WHAT COMES AFTER THE END OF THIS

Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Chase's PoV

"She's leaving today, man! Grow a pair and go see her off! I know she fucking misses you!"
"Oh for fuck's sake, Barry, let me be! I have work to do!"
"Work? My ass! You're just a coward, you can't see her ayes she rejected you. It's simple."
"Oh, it is anything but simple, brother. And yes I am a coward but I cannot watch the love of my life slip away from me just like that! I can't bear to watch her leave,"
"You can't tie her down, Chasey, if she says she's not ready then she's not ready. Give her some time and space, she needs it more than ever right now. Support her. Be there for her. I can tell she misses you; hell, she asks about you every night when we're speaking on the phone. She doesn't say it but she does miss you a lot and wants to thank you for having given her another chance at life, for having paid attention to the details, the tattoo on her shoulder. She's grateful that she has had you in her life Chase, don't let all that go to fuckland. Show her you care."
Letting out an exasperated sigh and dragging my hands down my stubbled face I give him a nod to let him know that I'll be there to see her off today after which he hugs me and pats my shoulder.

Gathering al, the courage I possibly can from the scotch glass in front of me I take off my reading glasses and go up to my room to get ready. Even though she didn't stay with me for long the ghost of her memory still lingers in my house, sometimes I swear I can see her sitting on the counter, hear her singing in her beautiful voice, hear her laugh at me and even see her in my closet, stealing my shirts. Shaking my head at the mirthful memories I do the buttons to the baby blue collared shirt I have decided to wear and just before leaving I take the charcoal grey one from its hanger; a parting gift from me to my beloved, a shirt of mine that she had mentioned she loved and I had snatched it from her, also having laid a claim of love on it. But in truth I only wanted to keep it so that I could wear it and watch her admire me; she had. Her eyes had become alight with an almost feral glow of a combination of lust and raging love, a passion so intense I am sure I felt my knees buckle under its effect. Now, I was going to let her keep it, she was stylish after all, she could make a whole new outfit out of this one article of clothing besides she would look better in it then I ever could have, nevertheless, seeing her in my clothes was a sight I wanted to wake up to every morning, too bad I couldn't and so for now, knowing that she was adorned in my shirt would have to suffice.
~*~
Yrene's PoV

"Where are you?!"
"I am on my way sister!"
"Bear you always do this!" I whine into my phone and I can almost physically see the frown of indifferent apology on his features as he manoeuvres his car, "Why do you always have to be late! You're such a jerk, you never come to class on time and now this?! You know what, I'm leaving, I'm leaving without hugging your lazy ass!"
"You and I both know that won't happen, so shut up! I got held up a little due to some reason but I'll be there in five."
"Oh you better be here in five or you can kiss the dust off my boots goodbye instead of me." With that I snap the line shut and go inside to sit with the rest. I do a once over; Mishy is on the verge of crying, Ray, too, is trying super hard to stop the waterworks, Ross and Joss are putting my stuff in the boot, Katie and Aelin are smiling through the Tara that started to flow the day I told them and my parents are trying very hard to keep their asses on the sofas for a few more hours than to go to their respective offices.

True to his word Bear really does arrive in five minutes and to my utter astonishment he brings along with his giant body a smaller version of him, Chase. While Bear strolls into my house as if he owns it, Chase stands to the side a little awkwardly before I make my way up to him, take his warm hand in mine and lead him to the living room, my initial shock having been replaced by a certain sense of gratitude; I didn't want to leave with saying goodbye to him. Thankfully, the awkwardness soon subsides as we sit and chat around for a while and before we know it, it is time for me to leave. I say my final goodbyes to my parents, Ray and Michele who will not be coming to the airport with us as well as to Chase. I hug him tightly, inhaling his musky scent before letting go.
"I'll see you soon."
"You better." He says and kisses my forehead. He doesn't say anything other than that and a tiny part of me is slightly disappointed and even I don't know why. I don't need to hug the rest so soon as they will be coming to the airport with Ross and I, yes, airport; I am still not ready to travel on the same road on which my Jason died. After Ross says his goodbyes, we walk down the long driveway with my friends and Bear in tow sans Chase. I'm almost about to climb into Ross's convertible when I hear footsteps crunching the gravel and I look up to see a speedy Chase, running towards us at full speed,
"Wait! I'm coming too!" He flails his hands at Bear and jumps into his passenger side and shaking my head I finally close the door. We reach the airport sooner than I expected and in no time we are all gathered around the entrance gate, I'm being hugged by people left, right and centre.