june and the blond boy

You've got a heart of gold, June

ᴊᴜɴᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴏɴᴅ ʙᴏʏ

"Hayden, you need to leave."

Those were the first words I said when I walked in my kitchen to see Lars and that fucking pervert chatting and laughing with my aunt and uncle.

"June!" Tracy scolded. I ignored her, striding toward Hayden.

"What?" Hayden asked dumbly. She couldn't even get the full word out as I smacked her across her face. She stumbled back, but quickly regained composure.

"You bitch! What was that for?!" she shouted. Tracy and Taylor were losing their heads at this point, but I couldn't care less.

"You know damn well what that was for." I said lowly. Everyone quieted down a bit, and when Hayden looked over my shoulder like she'd seen a ghost, all eyes turned to James. He was leaning against the archway, fidgeting with his rings as he stared at Hayden with a hard glare.

"What happened?!" Lars' mouth hung open in shock.

"Oh, nothing serious, just Hayden being a perverted whore, forcing—" I was cut off by James calling my name. I looked over my shoulder at him. He shook his head.

"Just leave it."

I rolled my eyes stubbornly, taking a deep breath and turning back to face her. "Get out. And never come back. I don't ever wanna see your face again."

As much as I tried to hide it, the hurt was clear in my tone. I'd never felt so betrayed in my life. Hayden and I were best friends throughout junior and senior high school. I never would've thought that sweet brunette girl I'd meet at my locker everyday would turn into such a monster. Although I don't know the full story, she didn't only violate our friendship, but she violated James too. He'd only ever shown pure kindness to her, treating her like a princess, even if they weren't really together. No matter how greedy it sounded, I always knew that I deserved it more.

Hayden sniffled, and I could've swore I saw regret flash in her eyes for a second. It was gone the next, as was she as she went down the walk of shame that was our hallway, and straight out the front door. Not before I called behind her, "don't let the door slap you too on your way out."

A few moments passed where we were all quiet. Tracy looked at me expectantly with an arched brow. I sighed.

"You can go in my room.." I turned to James.

He disappeared up the stairs after nodding silently.

"I'm gonna.. I'm gonna head out..." Lars muttered, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and moving to the front door. I nodded. "See you,"

After he said goodbye and left, I gave my aunt and uncle the explanation they were waiting for. I kept my mouth zipped this time when it came to the details James shared with me, wanting to respect his privacy.

Tracy sighed, nodding sympathetically. "Tell him he can stay for dinner if he'd like."

I nodded, smiling appreciatively. I couldn't ignore my quickening heartbeat at the thought of spending time with James after being apart for so long.

"Hell," Taylor muttered, stepping closer to me. "You guys can have a sleep-over party. I'm just glad you've got your friend back, kid." he rubbed my back softly.

I nodded again, smiling at him. "Thanks guys.."

With that, I sped up the stairs, only slowing down when I neared my bedroom door. I let out a breath, smoothing my hair down before knocking softly.

"Yeah," his quiet mutter came after a moment.

I entered my bedroom to see him sitting on my bed, looking at me strangely. "It's your room. Why'd ya knock?" he snorted.

I shrugged, leaning against the door after closing it. "I didnt know if you wanted privacy."

"Privacy?" he laughed softly, raising his eyebrows. I shrugged again, suddenly growing nervous after it got quiet again.

I glanced at my record player in the corner. It had been abandoned for months, as I hadn't used it since the last time I was home.

"Put on some music," James must've noticed where my gaze landed. I glanced at him, grinning before moving over to the turntable.

"What do you wanna listen to?" I asked, kneeling to shuffle through my records.

I could hear him hum quietly in thought before answering, "Harvest."

I perked up in surprise. "I thought you didn't like Neil Young?"

"Well, he's your favorite." he said.

Luckily my back was toward him so he couldn't see my cheeks fire up. "Okay," I pulled the vinyl out of its sleeve, placing it on the turntable and flipping it on.

The music flowed through the speakers quietly as I leaned against the dresser that my player was propped up on. My eyes scanned around the dimly lit room before landing on James. He was looking at me.

"C'mere, Junior. Missed ya." he moved his head to the side to beckon me over and patted the spot next to him.

I made my way over, planting myself right next to him on the edge of my bed. His arm went around my shoulders, rubbing my arm and pulling me closer.

"I've been in my mind
It's such a fine line..."

"I'm sorry we're such stubborn assholes." he murmured. I could tell he'd been waiting to say those words. To fix what we'd both broken. I wanted to do just the same.

"I'm sorry too."

"That keeps me searching
For a heart of gold,"

"You've got a heart of gold, June."

He referred to the lyrics of the song playing, poking my side with his finger. I glanced up at him with a smile that I'm sure was bigger than any other smile. I could tell by the way his mirrored it.

The things I'd do to be compared to a Neil Young song

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