Forged Bonds (BxB)

CHAPTER 39

I was sitting in the hall, leaning against the wall, petting Charlie on the head and twirling Jeovanni's necklace around my finger while I waited for Radesh to pick me up. My bags were by my side, and each time my hand touched Charlie's fur, my heart ached at the possibility of Radesh honking outside, signalizing it was time for me to go.

I lied to my family and told them I was leaving later, so they were still asleep. I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I hugged them goodnight, and told them I'd see them in the morning, but it was a lie. I just thought it would be too painful having to say a formal goodbye.

Charlie laid his head on my lap, and I focused on a dark spot on the wall in front of me. It seemed to be mud, and Mallory would try to find out how that got there and make Alvarez clean it. My lips quirked up in a sad smile at that imaginary scenario.

A loud honk outside made Charlie and I jump, and we looked at each other. Leaving him behind was hurtful, and it seemed like he picked up on my pain as he let out a low cry. I took a deep breath and kissed the top of his head before standing up and grabbing my bags from the floor.

I opened the door, and had to quickly shut it as soon as I went through it so Charlie wouldn't go outside with me. I looked ahead of me to see Radesh leaving the car. After breathing in deeply one more time, I walked in his direction and he met me in the middle.

"Let me get this for you-" He started to say, but I interrupted him by hugging him "Oh" He seemed not to understand what was going on, taking a second to wrap his arms around me as well.

"Thank you for going to my football matches" I murmured.

"Oh" He repeated.

I had always been rude to Radesh, but he stuck around even so. He could have just been my chauffer; he could have been just what he was paid to be. But no. He still had done more than my father ever did.

I didn't want to compare my boyfriend to Radesh, but they had this one thing in common. They never left.

"It's okay, Jackie" He said as I pulled away "I had fun"

I nodded with a small smile, and let him help me put the bags in the trunk. Then, we got into our respective seats – Radesh in the driver's one and me in the passenger's one. He only began to speak again when he had already started to drive.

"This town did you good, huh?" He commented with an amused grin.

I chuckled.

"I suppose"

"Tell me everything" He urged "Family, friends, school, football, dating..."

"My family is great, Radesh" I told him "I made good friends. School is normal. I went through the whole football season. And... And I met someone"

"Really?" His smile got bigger "Do tell"

"I just..." I shrugged "I guess I just found out I don't have to be a jerk all the time" I found out much more than that, but my discoveries were too personal for me to share it like that.

Radesh laughed.

"I'm happy for you, Jackie" He ruffled my hair.

I rolled my eyes, but let a smile find its way to my lips nonetheless.

"Thank you, Radesh" I paid attention to the cloudy sky above us and the birds flying across it, a brief memory of the junkyard coming to my mind "How is your son?"

"He's got a girlfriend" He widened his eyes "Can you believe that? I think he's too young, but he's not grumpy anymore, so I guess it's okay"

"He'll be fine" I assured him "What about you? How have you been?"