Surviving Love

Amends

I stepped through the door, Levi clapping me on the back as I passed.

"Hey, how is everything? Jake?" He asked.

"Good, you know." I said, nodding my head. "You?"

I glanced around, hoping that Maci was home. I wanted to talk to her. Mostly I wanted to apologize.

"Good, you remember my Finnish friend, Inka? Well she's now my Finnish girlfriend, Inka and she's taking me to Finland next month." He looked like a kid on Christmas.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "What happened to just seeing the east coast?"

He shrugged. "There will always be time for the east coast, Finland not so much."

"Well that's awesome. I'm happy for you." I said.

I kept my shoes on, running my hand through my hair.

"So I wanted to stop by today to tell you that Jake's got a bed at a place in Georgia. I'm putting my house up for sale and I'm moving down there with him." I had repeated this multiple times over the course of the last few days and I found that it was easier for me to tell people if I just ripped it off like a bandaid.

"Huh, Georgia." Levi said. "Well you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess."

I nodded. "When you leaving? We could have a going away party for you."

"Nah it's fine. I've got an interview tomorrow so I'm hoping by the end of the month. I don't want him to be down there for too long without me." I said.

"Is anyone else going with you?"

"My mom. My aunt will be down there for a little bit but I don't think she'll stay indefinitely."

Who knew how long Georgia would be home. We were on Jake's schedule not ours.

"Well I guess now I have a reason to visit there and a place to crash." Levi smiled.

"Yeah I guess so." I said laughing. "It'll be like high school all over again, chilling with my mom."

"Wendy is an awesome lady."

"That she is." I agreed. "Is Maci around?"

I had to get to the real reason I was here. I could have just called Levi and told him, he wouldn't have cared.

"Yeah, in her room."

He raised his eyebrows at me. I knew he was curious and after I left I knew he'd probably ask Maci what I said. I shrugged, leaving before he could try and ask anything. I navigated my way down the hallway, stepping into the frame of her open door.

"Hi." I said, knocking against the open doorway of Maci's room.

She looked up, her hand coming across the strings of her guitar silencing it. She was sitting cross legged her guitar in her lap and a notebook open on her bed. I hated interrupting her when she played.

"I'm surprised you're here." She said, closing the notebook without looking at me. "Thought you weren't talking to me anymore?"

I stuffed my hands in my the pockets of my jeans. "Yeah, sorry."

I didn't have a good excuse. I had been avoiding her. I watched from the doorway, waiting for her to invite me into her room. She sat her guitar back on its stand, her hand running through her long brown hair.

"Are you just going to loiter in my doorway or are you going to come in?" She asked.

I laughed a little, nodding my head. I took a couple steps into her room. It wasn't heavily decorated, I was guessing she was still undecided on whether she was staying or going back to Chicago. I casually walked around the perimeter, checking things out. She had a couple pictures out. I recognized one, it was us from the Faster Horses festival we went too. I picked it up, a smile forming on my face as I thought about the happy memory. We were so in love then. It showed on our faces.