Last Hope

Chapter 8

Sorry for the errors, whatnot.

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"I am really sorry. Like, really really, genuinely sorry, Vic." I said, breaking down this massive wall of silence that had been up between us as we walked in a steady pace, side-by-side on our way to the nearest park. I made a mental note to leave an obvious gap between us because hell, the mere thought of us hanging out and trying to stitch everything back together is as awkward as this entire situation could be.

"I know." He muttered, letting out a heavy breath. "I wouldn't say that it's okay because what happened from the past really stung-"

"Yeah, I know. And I'm not expecting for you to forgive me right away." I spoke anxiously, cutting him off just to clear up my lame apology.

"Okay." He spoke monotonously. I felt this heavy punch straight to my gut because honestly, considering Vic's giving and kind heart, I was expecting for him to say that everything's fine and that he forgives me with everything that I've done. I was being a little bit of a dreamer there but at least we're in this speaking terms now. And the kiss. God, that kiss. That must've meant something, anything, right?

"Okay." I replied simply, not knowing what else to say. Luckily, we reached the park before things could get any more awkward between us. I was about to walk to the direction of the old-looking bench when Vic grabbed me by my arm and lead me to the swing set. He didn't say anything, he just flashed me a friendly smile and nodded towards the direction of the colorful yet deserted thing.

"So, church thing, huh?" He spoke, lightly kicking the pebbles underneath his worn-out shoes, looking down on them as if it were too interesting enough for his eyes.

"Yeah." I let out a sigh, slouching my back and holding on to the thick chains of the swing. "When we got back here, my parents immediately made me do this church service thing where I basically stay in the church for long hours, helping out in every way that I could."

Vic just nodded, still not removing his gaze from the ground. "How's that going? I bet you're having too much fun there." He teased, letting out a light chuckle and glancing at my direction for a brief second. He still held his position- his elbows resting on his lap- kind of like crouching while sitting on the swing.

I rolled my eyes although he wasn't really looking at me. "It isn't that bad, really. Brendon, the pastor, is kinda chill and he isn't this homophobic asshole, not like the ninety-eight percent of the population of this damned town." I explained, a little bit of bitterness evident in my voice. "Besides, I get to have weekend breaks anyway so, that's a plus."

"That's good, I guess. So, what do you do during the weekends?" He asked, finally looking up at me. I blinked at him a few times, just trying to take his features in. It has been more than eight long months and to finally be able to look at him this close is bliss. He didn't change that much but he's still this pretty guy that I adored back in the city.

"I, uh, I have to hang out with- with Sam." I choked out nervously.

"Ah, you're still dating her?" He asked casually, as if it didn't even fazed him at all.

"In a way, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders, looking anywhere but his direction. My heart was rapidly pumping against my chest- fuck knows why. "I mean, everyone in this place is expecting for me to be this 'normal' guy who dates this girl and who would eventually end up marrying her and having kids with her and all that shit. It's fucked up, I know." I mumbled.

"You know what, I think the church's not doing you any good. Your language, Mr. Quinn, is becoming more and more alarming." He said, totally dissing the serious topic. I laughed, though. Genuinely, if I must say so myself.

"Fuck 'em, you know? I fu.cking hate this fu.cking place. It's just- fuck!" I yelled, letting out all of the bottled up emotions that had been begging for release from my boiling systems. Vic laughed- god, I missed that. And may I just tell you this, even his simple yet alluring laugh was enough for me to smile from ear to ear, my cheeks heating up in the process. I swear, this day couldn't get any better.

"What in the world is he doing here?!" Spoke too soon. Both mine and Vic's attention was grabbed by the squealing of none other than Sam. Her little frame storming towards our direction. On instinct, I stood up from my little safe space and went to meet her halfway. I knew that she wasn't capable of hurting Vic but just to be sure, I acted immediately and stopped her by grabbing both of her arms, trying to calm her down. I saw my sister jogging towards our direction. She didn't say anything, just looked at me, trying to apologize with her big, blue eyes.

"Hello to you, too, Samantha." I heard Vic greet. He sounded so sarcastic and it made me look at him as if he's crazy. He didn't look perturbed at all. He just stood there with a smirk on his face, keeping his composure as he tried to fix his hair under his snapback.

Sam rolled her eyes at him and looked at me sternly. "What is he doing here? Why are you with him? What were you two doing, huh? Your mom wouldn't be too glad to hear about this, Kellin, I assure you." She said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and rambling on and on and on, not even giving me a chance to answer her first question.

"We weren't doing anything, okay? We were just catching up and just- just don't tell my mother, okay?" I know that I sounded like a freaking kid but I didn't care. The last thing I wanted was for my parents to completely distrust me. I've managed to once again build up an ounce of trust, resulting with them giving me back my phone.

"We were supposed to be hanging out today but instead, you send out your sister to, apparently, distract me? This is such an immature and unacceptable behavior, Kellin." She lectured, sounding like my mother which just irritated me but of course, the last thing that I wanted to do was to yell back at her. I at least needed to act nice to her to prevent her from running off and ratting me out to my parents.

"Oh, I'm sure that Kailey wasn't the only one who distracted you today." Vic once again spoke from behind me. I looked at him, confused. I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that but he had beaten me to it. "Am I right, Sam?" He added, an evil glimmer sparking up in his once calm eyes.

"What are you even talking about? Ugh, stop being such a freak and leave us be." And with that, Sam harshly grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me to the direction of Kailey's car. I looked back at Vic, still confused as hell but he just gave me a final wave. His entire demeanor reminded me of the times when I hated him, like our first ever meeting in his bar back in the city. God, I hated his entire existence back then, he was just so smug and so full of himself.

I saw my sister jog past Sam and I, approaching Vic. I watched them converse because obviously, we were too far away from them to hear. From what I could see, Kailey looked so frantic, shouting at Vic for whatever reason. Vic, however, looked so calm; keeping his smug face intact, shrugging his shoulder occasionally.

"I am going to let this one slip." Sam announced once we sat together in the car. I kept my gaze to the scene in the park, watching my sister and Vic's, somewhat, argument. "I am not telling this to your parents but you have to promise that you wouldn't meet up with that- that person anymore." Sam spoke but I just nodded to shut her up.

"Whatever." I muttered. As if she could stop me from seeing Vic.

After a few more minutes, Kailey shook her head in what it looks like defeat and left Vic. Vic sat back to the swing and fished his phone from his pocket, minding his own business- as if nothing happened.

"Where are we going now?" My sister asked as she started the engine of her car.

"Just drop me off to my house." Sam muttered, madly tapping away against the screen of her poor phone. With one last look to my sister from the rearview mirror and a shrug of my shoulders, we sped off.