UNBREAKABLE ↠ BRANDON ARREAGA

FORTY-THREE - THE ONE WHO LOVES HER

word count: [2310]

BRANDON'S P.O.V.

Eliana called me, again, but I just left it ring and didn't pick up. A week ago, she told me that she was ready to be someone else's person. I didn't really want to listen to her talk about her future love interests or how she's ready to fall in love with someone else or her giving her heart to someone else. How could I possibly just sit there and listen to her talk about how she's interested in some other guy?

Suddenly, the door to my room flew open and Eliana stood there, as plain as day. I sat up, but I didn't stand up, at her presence. "I knew you were going to not pick up. Again," she said, and her voice raised when she said that because she was mad. Her eyes were twitching a bit like they always do when she's mad or mildly upset, which isn't a position I wanted to put her in the first place. "Why aren't you picking up my calls? Did I do something wrong?" She asked, her voice vulnerable, which is an even worse position that I managed to put her in. I cringed, but my lips grew into a small smile when she shook her head and said determinedly, "No. It's not me. I know I didn't do anything. So what is it? What happened? I thought things were good. You're my best friend. Or am I going to lose that too?"

"Baby girl, you'll never lose me. You know that," I whispered, regretting how I put her in this position, again. I put her in a position where she thought I was going to give up on her, again.

She huffed but settled into the bed with me. "Right now, I don't know that." She sniffled as she laid her head on my chest. "Do you not like me or something? Do you not want to be with me?"

"Silly, girl. Where else would I want to be if it's not with you?" I told her. However, it sounded too much like the truth and I didn't want to scare her away so I added, "You're my best friend. I need my best friend in this life."

"Best friend?" She whispered.

I furrow my eyebrows at her because of course, she was my friend. Did she think any different? "The best friend I could ever ask for. I can tell you anything."

"Right," she said with one nod. She's quiet for a while before, "But you didn't tell me about that one time you almost got into the wrong car at the airport. How dare you hide that hilarious event from me? I had to find out from the tabloids. Do you know how betrayed I was?"

I knew she was only joking with me, for whatever reason. Maybe to lighten the mood. I took this situation quite seriously though, so I defended myself. "It was embarrassing. If I told you, it meant that I had to relive it."

"Poor, Brandon," she mocked. I was just about to tickle her when she said, "Seriously, though, if you can tell me anything, tell me what's been on your mind this past week. Please."

"It's nothing," I said, but she gave me a look and I couldn't just ignore that. "It's just the trolls on the internet. They're getting me again." Which wasn't a complete lie because the tabloids always annoy me at some point. In this case, it just wasn't the main thing on my mind.