Waiting on You

Chapter 2

I woke to the sound of rocks clacking against my window. The night was still, and I had been as well, but now I stood up in my bed, unsure of what to do next.

Another single clack.

Forcing myself out of bed, I slumped over to the door that led to my balcony. As I opened the door, a small gray figure went soaring towards my face. I ducked with a small yelp.

There is a gasp from the ground below, and I sigh. "What is it?" I scream whisper from my crouched position.

"Rory," a voice reaches my ears. As I expected, it is the voice of my best friend. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be glad to see him or angry.

I stand up, walking towards the railing. The air is cold and crisp, the darkness seeming to envelope me completely.

Looking down, I spotted him. He has on his plaid pajama bottoms, and a guilty look on his face. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"No," he says back. "I thought you weren't coming."

"I wish I hadn't," I mumbled to myself.

"I heard that," he calls up to me.

I shake my head. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep, because..." He pauses, seeing the conditions that we were in. "Can I come up? I can't fake whisper much longer, it's hurting my throat."

I give him a small nod. "I guess, just don't make too much noise..."

Before I can stop him, he starts climbing up the tree next to my balcony, and not-so gracefully.

"Tucker," I can hear the annoyance in my own voice, but I can't help but smile at the situation. "You could have just used the front door."

"Front doors are for suckers," he grunts. Pretty soon I can no longer see him, because he is buried in the branches of the tree.

I shiver. "Hurry up, it's cold out here," I say, gesturing to my white tank top and pajama shorts, even though I know he cannot see me.

He sighs. "Okay, okay, I'm hurry-"

Suddenly, there is a scream and a thump.

I gasp, running to the railing, gazing down through the darkness to see what- or who- had fallen. Of course, I could see the body of a teenage boy, lying on the ground.

"Tucker? Are you okay?"

My heart rises to my throat when he does not answer at first. I am relieved when he does. "I think the front door might be a good idea, actually."

I chuckle. "Okay, sounds good."

••••••••••••••••

"I think I broke off one of the branches," Tucker says, looking down at his hands. "Sorry."

We are sitting in my room now, enjoying each other's company, mostly because we got to relive the tree incident a million times. I wasn't sure if he was very happy about it, but he didn't seem to completely mind.

"It's ok," I reply.

I sit down next to him on my bed and pick a leaf from his shaggy caramel colored hair.

Tucker is holding an ice pack to his head, and a permanent blush had been plastered to his freckled cheeks.

"I think I was just, um... To strong," he rambles on. "My my muscles are... Too big."

I smile. "That's probably it."

We go quiet. The lights in my room create a soft glow, making everything seem a little more comforting. I look over at Tucker, suddenly remembering that he was here for a reason.

"Why are you here," I ask softly. "Are you in trouble?"

He shakes his head, making his shaggy hair fall into his eyes. "Mom and Dad, they, um, got into another fight."

A chill goes down my spine. This was the fourth time this week. "Oh." I didn't know what else to say. When you have happily married parents, it's hard to relate to someone like Tucker.

"Yeah," he continues gloomily. "This one was pretty bad. The yelling was crazy. I couldn't stay there."

Tucker lived only a few houses down, but I pictured the walk from his house to mine feeling like a million years. My heart ached in my chest. "I'm sorry, Tucker." I put my hand on his.

He squeezes my hand and gives me a small smile.

"I'm so, so sorry. I-" I begin again, but he stops me.

"Hey," all of sudden, it's seems like he is comforting me. "Don't pity me. I've got it pretty good compared to most people."

This makes tears spring to my eyes. I wish that I could be like that. So positive. Always looking at the positive side of things. I didn't know anyone else like Tucker.

"Yeah," I grin. "You do."

He puts his head on my shoulder, and I hear him start to sniffle. "It's just kind of scary."

"I know." I don't know what else to say.

"I think their going to divorce."

I feel the blood rush out of my cheeks. I had known Tuckers parents since I was three years old. Picturing them being apart was like picturing the Easter Bunny without his eggs.

"Well," I whisper softly. The sound of crickets harmonizes with out voices and in that moment, I feel safe. "Just know that everything will be okay in the end."

I wasn't completely sure if this was true, but he seems satisfied.

He lifts his head from my shoulder, and when I look into his eyes, I see he has been crying. His eyes are glossy, making his blue-gray eyes even more vibrant. They are so bright they are almost shocking.

"Can I stay here with you, tonight?" He asks.

Tomorrow my friends were supposed to come over, but I knew I couldn't turn down Tucker. I could never turn him down. Especially not now.

"Sure."

I sit back on my bed, opening up the covers for us. I slide under and rest my head on my pillow.

He crawls under, right next to me. I feel his warmth and smell his smell- like cinnamon and citrus.

His front is too my back, and he wraps his arms around my waist. I feel safe with him, like nothing bad could happen.

"Thanks, Rory," he whispers in my ear.

"Of course," I reply, drifting off to sleep.

"Don't ever change."

These words make me shiver. I had heard these words so many times before. My cheeks go pink and my eyes are wide open. I hope that Tucker cannot feel my heart stop in my chest.

A single name runs through my head and then a million questions.