Love & Ruins (#2)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Evan

There wasn't much to pack in terms of my possessions here at Jasper's place considering I kept things minimal, but the process still felt difficult nonetheless.

Staring at the boxes currently filled with some of my clothes, books, and essential belongings, I inspected them with a sorrowful gaze as I felt myself grow unmotivated to move forward with the task at hand.

Not because of physical exhaustion or anything, but because for the first time I'm apprehensive to move from one place to another, given how I've used Jasper's home as means of escapism.

Even though I've undergone some of the darkest moments in my life these past few years, going through them whilst in the confinements of Jasper's care and nurturing environment was part of the reason why I was even able to hammer my way through those punishing times.

There's a lot of sentimentalities associated with this place because some of the most impactful years of my life happened here, so it's quite a struggle to just pack my belongings and leave things behind, because truly at one point, this apartment had become my home.

"Are you almost done?"

Turning around, I'm met by the right of Jasper casually making his way into the now-cluttered space of my room, eyeing his surroundings with a desolate look on his face.

I smiled softly at his disheartened expression "Will you miss me when I'm gone?"

He blinked back at my choice of words, averting his gaze away from me, his chin held up high "As if digital communication doesn't exist, stop acting as if you'll die in a few days."

I couldn't help but laugh at his defensiveness. "Wouldn't it be better to experience the real thing, though? I'll admit, I'll miss you a lot once I'm gone, even your occasional nagging." his brief facade vanishes as I said that.

He starts circling the pile of boxes scattered across the room, appearing deep in thought with his arms folded against his chest before he sits down on my now bare mattress.

Gently spreading his palms against the surface of my bed, he sighed to himself "Cut back to the days when I would walk into your bedroom to tell you breakfast is ready only to see a naked woman scrambling to put her clothes on while you were still sound asleep."

I snorted, taking a seat beside him. "The bewildered screams of both you and the women I slept with as you bump into each other at 9 AM to this day remains as my favorite alarm clock."

We laughed at the memory as if we forgot that during those same mornings we had relentlessly argued about how if he didn't wanna be traumatized by the outcome of my late-night escapades, he should've knocked before coming into my room.

It's funny how once we look at those days now, there's nothing short of amusement on both of our behalves as if those disputes didn't nearly cause a dent in our friendship.

Silence settled within the atmosphere as our laughter stopped short after that.

"... I will, by the way," he muttered.

I turned to him "What?"

"I will. Miss you, that is."

I couldn't repress the growing smile that stretched across my face from ear to ear. "But like you said, digital communication exists, we can still text each other whenever we want."

"Yeah, but still," he said, "It's nothing compared to annoying you in real life by barging into your room in the morning just to yell at you about the half-emptied bottles of beer you left on the kitchen counter while you were drinking in the middle of the night."