Even Now

Chapter 19: Away - November

Lol... and it is November!! I'm a rascal that way... a cheesy, lame rascal... 😅

Pictured above is Jerry and his family at their ranch in Oklahoma! The four people in the very back are Jerry, his dad, his sister (Cheri) and his brother (David). The guy in the chair and the guys with the red and white hats are (I think) his uncle and cousins 🤷‍♀️
In the video, Jerry sits on the front porch of his family's ranch and sings the Yodelling kid song!!! Idk what it's called tho rippppp

On to the story...

***

When the plane begins its descent, Jerry feels his heart drop, dreading what comes next.
He reaches for Layne's hand, afraid to let go. Layne, surprised at first, smiles at Jerry, his deep blue eyes kind and reassuring.
Jerry often loses himself in those eyes...

"I can't believe I'm not going to get to see you for three months," Jerry breathes nervously, squeezing Layne's hand tightly.

Layne puts his other hand on Jerry's arm, leaning closer to him. "I know... I..." He glances for a second at Jerry's lips before he pulls back, still holding Jerry's hand. "I'm gonna fuckin' miss you like crazy."

Jerry closes his eyes as the ground rushes up to greet them with a jolt. He feels Layne reluctantly let go of his hand.
He can't watch him leave, just to walk over to Demri.
Jerry would rather just sit with his elbow on the windowsill, his head resting on a propped up fist as he glares out at the suddenly bleak world before him.

God... how am I going to get through this?

***

Early to Mid November, 1993: Stringtown, OK, USA

A light breeze sifts through multicoloured trees, scattering leaves all around Jerry as he walks alone along the treeline.
It's been a couple of weeks since he's last seen or talked to Layne... he's pretty much all he thinks about these days.

Courtney had been concerned about him, so she packed Jerry and herself up for a 'surprise' getaway to Jerry's father's home in Stringtown, Oklahoma.

Jerry spent most of his time there just being off on his own, thinking things over.

He's often in his own world, retreating into himself... he knows that Courtney can see this, and that she's quite worried about him. He constantly tries to convince her that he's fine, that he's just not in a great headspace. But he's not very convincing.

She asks him if something happened in Australia. He says something did, but that it's not important.

Like hell it wasn't important... it meant everything to him.

Jerry cares deeply for Courtney.
It had been love at first sight when they'd met at that Van Halen concert in 1988. She was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in his life.
Over the years, he'd been unfaithful to her, which was a pretty shitty thing to do to someone who'd always loved you unconditionally... but with the kind of life he led, the people he hung around, and just the kind of attitude he had towards life, Courtney had come to expect this.
She forgives him every time, because they truly do love each other. No matter how 'toxic' that may seem.

But Jerry can't help his feelings for Layne... and he feels terrible about that. Because that is something he doesn't think he'll ever come back from or ever be able to apologize for. Courtney certainly wouldn't forgive him if she ever found out about Australia, or about what had happened on the plane.

Now that he's here on his father's ranch in Oklahoma, he's recognized the great opportunity he's been given to get some distance from both Layne and Courtney, to figure out the sense in all of this.