We Were Never Meant To Meet Again

chapter 6

Ruth.

I WATCH as Mr.McRae sits down in his seat, handing me a warm cup of hot chocolate.

I take a tiny sip, the taste of the chocolate on my tastebuds making me feel all fuzzy inside.

i love Mr.McRae's hot chocolate.

"Tell me everything. This is the most gossip I have got in a long time." He says excitedly, leaning forward in his seat, making it known that his full attention was on me.

I chuckle lightly, though that quickly fades as I start to speak, "Where do I even start?" I ask myself out loud because where actually do I?

There was just too much to fit into a half an hour talk.

I swallow, "Well, me and Elijah— the boy you saw at the library, met when we were 4 years old. He was sat alone drawing, and I didn't want him to be alone so I walked up to him and shoved half my biscuit in his mouth when he refused the first time. After that we hung out everyday for 6 years." I nod in confirmation as I see Mr.McRae's blue eyes widen as I speak.

"So. . you just shoved your biscuit in his mouth?" Is the only thing Mr.McRae says, watching me with a curious gaze, as if he was genuinely interested in why I did that.

I look at him ridiculously, "Is that the only thing you got from that?" 

He nods admittedly, ". .maybe"

I shake my head and giggle, "Anyways—"

"When we were 10 years old, I remember going round to his house, there was no reason in particular, I just wanted to be around some company, someone I knew who cared. I walked up his familiar porch stairs and knocked on his door.  I remember waiting patiently, as I always did, knowing he was probably on a video game with his friend, River, or sleeping. Usually. I watched him slowly open his door, an exciting feeling in my stomach at the thought of getting to see him again, even though I had only saw him the previous day. He appeared from behind the door, but this time was different, because when he saw that it was me, I remember watching his face completely and utterly drop. I nearly wanted to cry, right then and there."

*flashback*

"Hey Eli!" I greet happily, a wide grin on my face.

I eye the way he scratches the back of his head awkwardly, staying close to his door, "Hi Ruth." 

I frown when he uses my full name instead of my nickname, 'gracie.' When we were about 7 years old, we were in Elijah's back garden, doing nothing except from chatting about random nonsense. The both of us were chatting about nicknames and how best friends normally have them for each other. Then, we came up with 'Eli and Grace' And the reason being because Grace was my middle name.

that was a good day.

"Uhm anyways, can we bake cookies like you said we would today?" I ask him hopefully, looking at him with wide eyes.

He looks down almost guiltily but he covers it up with a blank expression, "No. I can't." Elijah replies dryly.

My heart drops into the pit of my stomach, "Why?" I question, my voice full of disappointment.

"Because I don't want to Ruth." He says harshly, making me flinch back a little bit out of pure instinct.

i knew he would never do anything to me but it was the way he said it.

"Why are you being so mean?" My voice breaks as I glance up at him with hurt written all over my face.

"Because— I don't want to be your best friend anymore Ruth." Elijah almost forces out, but covers it up and clears his throat, staring at me with a hard expression.

"Wh—what?" I stagger back, falling onto the step below.

It felt like a knife had just been plunged through my heart 10,000 times and then done all over again.

"You heard me." He stares emotionlessly, proceeding to shut his front door in my face.

I stand there, absolutely soul crushed.

i just lost my best friend and I don't even know what i did wrong.

*end of flashback*

"I may be old, but I have the abilities to hire a hitman on him. I'm not joking. I'll do it." Mr.McRae speaks with determination.

I laugh, "Don't worry, that isn't necessary." I shake my head. "But do you want to know the worst thing about it?"

The kind old man looks at me, awaiting for my answer.

"He left the day after that. He didn't say goodbye, he just left without a trace, for 7 years. Like I said, the day before all that happened, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He seemed fine." I scoff, "And then he just shows up, expecting me to forgive him straight away. What an idiot."

"I'm so sorry Ruth." He says with sympathy painted over his face.

"It's okay. I'm okay." I dismiss, waving a hand.

"I guess I just felt like this burden that he had to deal with for 6 years and then when he saw his chance at escaping me, he took it and left. Leaving me doubting myself and my actions and what I did wrong." I stare off into the distance, reminiscing the memories of how painful him leaving actually was.

"You never did anything wrong Ruth. Because sometimes people aren't meant to stay in your life forever, and that's okay. Honestly, some people were never meant to be permanent, they were brought into your life to help you grow as a person and learn, even if it meant going through all that pain of them leaving as you realise that when you flip to the new page of your book, they weren't in the next chapter." He speaks, painfully but truthfully.

I nod, thinking deeply about his words.

"Besides, maybe it was fate that you two were brought back together." Mr.McRae shrugs, taking a sip of his tea.

I shake my head, "I have no idea why, but for some reason I  genuinely believe that we were never meant to meet again." I utter truthfully.

....

:).

hate Elijah all you want right now but he has his own reasons that you will soon become known too.

i love you all and thank you for 1.1k reads and 80+ votes!<3

-b.