The Roommate Agreement (Teen Fiction)

Chapter 34

Chapter 34
~Jaelyn's point of view~

Once Mikey and I returned from the gym we threw away our now ruined McDonald's. His chocolate milkshake was melted and my fries were soggy.

"If you want Jae," Mikey spoke as he out the food in the trash. "I can stay here with you tonight. I'm sure he'll come home soon."

I felt bad that Mikey would have to stay just because I didn't want to be alone. But since he offered I agreed with him. It would be nice not to be completely alone in the apartment. I went to my room and quickly packed myself an outfit and shoved all my needed toiletries into a bag.

"You ready to go?" I asked Mikey as I looked around the apartment, making sure I didn't leave any lights on.

We walked out of the apartment and I shut the door behind us. Just as I was checking to see if it had locked, I heard a voice. A familiar and soothing voice. 

"Why are you leaving?" My head whipped around to see Jesse standing behind us. He had his Nike duffel bag slung over his should. His jacket was about to fall off his one shoulder and his joggers had some mud on them.

"You said you weren't coming back yet. I didn't want to spend the night alone again. If you wanna be home you can. There's Chinese in the fridge." I looked over at Mikey and he looked just as confused as I did.

As much as I wanted to run over to Jesse and hug him and kiss him, I kept my distance. I wasn't sure what I should do. I understood that he needed his alone time. But him coming back didn't confirm if he wanted to see me or just stay home.

I looked back over to Jesse. He looked like he was trying to hide a frown. "Jaelyn you do realize I came home because I wanted to see you."

"Oh, thank god." As if we were in a cheesy low budget movie, I dropped my bag and jumped on Jesse. I hugged him tightly. I missed him so much. I'd almost forgotten his scent- I know dramatic but true.

Jesse wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, pressing me close to him. "I missed you. I know I should have stayed in contact. I just needed some alone time."

"I get it. You don't need to apologize to me. There's no reason. I should've been more empathetic."

We let go of each other and we were now standing side by side. I looked over at an awkward Mikey. "I'll just go home, I guess. I'll see you mates later."

"Mikey you don't have to leave." Jesse looked at his British friend.

Mikey shook his head. "I would rather go home. We'll catch up tomorrow."

Both Jesse and I asked if he was sure. Mikey said he was sure and I thanked him for offering to let me stay at his place with Joey.

We went back into the apartment in silence. The silence was a little uncomfortable but it wasn't unbearable. I watched Jesse set his stuff down by the futon. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but I was sure he'd answer them all once he was ready.

I went into the kitchen and pulled out two bottles of water. I walked back over to Jesse and handed him a bottle. We both sat down on the futon. There was still an uncomfortable silence between us.

I started biting at my nails. I didn't know what to say. I could only imagine how Jesse felt. I felt so bad for him, I needed to be more empathetic with him. I needed to be more understanding and patient.

"Jae?" Jesse broke the silence.

I cleared my throat and looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Could you come with me to visit her? I tried going to the cemetery by myself, but I-i couldn't."

I put my hand on Jesse's and gave it a squeeze. "Of course, when do you want to go?"

"I know I just got here, but could we go now?" I studied Jesse's face, trying to see what exactly he was feeling. It was obvious that he was upset. He stood up and I did the same. I pulled him into a tight hug. Jesse immediately wrapped his inked arms around my small frame. He smelled like freshly washed clothes and cinnamon gum.
**
We walked with our hands laced together to Jesse's mother's headstone. I could tell Jesse was nervous because his hand was sweaty and he had a grim look on his face. I reassuringly squeezed his hand as we got closer to her grave. We stopped a few feet away from her headstone.

He didn't have any flowers or anything to put on his mother's grave. His hands were empty. The one that wasn't holding mine was formed into a tight fist. I looked up at Jesse's face and I could tell that he was trying not to cry. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were watery. You could tell he was using all his strength to stop himself from crying. I gave his hand another tight squeeze to let him know I was there for him.

We stood there in silence for for what felt like hours. Jesse was like a statue. He was still fighting hard to keep his composure.

"Jess, we can leave whenever you want. Just say it and we can go home."

Jesse tore his eyes off of her grave and looked at me. There was anger in his eyes-it wasn't directed at me. I knew who it was directed to and my heart sunk. It was directed towards his father.

Jesse probably blamed his father for his mother's actions. He blamed him for everything. It was clear that Jesse resented him. His father was nothing more than dirt under his shoes.

"I'll drop you off at the apartment. I need to go somewhere."

My heart started racing. I didn't want him to do anything stupid. "Jesse let's just go home. Don't do anything you'll regret later. C'mon."

Jesse let go off my hand and his stormy eyes looked angrily into mine. "I'm not going to regret anything. I can walk there from here. You take the car then."

"No, I don't think you should do anything. You know how he can be. You don't need him making things worse."

"I'll knock a little bit of sense into him. I know where he is. Joey said he saw him last night at the bar across from Powerhouse."

Joey is such an idiot sometimes. I swear, he knew he shouldn't have told Jesse that. He knew he'd go after his father.

"Jesse, please don't."

"I'm going to see him. You can agree or not. I don't care what you have to say about this. This is my choice not yours. You aren't in charge of me, Jaelyn. Go home."

Jesse pulled the car keys out of his pocket and tossed them at me. I threw them right back at Jesse. He caught them. "Quit acting childish. I get that you are upset, but don't take it to the extreme."

"Fine you can walk home." Jesse stormed off like a child.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Joey. "You're such an idiot, Joseph!" I hissed as soon as Joey answered.

"What'd I do?" Joey was clearly offended, but not surprised.

"You told Jesse where his father was."

"Yeah he was at the bar by Powerhouse last night. That doesn't mean he'll be there now though." Joey knew that was bullshit because Jesse's father loved alcohol.

"Oh shit," Joey said, his voice cracking through the phone. "I'm coming to pick you up now."

A/N

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not gonna edit it yet, but lmk what you think. And I also published a new book called What could go wrong?It'd mean the world to me if you went to read it. Thanks so Larry for the long wait love you guys!!!