A Good Man is Hard to Find

IV

1985

Brookline, Massachusetts

June stopped by Conan's house, back in Brookline, hours later. She moved closer to college, but her mother still lived right next to the O'Briens. It was less than thirty minutes from where she was currently living, so she visited her frequently. She had not come to visit them in a while though, and that was a great opportunity. She greeted the parents, who were on the living room and knocked on each door of the siblings, hugging every single one. The girls in particular were excited to see her.

She talked to Luke for a bit, he was particularly sad for something that happened earlier that day. His mother had thrown his old comics away while he was on college. Apparently, she thought he wouldn't want them anymore. June remembered she used to read them with Conan sometimes. She also promised to buy him some more and hide them from his mother the next time. Both giggled. She stated again how proud she was of him. It seemed to cheer him up a bit. They hugged and June went to Conan's room.

She never knocked on his door, just stormed in and jumped on his bed, disturbed his sleep or anything like that. She never caught him half naked or doing something inappropriate, he was usually studying or reading his brother's comic books. Both of them were fascinated by books of any kind, she had a particular interest in fiction and he liked thick history books. But he wasn't doing anything like that when she opened his door that afternoon.

He was sitting on his bed, his arms around other body. His lips were kissing other lips. The girl was sitting on his lap and his hands were gripping her small waist firmly. The afternoon light gloriously illuminated his ginger hair. Her hands were playing with his strands of soft hair, both breathing heavily. They stopped, and looked at June at the door, her footsteps caught their attention. Conan smiled at her, but everything she could do was apologize... and run away.

She ran to the front door, no one noticing her as she did. She ran to her mother's house, and locked herself there. She still had a copy of the key and thanked God her mother wasn't home. She ran to her bedroom and sat on her bed, without turning her lights on because she didn't want him to look for her. She didn't see him coming and she hoped he hadn't seen her entering her house. She was out of breath, and sad. She had forgotten about it. How could she?

Lindsey. He was still dating... Lindsey. June thought she was far gone, but they were still seeing each other. They started dating the year prior, and June thought she was fine, although they didn't really click. June was happy for Conan, but deep inside she had this feeling that Lindsey wasn't the right girl for him at all. But who would be? He was funny and charismatic and she seemed not to get along with his sense of humor. June thought it was a waste.

She was always censoring him, telling him to stop, not in a playful or gentle way; while June usually cracked up with his peculiar way to see the world. She even believed Conan wasn't his true self around his girlfriend. He was a giant kid, in a good way, and he always brought life into any room he was in. She didn't like people telling him what to do and how to behave and it was worse when he actually obeyed.

June brushed this thought away many times, thinking that she was probably jealous because he was dating and she wasn't. He probably loved her and he was happy and that's what June wanted. His happiness, the light in his ocean blue eyes. His smile, his...

"June?" she heard a voice calling her name.

Shit.

Her window wasn't locked and in a minute he was already in her room. It was Conan, with a worried expression. He entered easily; her window was large enough for him to enter. He walked to the light switch and turned it on to see June looking down and sitting on her bed. He hadn't been inside her room for a while, and it was still the same, filled with Elton John posters top to bottom. A somewhat overwhelming sight. He approached her and sat on the bed beside her. She didn't look up and she felt his arms on her shoulders.

"What was that?" he asked softly.

"Nothing." She said. "I interrupted you and that was awkward and I'm so sorry."

"Just because of that?" he said, almost whispering. "You made me worry back there."

"What about Lindsey, Conan?" June looked at him in the eyes. Deep inside she knew she was asking more about their relationship in general than about the thing that just had happened.

He chuckled. "Well, I told her that I needed to check on you and she didn't seem very happy about it." He paused. "But we shouldn't be doing anything like that in my room anyway, my folks were in the living room and that would be an embarrassing situation to explain."

She giggled. "Yeah."

He winked at her and said: "I promise you that we will go out for ice cream before I leave. Just the two of us. I'm pretty sure she will understand."

June found extremely funny that Conan knew she was uncomfortable around his girlfriend. "That's nice. Thanks."

He looked at her deeply in the eyes. The pure blue of his eyes made her blush. He remained silent for a moment, studying her facial expressions. He looked serious, and her heart was beating fast, as the silence started to become uncomfortable. She was about to speak when his soft voice broke the silence again.

"Is there anything you'd like to say to me?" he asked, calmly.

It was already so difficult to talk to him after the Lindsey situation, but now he was staring directly at June, so close she could feel his breathing against her face. He didn't move away or even made a sound, waiting for her answer. She looked at his lips, so close and yet she didn't dare to move closer. His scent was overwhelming. She felt like her heart was about to explode.

"Not really." She said, trying to show confidence, but in the end her words came out in a breathy, weak whisper.

He nodded, kissed her temple goodbye and left.