Long Way Home (Commentary Crew)

Longing (Will)

"Hey, Gee!" I said as I picked up the phone. "What's up? We haven't talked in ages."

"I know," She responded. "But I'm in town for the weekend if you wanted to see each other?"

My history with Gee was complicated at the very least. We had a two year relationship back in high school. It was the kind where the love was gone months before it was over but the fear of loneliness at the end kept both parties hanging on. It was the kind where feelings got hurt on both ends and both foolishly took all the blame. But most of all, it was the kind where they promised to stay friends, and we all know how that goes: an awkward friendship that only lasted until Gee went away to college, being too scared to talk to each other, everyone else telling you two to stay away.

But I didn't want to stay away. She was my friend after all. I missed her, as a friend. At least, that's what I told myself as I responded.

"Sure! Coffee tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you there," She answered.

"See ya there, mate."

I hung up the phone and blew out a puff of air I didn't know I was holding in. Scooping my keys off the table, I decided to head out. I had to go pick Mia up from a meeting she had with some kind of agency. She told me they could help get her brand deals and stuff and even some professional shoots. I wasn't one hundred percent sure what exactly the company did or how they did it, but Mia seemed excited and I'd most likely support her no matter what she wanted to do.

I stuck the key in the ignition, adjusting the steering wheel so that it could turn. The screen display lit up and the engine awakened. I plugged my phone in so i could get directions as I hadn't ever been to the place before. After plugging my phone is, I saw the estimated time: thirty minutes before her appointment ended.

"Shit," I mumbled under my breath, turning off the GPS and deciding to head out anyways. I would just stop somewhere on the way.

I pulled out of the driveway, almost hitting some car speeding down the usually quiet street.

"Gotta remember to look behind you, dumbass."

I rolled my eyes at myself as I pulled into the street. I hadn't had lunch yet today so I decided to go look for somewhere I could go to eat. Turning up the radio, I was greeted by some whiny pop punk song. Alex's music, I figured, putting on some shitty pop station. I wasn't incredibly fond of any particular music, but there was definitely music that I didn't like. Unfortunately that included almost all of Alex's music, as much as I loved the kid. I was also not fond of the same Taylor Swift song that played three times in one drive yesterday that I found on the other station, so I resorted to twisting the knob at random and hoping a decent song would come on.

I had given up on the radio by the time I was pulling into the McDonald's drive through. Luckily, there was no line, and I ordered more food than I most likely needed. I figured either Mia would eat some of it or I would just end up stuffing my face far more than I should. It's not like either would be particularly unlikely.

The woman at the window handing me my food raised her eye brows in a judgemental way as she handed me my three cheeseburgers, fries, 20 piece nuggets, and a chocolate milkshake but refrained from making any judgemental comments.

"Well 'ow's your day going?" I asked her, trying to make polite conversation as she counted my change. She just ignored me, dropping my change into my palm with a sour look on her face.

I mumbled under my breath, "Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine," not expecting her to hear me. Of course with my luck she did, which made me feel terribly.

"I'm sorry, look, I'm just not having a good day," She said. And I could see it and hear it in her voice that that was the truth and she wasn't usually like this.

"Don't worry about it," I told her, throwing her a grin. "I wouldn't be too happy stuck working here either."

The woman cracked a small smile and wished me a good day as I drove off, already unwrapping my cheeseburger and shoving it into my mouth. I had promised to try and eat a healthy and complete diet with my mom to help keep her motivated to lose weight but it was hard. I was already a pile of bones and used to shoving my face full of greasy food, and other than helping my mom I didn't have all that much motivation in my alone time to head healthy anyways.

By the time I had reached the office where Mia had her meeting I was two cheeseburgers and a few chicken nuggets deep. It had been five minutes since her appointment was scheduled to end and she was standing out side, wrapped up in a puffy winter coat. I honked my horn at her, seeing her grin as she speed walked over to the car. She opened the door and slid into the warmth of the small car. She looked at the food wrappers already on the floor and laughed a little, running her fingers through her hair as she did so.

"Well you were hungry," She said.

"There's another cheeseburger 'n there if you want it."

She smiled and reached into the bag to grab it, unwrapping it and taking a bite.

"How was your meeting or whatever?" I asked as I began to drive again.

"It was alright but I don't reckon I'm gonna work with them."

"Why not?"

"Too pushy," She told me, "Wanted me to sign this big contract today, wouldn't let me look it over properly."

I nodded in response, and we fell into a comfortable state of silence. Mia turned the radio up and put on some song I'd never heard before. I liked it, surprisingly, but that may have just been because it was Mia's choice. I looked over at her as she wiped the ketchup off her fingers and moved her head to the music.

She's pretty, I thought as I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex. It sent something dull and painful into my chest.

"Wanna come in?" She asked, hand already starting to open the door. I looked at her for a minute, and for some reason it hurt. I found myself shaking my head, and I watched as Mia frowned. I almost never rejected a chance to hang out, and both of us knew I didn't have plans.

"I'll see you later then."

I just nodded, and an awkwardness fell between us for the first time. She raised her hand to solute me, something we always did when we said goodbye. I returned it with no energy, my eyes still glued to her face and my thought from just minutes ago was pounding in my skull. She turned and walked away, the pain in my chest swelling and shrinking at the same time as I thought of the way her face fell when I didn't even say goodbye.

And with that, I drove away.

A/N: Lowkey a ton of this story is about to be me projecting my problems onto the characters woops. Vote and comment or whatever, the next Will chapter is gonna slap so hard that I lowkey wanna skip the other two before it oops.