Dear Lost Love

Chapter Twenty-Three

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Gabriel passed me the bottle of alcohol and I wrapped my hand around the top, slowly raising it to my mouth. My lips wrapped around the head of it when he cautioned me, "Take it easy," for the tenth time in the past hour. I rolled my eyes and took a sip before leaning back on my elbows, looking out at the sun as it set behind the trees.

"I heard about what happened at school today," Gabriel said casually and I turned my head to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "Wanna talk about it?"

I mulled his words over in my head. Did I want to talk about it? I had talked about it with Kate, Lucas and Melanie. Did I wanna go through with it all over again by telling Gabriel? With one look at his blonde hair and the compassionate blue eyes, I decided yes, I did. Because even though my friends and sister had great words and knew how to soothe me, it was Gabriel I could trust with my life. In the short time - only a month - I'd known him, he'd become a confidant and a friend.

"Holly has been bothering me for the past month, blaming me for what happened between her, her boyfriend and Ben, but today she took it too far," I told him, sighing. Gabe scooted closer and offered me his shoulder. I rested my head against it and put the bottle between us. "She started making up some lies about how I'm a slut and have been sleeping around and Seth wasn't my first one night stand and I pushed her," I admitted.

I looked up at Gabe and there was a slight smile on his face. "You, pushed someone? Wow. Are pigs flying now, too?" he asked, teasingly, but then sobered quickly when I shot him a glare. He cleared his throat and asked. "Then what happened?"

"Then she tried to punch me, but her friends pulled her away and we seperated before the teacher arrived," I finished. It wasn't an interesting story to tell. I wasn't one to throw fists anyway.

"God," Gabriel breathed out a laugh and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, holding me close. I sighed and leaned into him, closing my eyes as his warmth surrounded me. I loved this guy already - I did. Not romantically, but he was like my medicine. He helped me a lot by coaxing me to come to terms with my mother's suicide, my father remarrying and my recent break-up. I never knew realized how much everything had really affected me until he came into my life and helped me move on. I was actually beginning to bond more with Stefan now because of Gabriel.

Gabriel had dropped out of college, which was why he came to our house that first time and my dad had helped him find a job and an apartment close to us. He was accepted into our family pretty quickly and everyone loved him.

"Don't get into fights, okay? School ends in like, what? A month? You're going to be a senior and need to keep your record clean to get into an amazing college," he said, squeezing my hand.

"I know," I said, opening my eyes and looking up at the stars dotting the dark sky. "Why'd you drop out of college?" I asked, taking a swig of the bottle of alcohol. Gabriel let me drink, even though he was strict about not letting me go overboard.

He was quiet for a while, then spoke up. "I guess it wasn't my scene."

"And your ex?" I questioned.

Gabriel smiled down at me, blue eyes twinkling. "Maybe her, too. But I'm over her. I've been crushing on this gorgeous girl for a while now," he told me.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but my gut clenched. I didn't want it to be me - I didn't want to ruin the amazing, easy friendship we had.

Laughing, he hugged me tightly. "I know what you're thinking and no it's not you. I can't see me with you," he said sheepishly, kissing my forehead. "You're too adorable."

"Who do you like?" I asked, looking at him with earnest eyes.

He stopped and bit his lip, looking like he was thinking. Then he peeked at me through his long lashes. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" he asked.

"I won't."

"It's Mel."

I put my hand to my mouth. "My sister, Mel?" He nodded. "Does she know?" He shook his head. "What? Why not?"

Gabriel shrugged. "It's not the right time." He glanced back out at the distance and I took that as a cue to change the subject. I relaxed back against him and smiled, forgetting everything, if only temporarily, as I just focused on the scenery.