Summer Love✔️

He Needed Me

Chapter Twenty-Nine: He Needed Me

After a mere hour and a half of sleep, I was woken up by my alarm. I groggily reached over to my night stand to turn it off, and sat up in my bed, shielding my eyes from the sunlight with my hand. Mitchell and I had the morning shift this morning and quite frankly, I was looking forward to sitting in the guard tower with Miles and talking everything through.

I wasn't stupid, I knew Mitchell had been a complete ass last night, but in the end I had still gone to see Connor, so which was worse? A part of me knew I deserved an apology from him just as part of me knew I should tell him about my whereabouts last night even though he surely would not understand.

Because last night? I proved all of his worries and suspicions by going to see Connor.

I put on my lifeguard uniform and walked to my door, anxiously wondering if Mitchell would be down already and what he would say. When I opened it, I stood face to face with the boy in question, his fist raised to knock on the door, and his face a mixture of shame and a wince. "Mitchell," slipped out of my mouth in surprise as I saw him standing there, wearing the same clothes he had last night.

"Hi," he said softly, taking in my expression and trying to gauge my mood.

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms across my chest.

The corners of his mouth turned up in a  painful wince of a smile as he opened his mouth to ask me a simple question, "Can I come in?"

I sighed and glanced into my room quickly then back at him. A part of me didn't want to let him in, but a bigger part of me knew it would be better for us to talk in private, away from the prying ears and interest of our families. I gave him a simple nod and stepped to the side. I walked over to sit on my bed, and he stood in the center of my room awkwardly. "What is it?" I asked him sharply.

He winced, but accepted it, probably realizing he deserved it. "I'm sorry," He said simply, glancing up from the floor to me as if expecting me to accept his weak attempt at a sorry.

I cocked an eyebrow at him in question as if to say 'for?'

"I know I was totally out of line last night. I was super drunk." He admitted shamefully, looking down at my floor once again.

"That's the problem, isn't it?" I asked him slowly and carefully, trying to keep the nervous waiver out of my voice. "You got drunk, and you lashed out, but not just at me, at Marco, Wes, and Connor."

Mitchell's eyes darkened at the mention of Connor and he opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"Connor," I continued, my voice growing in strength, "Who has done absolutely nothing to you but for dating me in the past."

"He threw his water on me at the restaurant," Mitchell said angrily, losing his sad, shameful, sorry composure.

"Why, Mitchell?" I asked him, "Look at me, and tell me why, because I know Connor very well as you always like to point out, and I know he wouldn't do something like that without being provoked." I felt my mind shift as I realized the words I'd just said were entirely true. I had never known Connor to be violent, jealous, or possessive. Why hadn't I put it together earlier? What had Mitchell said to him?

Mitchell looked up at me, biting the inside of his cheek, his lips pulled down into a grimace and a fiery passion burning in his eyes. He stayed silent, not responding to me. It was a low blow to mention how well I knew Connor, I was aware of that, but if Mitchell could bring it up like he did last night, so could I.

"Are you seriously siding with him right now?" Mitchell finally asked in an angry bewilderment. The look on his face a mixture of shock and disbelief, accurately representing the tone of his voice.