There was once a place in the park where Laurance, Cadenza, and I would play near a playground and by a large patch of pure grass. There was a nearby tree that cast a large shadow where dad would sit to watch over us. Sometimes, we would have a picnic at the tree before running off to play again.
These are fond memories of mine. So fond, I don't mind telling them to people close to me. So much so, the Ro'meaves happen to be the people who hear them the most. I fear Garroth wishes to taint this spot in my memories by wanting to have a conversation here. He wants to explain himself.
I don't have anything to say to him.
He's sitting on the ground, and his head seems to be downcasted towards his phone that rests on his lap. Before, I would paint this as a picture in my mind. How the wind blows through his hair, and the sun makes it glisten like honey. I can't see much of his blue eyes because of the curtain of his eyelashes. His eyebrows would be something I feel the need to perfect,, so it appears he actually has some.
Now I'm more interested in how the tree looks.
He looks up when the sound of my walking is more apparent to him. He smiles at me, but I see that behind it, it's full of doubt. "You came."
He slowly rises from his position and wipes the grass and dirt from the back of his jeans. I keep distance between us, closing myself off by wrapping my arms around my torso. "I may be many things, but I am no liar." My voice doesn't sing like a bird anymore. It's lowered and slowed down.
"I wanted to explain what happened Friday." Of course, I expected nothing else. If he's not going to tell his own brother who nursed him while he was out of his mind, why not tell the girlfriend he terrified. Garroth should have more common sense by now that I would end up telling Vylad what happened. "I made a mistake."
"A stupid mistake."
He rubs the back of his neck, refusing to look me in the eye. He knows I'm correct. Laurance told me when he left that party that Garroth was completely sober. He never once saw Garroth with a drink in his hand. It wasn't until Laurance left, and Garroth was around others, that he decided to change his state.
He acknowledges that I am correct and tries to piece together what happened that night. That's even worse. Garroth can't give me a distinct timeline, and only little blurbs that he remembers after he picked up his first drink. Does he even remember that he came to my house? I can only fear the things he said around others. Around Vylad.
"You drank knowing what could've happened," I state. I don't question it. I know this is correct, and he cannot steer me elsewhere. I'm simply filling in more bubbles he didn't give an answer to but presented. "That there could've been consequences for your actions that affect more than just you."
"I know that, Al, but Ivy-"
My mouth drops open. Never once was Ivy brought into this conversation. "Ivy? As in the same Ivy, I cannot stand because she willingly makes anybody's life a living hell that threatens her?" There's hurt in my voice, and it grows higher as the sentence continues. "Out of anyone, Garroth, I thought that you would've understood after her encounters with Aphmau."
"I understand that-"
"Then why did you listen to her? You can't tell me it was because you were being stupid."
He doesn't have a response. For once in his life, Garroth Ro'meave is speechless. I did that. I wouldn't have if he didn't do what he did. If he had left with Laurance or didn't drink.
I go on a rant. I tell him how I care for him, but I can't do this. Other couples get what I want most: to be public. I can't do that. Instead, I can't do that. I was wrong. Laurance wouldn't want me in a relationship with Garroth. He made that clear at prom. Kandi clearly disapproves because of that conversation we had on her bed. Then there's Vylad.
"What about the Vylad situation?" His words seem bitter. I know he's threatened by the idea of Vylad in our relationship because of the public's view of us. The idea that we will soon become a couple.
"That's not important."
"If Ivy was important, Vylad's important."
I let out an exhale of pure disbelief. I've never once seen him have this much displaced hatred for his brother. Never.
"He told me he liked me more than a friend. Is that so wrong? For someone to like me?"
"Yes!" He exclaims, causing me to take a sudden step back from his outburst. He doesn't notice it. And if he did, he doesn't seem to care. "Because we are in a relationship. Not you and him."
"A relationship that no one knows about but us!" My hands fly up to my hair from pure frustration. "How hard is that to understand? They don't know better because they don't know! You know what bothered me the most about Friday, besides you picking up that damn drink and multiplying it? You used your last name against me as a sign of power to prove that you will always be above me. Who does that?"
"Like you don't have problems?"
