him before sitting next to me. His hand rubbed my back. "Hey, my father never tried, okay? He moved, and I haven't heard from him. I've tried. Belle, I care about you. A lot. I don't want you to have this either. Even if it's just to tell him to buzz off, you should at least call him. I know he's messed up. I know you think your relationship is irreconcilable, but at least give him the peace of mind to tell him that. Look on the bright side, if you tell him to hit the road, he won't call you anymore." Ross just shrugged.