Forever & Always?

Chapter Ten

      About a week had gone by. My medical careers program started on Monday. I was so excited. It was Saturday night and I was trying to figure out how I could get any amount of sleep the next two nights.

"Hey, idiot. Hellloooo???" Alex asked. I snapped out of my daze.

"What??" I squealed.

"What do you want to do tonight?" My phone rang. I picked it up and said, "I don't care."

"Hello?"

"Hey Marie," It was Daniel.

"Hey Daniel!" I looked to Alex. He rolled his eyes.

"What are your plans for tonight?"

"Oh Alex and I are just haning out."

"Ah that's fun. Sorry to bother you. Tell Alex I said "hey"!"

"Okay and no problem. I love you."

"I love you too." I hung up.

"Daniel says, "hey"."

"Ew," Alex said.

"Why do you hate him?" I asked.

"Because he's a cheater that doesn't give two shits," he said in a snotty voice.

"No he's not, Alex. Don't say that. You don't know what he's been through."

"I don't care what he's been through. It's no excuse to cheat on your girlfriend." He had a point. He cheated on me once, what makes me think he will not do it again? I was letting Alex get to me. That was never a good thing. I tossed what Alex had said and what Daniel had done out of my head and changed the subject.

"Let's just go to the outdoor mall," I said.

"It's freezing and all the stores are closed," he said.

"Starbucks isn't. Let's get some hot coffee or hot chocolate and walk around. Come on we can check out all the cool lights."

"Ugh," he said, which was Alex's way of saying fine. We went to the mall and had a blast, as usual. Even the little things I did with Alex were always so enjoyable.

Such an amazing evening ended with tears and lack of hope. I drove Alex home and Skyped Daniel at about 11:30. The conversation started off like it usually does but eventually the moon rose higher and our bodies grew tired. We began to talk bout his family. Daniel was not very happy with his home life.

"Marie, my dad would come home drunk. Roaring drunk. He'd yell at me and make me feel awful. That's not even the part that gets to me. It's the fact that all my family members smoke. Whenever my uncle talks to me he's always smoking. He talks and it blows all in my face." He was crying now.

"And I'm gonna die from all of that second hand smoke someday. I'm gonna die one day and it'll all be because of them." I began to cry as well. I felt bad for Daniel. I did not worry too much, although. He didn't either. Him and I both knew that even when he was on the edge of blowing up, I'd always be standing there.

***

It was now Monday. My medical careers program was highly facsinating. I could not wait to graduate high school and start learning more about the medical field. The rest of that week I went to the program after school. It was now the following Sunday.

"Ughhhh," I groaned, getting up from my chair. I plopped down on the couch. Daniel and I were in my basement trying to complete our homework. He fell down next to me. I curled up in a ball and laid my head on his chest. He put his arm around me and began rubbing my back. I fell asleep for about ten minutes. When I woke up, I sat up, staring at him. He looked to me.