Take a Hike

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Ruben had moved on completely. If you asked him about George he would most likely respond with, "Who the hell are you talking about?". Which is why it was so shocking for him to get a call at 9:30 pm from a very drunk sounding man claiming to be George.

Long, long silence. Inhale. Exhale.

"You've got the wrong guy," Ruben is sure of this. None of his contact information is public and none of his friends would just give it away. Besides, he doesn't and has never known anyone by that name.

"C'mon Ruben, I know you remember me."

Ruben can hear the smile in this guy's voice. Is this supposed to be a joke? He's got shit to do in the morning, shit he can't risk being affected by this. Ruben does not have the mental energy to deal with a random drunk guy that got his number.

He hangs up the phone.

A loud ringing wakes Ruben up. He throws the covers off of himself before searching blindly for his phone. His hands roam over the bed, running along the soft, blue sheets. He then switches to frantically shaking out his comforter so he can stop that god damn ringing.

He sees a light out of the corner of his eye, dim but enough to catch his attention. When he turns his head, Ruben remembers he had plugged up his phone last night and put it on his nightstand.

He scooches to the edge of his bed, his feet meet cold laminate floors. He forcefully pulls the charger from the phone, taking it in his left hand. Ruben looks down to see an unfamiliar number before deciding to answer. He'd like to hang up and go back to his nice, warm bed, but thoughts of who the person was and what they wanted would bother him tomorrow.

Barely a second goes by after he answers before the person is talking to him.

"I'm on my way."

Ruben, still only half awake, regrets his decision to answer. He looks up at the clock on the wall which reads, 2:13 am. He takes a deep breath through his nose, slowly letting it out through his mouth before responding.

"Look, I don't have the fucking time for this shit, alright? It's 2 o'clock in the morning and, unlike you, apparently, I have a life to live in the morning. So for the love of god leave me alone." He can hear himself get whiny by the end, but he doesn't care. He doesn't know this man, and he isn't obligated to be nice to him. Ruben lets his arm drop, his phone now lighting up his face from where he stares at it. What is up with this guy? There is no possible way he knows where Ruben actually lives, unless he's some crazy stalker. Ruben doesn't want to think about what that could mean.

The call is still on, his thumb hovering over the end call button. Why he hasn't pressed it yet, Ruben isn't sure. Still, he waits there, staring at the dimming screen. His eyelids are getting heavier now with each passing moment.

A noise has him jerking himself awake. He mumbles something unintelligible, too tired to even know what he was trying to say. Surprisingly, the man on the phone responds.

"Please, just give me a chance. I just wanna have one talk and I'll leave you alone for good after that."

Neither of them speak for a long moment. The only sound is the faint hum of the engine running through the phone. Ruben thinks he might be going crazy; actually considering this guy's offer. He had promised himself that he would move on and never look back, but...

He sighs, the hand not holding the phone coming up to rub from the top of his forehead down. His finger and thumb rub over either eye before coming together, squeezing the wide bridge of his nose.

Ruben has closure and if George doesn't, is there any harm in helping him?

A lot of bad things could happen. All the time he spent healing and fixing everything that George broke could be wasted because he decided to say yes.

He doesn't want to risk it. He knows he shouldn't risk it, but another part of him knows he should. It knows that any time the name George is said all Ruben can think about is everything that there was. Everything that there could have been.

All of that is gone now, and Ruben is content with that. The only problem is that is a complete lie and there isn't anything that will stop the words from spewing out of his mouth.

"I'll text you the next time I'm free."

Ruben doesn't wait for a response. He hangs up the phone, throwing it in the mess of his bed.

Ruben is next, flopping down with his thick arms spread out and eyes closed. He falls asleep like this, his feet cold and head full.

(So this is only the first chapter, is it long enough? I feel like it should be longer but I have no idea how i could do it. Anyways, this is my first time actually writing out one of my ideas and any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks for reading :) )