The Memory Of Us

Chapter 20

Khalil was in the middle of the dishes, hands covered in soap and suds all the way up to his elbow, when the doorbell rang and Luke shouted for him.

Knowing the man was short-tempered, Khalil dried off his hands as quickly as humanly possible and practically teleported into the living room, but he quickly skidded to a halt halfway to the door when he saw who was standing on the other side.

"Hi." Mina waved shyly.

"Hi." Khalil echoed back in utter shock, his eyes darting from Luke's to Mina's and back again as if for confirmation that she was really real and that she was really standing in his doorway asking specifically for him.

"Can we- can we talk?"

Khalil nodded frantically, his words still evading him momentarily, but a hasty swallow had his voice crawling back. "Outside." He said, gesturing behind her where she stood on the concrete front porch.

She gave him a sharp nod before turning around and making her way to the steps of the porch where she made herself as comfortable as she could and, with one hesitant look towards a confused looking Luke, he followed after her, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Nice upgrade." She complimented, jerking a chin in the direction of the house behind them as Khalil moved to sit next to her on the step.

"It's really not." He said, spreading his legs wide and resting his forearms on either knee. "Trust me. This place is way more secure than my other group home ever was." He revealed. "We have bars on our windows, no locks on our doors, and we have to ask permission to go anywhere or do anything inside the house besides sit and twiddle our thumbs."

"Oh-" Mina said awkwardly, fiddling with her own fingers now.

She was nervous, he noticed.

"How'd you even find me here?" He asked in an attempt to steer the conversation away from the blanket of awkward silence they were threatening to fall beneath, smiling to himself as he watched her fiddle faster.

"Donna." She revealed and, suddenly, Khalil's smile fell.

"You went over there?"

"Mhm hmm." Mina hummed in answer, her eyes trained everywhere but on his.

Khalil raised his brows, running a single hand over his mouth. "I bet Sahil was happy to see you." He couldn't help but snark and now Mina's eyes finally snapped up to meet his.

"Khalil-"

"What are you doing here?" He wondered, unable to keep the annoyance out of his tone. "Is this because of my text?" He asked, regret swelling within him. He knew he shouldn't have sent that text, he shouldn't have sent any of them if he was being honest, but he was desperate to be close to her, to kiss her, to be what they had once been not so long ago.

He was desperate for her.

"What text?"Mina surprised him by asking and the emotion must have been plainly written across his face because she quickly added, "I lost my phone."

"Nothing." He said much too quickly to be dismissible but, if she noticed, she said nothing about it. "Nevermind." He shook his head as if trying to rid himself of a bad thought and he was glad when Mina continued to power on and ignore the fact that he was steadily making a fool of himself.

"I'm here to apologize." She said as if the words had been obvious and Khalil was sure his breath had skipped and so had his heart.

He shrugged in an attempt to appear nonchalant and mask the whirlwind of emotions swirling inside him, but he had a feeling he was far from it even as he asked, "For what?" in the most monotone voice he could muster.