Unrequited love

Eight | Brylan

Walking down the street I always go for late night walks. I used to fear them since I worried that something bad would happen to me again, but eventually let that fear go. I had to teach myself to stop being afraid of things that used to make me happy. This is one of the very few I was able to love again.

I think it's because I'm a fan of being by myself, left to my thoughts and recently I've been doing it a lot in hopes it'll help me specifically get rid of the ones with Alex. I'd learned to live with them but this is surreal. He likes Katie and as much as I want to accept it, I can't bring myself to do it. It would be easier if I just got over him entirely. I can't keep accepting that it'll never be me over and over again. That's not healthy.

Taking a deep breath I freeze when I notice the street light up. Turning my head back I scrunch my eyebrows when a car begin to slow down as it gets closer to me. Panicked I step as far away from the road as physically possible. Speeding up my walking pace it doesn't take long for the vehicle to catch up. Deciding it would be smart to walk the opposite way, it would take time for the driver to make a U-turn. If they do then it would be clear that I'm not safe here.

Flinching when the car honks before I can go through with it, the window rolls down and I stop when I see it's just Damon. Oh. Fearing he saw the terror on my face I look around in chance he's signaling to someone, anyone else. Letting go of false hope, I'm the only one on this goddamn street. It's nine o'clock at night and it doesn't look like anyone uses this road often.

Slowly walking up to the car I stand at the passenger door, sticking my hands through the open window. I don't think I've ever spoken to him without Katie being there. Actually that's a lie. We used to speak quite a bit when we were little kids. Then we stopped.

'Are you lost?' He leans on the car console so he can get a better look at me. Shaking my head to answer his question I can't help but bring my attention to how much deeper his voice is in this moment. He must be either tired or in a bad mood which only makes me feel like an inconvenience.

'No.' I respond harsher then I had intended, 'I'm just walking...'

'How long have you been...walking?' He trails off when he looks at the GPS. Deciding to take a look at it myself, I'm a little startled to see I've walked for about fifty minutes now. I must've zoned out because I'm almost an hour walk away from home. God my parents are going to strangle me. I didn't tell them I was leaving. 'Where you arguing with a guy and he dropped you on off?'

'No no. I was just walking.' His reasoning sounds more plausible than my own but I don't want to explain how I like thinking to myself. I don't know how to phrase something like that without dumping a load of emotional baggage on him. 'Just liked the air...it's breezy out.'

'Right... you want me to drop you off at home?' He offers, 'I'm going back home since it's the same direction anyways since my friend ditched me.'

Hesitantly agreeing, I'm not one to accept rides from people. Even if we're close with eachother. I'm not a very trusting person and I have every right not to be but I say yes anyways. He's Katie's brother. I know it's not enough for someone to be considered safe but I've been alone with him countless times before. By now I would know if he was a creep or not. To put it simply, I feel like he's okay.