RUNAWAY GROOM

Chapter Three: Apology Videos

I remember this one time when Francis and I hung out at his house, It was big but comfortable and he was always respectful to his mom, dad, and brothers, I wanted to show him one of my hobbies, he was nervous but excited at the same time, I was the same way too, I wanted to show him but I was also so nervous that he would make fun of me or call what I do weird.

His eyes were closed because I had told him to, he was so giddy and happy, he kept smiling in front of me and shaking like a child. I couldn't help but smile and chuckle.

"Ok open." I state.

Francis opens his eyes and sees me holding an old grey camcorder in my hand, he looks confused but tries to be delightful.

"Your confused." I remark.

"No . . yes I am." Francis admits.

I open the flap to show Francis all the videos I've recorded in the past, I show him a video of a monarch butterfly I saw outside my window sill sitting there beautifully.

I show him another one where I videotaped the stars and was praising how beautiful they looked and wished I could have a star in my hand.

Then the next one he shows where he starts to laugh is when he sees Liv and Aniyah and me joking around what sounds like gibberish to each other, I hear Francis laughing so much he might start crying.

"Ok, ok. That is funny mate." Francis laughs.

I close my camcorder back up to see Francis laughing like a child, I can't tell if he is laughing from pure joy to see him looking at the funny video or trying to laugh at how stupid what I do is.

"So. . . what's the story behind the camcorder?"

"Um, well I always wanted to visit good memories of my life but you sometimes can't fully revisit them so I started to record them to get that mood booster if I ever needed it." I explain.

"Oh, so you just record yourself or things around them to make you feel better or try to make the most of life." Francis intrigued.

"Basically."

"Oh, that's cool, I get it, trying to enjoy the moment so you can look back on it." Francis smirked.

I nod.

"You think we could ever create memories together? As friends?" Francis smirks.

I look down and hit the record button on my camcorder and turn the flap to see ourselves when I have the camcorder turned on us, I can see Francis smiling like a child, I couldn't contain myself either.

Francis wraps his arm around my neck to get closer to me, we are a laughing and giggling mess, I thought Francis would make fun of me or at the least call my hobby weird, but he didn't he embraced it and called us friends. I've never been so happy with someone saying that word before, I couldn't help it but I felt giddy.

But after he started dating Eve, she was the one who called my hobby weird and didn't want Francis to be in my videos. Eve always thought I did some weird shit but that was never the case, I only wanted the good times in my videos, nothing else.

She basically forbade Francis to be in my videos, there were times when we would hang out and he showed up then considering all the good times were with him, but these times started to drag along until he barely started appearing in them again. He devoted his time and efforts to please Eve but now it's all just a waste of time to him anymore. Considering I did "ruin" their wedding by putting Eve's mistake or actions.

Now I'm pacing back and forth in front of my parents trying to get around them in their living room trying to apologize to Eve per my brother's request two days after the wedding.

"Can I just PLEASE apologize to her?" I ask annoyed.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Mom asks.

"Eve's already had a bad two days, I don't think she'll want to see the person who ruined her wedding." Dad remarks.

Person? I'm her brother, is that what everyone in the house has been referring to me as?

"Look I feel horrible but he deserved to know, it would have crushed him if he found out another way."

"That wasn't any of his business." Dad snapped.

"Not his business? They were getting married a couple of days afterward, of course, it was his business." I remark.

"When they get married Eve could have done whatever she wanted, not having her brother outing her." Mom ranted.

I groaned, I was getting nowhere with them, they weren't going to let me near anywhere near Eve, it was like talking to a brick wall but I had to keep trying cause if I didn't at least try to make amends with Eve, Jeremiah would just be breathing down my neck about it.

"Look, what can I do to talk to Eve?" I ask standing still.

"There's nothing you can do, you ruined her special day Robert, she doesn't want to talk to anyone." Dad sighed.

I took a deep breath, he was right, and there was nothing I can say, think, or do to get Eve to not hate me or even at least look in my direction. But I couldn't give up at the same time, I had to do something, it wasn't eating me alive but she at least deserves to know that I feel awful.

"I'll try another time then, just try to let her know how sorry I am." I accepted.

I start walking towards the door and walk out towards my truck, before I start my truck I take a deep breath and looked back at the house I once grew up in with everyone inside it.

"Well. . . at least I tried."

I start my truck and drive away knowing Jeremiah will keep asking me about it. And I was just annoyed with the thought of it.