Always, Arlo [Published]

Chapter 30

Mine.

My fear turns into shock which causes my heart to jump again. "Arlo?"

As my clouded sleepy vision begins to clear up I could see Arlo with wide eyes in front of me, a mist of air exiting his lips from the blunt he's smoking. When he recognizes me his shoulder's drop as if he's relieved.

"My Valentine."  He says the word my a bit quieter, whispering it to himself rather than saying it out loud as he gazes at me. His eyes turn soft as he steps closer towards me.

His stubble began to grow from a month without maintenance, his eyes seemed lost and clouded before there was a newfound sense of relaxation as he doesn't break our eye contact. He looks good but a bit rough, as if he hasn't gotten any sleep at all lately.

"Arlo where have you been?" I ask with accidental desperation leaving my tone despite my attempt to sound nonchalant. I fail horribly at trying to not seem so eager because truth is, I can't conceal the fact that I was thinking about him every day for the entire month that he was gone.

A month may not seem long but it felt like an eternity.

His eyes are now wondering around the interior of the greenhouse, looking for his words. He's hesitant which causes him to pause. He looks at me with a random shine in his eye before he drops the blunt and reaches out for me. He brings me towards his body by my hips and entangles me in his arms. "I missed you." Is all he says into my ear with a shaky sigh that reveals that in this moment he is relieved about whatever it is on his mind.

"I was planning on staying away longer than a month but I just couldn't because I missed you too much. I left to clear my head but how could I? All I could think about was you." His chest rises up and down with heavy breaths as he talks. His arms tighten around my body in a way that feels as if in any moment that he were to let go, i'd disappear.

He backs away to look at my face, into my eyes that are gazing back up at him with a bunch of mixed emotions all running through my mind.
"I'm sorry I left without a word. I thought I knew what I was doing when I left like that." He shakes his head, upset with himself. My eyebrows crease at his words.

"You left for an entire month with no word to your sister Arlo, she needed you." I needed you; Is what I wanted to say.

"I know Valentine, I feel shitty, I really do. After my father came back I didn't know what to think or how to react. I shut down and didn't even think about you or Angela." He groans with disappointment reflected towards himself. He lets go of me abruptly and sits down at the bench he sat at originally.