AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He must read the resolve on my face, because I watch his shoulders sag in my periphery. “I can go grab your stuff and bring it out to you.”
“That would be really awesome of you,” I say.
“Yeah, I’m pretty awesome sometimes.” I think he’s hoping he’ll get a smile at that, but the best I can do is a tight lipped imposter that doesn’t feel like it belongs on my face.
He considers me for a minute, though I can’t tell why. It’s not the pitiful expression I was expecting but something more… sincere.
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” he says quickly as he stands. “You should wait in your car, it’s too cold out here.”
He’s not wrong, I can see my breath cloud in front of my face. It’s a gloomy day with thick clouds that cover the entire sky. If I wasn’t already numb to everything going on around me, sitting here this long would’ve done it.
“It’s cold in there, too. I’m fine.”
He stops moving. “You don’t even have heat in that thing?”
I shake my head. My Honda Civic is older than I am and I’m not sure how it’s still running. It definitely looks as if it would have stopped by now with its peeling paint and bare tires.
“Damn it, Autumn.”
I say nothing as he turns to go inside.
After a couple minutes, I can hear yelling. It’s mostly Kara yelling at whatever Miles is saying in a voice that’s too calm for me to make out.
“I told her she had thirty minutes!”
Pause.
“I’m sick of having her stuff here! She shouldn’t have been here in the first place!”
Pause.
“Why bother? She doesn’t care about anyone but herself! That girl has been nothing but drama since the second I met her.”
I wince. She’s not wrong about the last part. It doesn’t matter that I seem to have no control over it.
She’s wrong about the part before that. I care about Miles a lot. He’s the best person I know. I don’t blame him for any part of my current situation. I don’t even blameher, as much as I don’t like her. I try to put myself in her shoes, and although I’d definitely go about it differently, I can see her side of things. She signed up to live with her boyfriend, not some random girl she barely knows. A girl she’s heard a lot of crappy things about.
I feel slightly bad for wishing Miles would just dump her and find someone who actually deserves him. Not for my sake, I’d still stay in my car and save him the trouble. I just want him to be happier than he is, but I also know how easy it is to look past someone’s faults when you’re in love with them.
When he appears at the front door there are two cardboard boxes stacked in his arms, and a big bag full of clothes hanging off of his wrist. Only two of those things are mine, and I give him a questioning look.
He doesn’t say anything, just passes by me to get to the trunk of my car. I get a whiff of whatever cologne he’s wearing, and feel a sharp pang in my gut. Not that we spend a lot of time close enough to smell each other, but it’s all over his apartment. It’s become something of a comfort to me, and it’s a detail I’m going to miss.
It hits me that I have to manually unlock the trunk, so I rush over, feeling bad that he has to hold those while he waits. My anxiety about it only makes me fumble with my keys even more, dropping them on the frozen ground before I can get it together.
“What’s that?” I ask as I finally turn the key and pull it open.
He shakes his head subtly and it makes me wonder if Kara is watching from the window or trying to listen through the front door. He sets them down, and arranges them in the least slidable way before turning to me.
I take him in for a moment, something I never let myself do. I never stare too long, I never say too much.
He talks quickly and quietly. “She’ll be pissed if I give you a hug, I’m sorry. Promise me you’ll text if you need anything?”
I stand there, now frozen for a reason other than the weather, and nod. I’m never sure how to respond to his kindness. Even after years of being on this end of it, it never ceases to surprise me.
I’m also not sure how to say goodbye. How to thank him for everything he’s done, or tell him how much I’m going to miss him.
“Stay safe,” he says, and then he’s gone. So fast that I don’t get the chance to say anything.
