friends - r.v.d

Part 23: the one where she wants to know

I woke up the next morning and Jaden had left already. Weird. He always stayed for breakfast or at least woke me up before he left. I noticed I was still in his shirt. He must've taken one of my oversized hoodies. I jumped up and slipped on a pair of shorts and grabbed my phone before walking down the hallway. No one was in the kitchen, weird. I heard the t.v in the lounge room playing some sort of kids show, meaning Zara was watching it. I look at the clock on the microwave and realise its 10 am. It wasn't even that late, why did Jaden leave so early?

"Hey kiddo," I hear Dylan say as he walks into the kitchen.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" I ask him. He moved out a couple of months ago when he realised Kelsey was growing up so now he had to do the same. He was always here helping with Zara and the house but since it was a Saturday I didn't see why he was here.

"Mum asked me to come over for a bit and same with Kelsey." He shrugged.

"Why though? You guys never come here on weekends unless we are doing something big." I say confused still but he just shrugs. I sigh and walk over to the fridge. I grab the blueberries before closing the door and heading to the lounge room to sit with Zara.

"Morning munchkin," I smile at my little sister as I walk into the living room. She turns around and smiles at me. She was still in her 'My Little Pony' pj's and her hair was still a mess.

"Lama, can I have a blueberry?" she asks me as walks over to me. I take a seat on the couch and tuck my feet under my legs.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" I ask her and she shakes her head no. I sigh.

"Dylan!" I call out to him.

"What?" I hear him call back from the kitchen.

"Why didn't you make Zara breakfast?" I ask.

"I'm doing it now calm your shi-sugar," he corrects himself making me roll my eyes. I give Zara a few blueberries whilst Dylan makes her some proper breakfast. I decide to open my phone and message Jaden.

You:
hey, why did you leave without saying goodbye?

Whilst I waited for his reply I scrolled through Instagram and answered the snapchats I had gotten the previous night. Before I knew it half an hour had passed and Zara and Dylan were eating pancakes on the living room floor. Jaden still hadn't replied. Weird, he usually replies by now. Guess he is just sleeping or something.

"So how's school treating you so far?" Dylan asks me and I lock my phone, placing it next to me.

"I mean it's school, nothing special. How's work been?" I ask him.

"Not too bad, same usual thing every day." He shrugs. I nod understanding, not really wanting to talk.

"Zara, god damn it you got maple syrup on the carpet." Dylan whines as he gets up to get something to clean it up. Zara looks up at me confused and I shoot her a confused look back.

"Lama?" she says.

"Yes taina?" I ask her.

"Where did Ruel go?" she asks me confused. I pang of pain goes through my heart when I hear his name, but my little sister asking about him made it hurt even more. I tried not to let it show but I knew my facial expression had dropped drastically.

"Well Zara, Ruel went away for a bit. He has gone to a magical place filled with lots of rainbows and guess what?" I ask her.

"What?" she says curiously.

"He gets free ice cream." I say and I see her little eyes light up. She jumps up and runs over to me. She jumps onto the couch and sits with her feet under her thighs.

"When is he coming back?" she asks me, her heart still full of hope and wonder. My heart breaks in two but I couldn't let it show.

"I'm not sure baby, hopefully soon." I say and I give her a soft smile. She just nods and hops off the couch.

"Dylan did you know Ru-y gets free ice cream in a magical place with rainbows?" I hear her squeal as she runs into the kitchen.

"Does he now? Who said that?" he asks her.

"Lama." She says excitedly.

"Of course she did." I hear him mumble. I suddenly feel a weight on my chest. Zara was too small to understand what happened. I don't want to break her tiny fragile heart and make her sad. I could barely bring myself to talk about him normally let alone explain everything to someone as innocent as my sister. I feel tears prick my eyes and I'm in a panic. I get up from the couch, grab my phone and speed my way to my room. I gently close my door behind me before locking it. I slowly walk over to my bed and suddenly the tears start pouring out my eyes. I thought I was over this. I thought I would be okay if Ruel was ever mentioned again but all I wanted was to see him. All I wanted was to hold him and tell him I love him. What if I did? What if I get to see him again? There's only one way to do that but I don't know if I'm ready for it. I don't know if I can put myself through that. I sit up and wipe my still falling tears. I grab my phone and message my mum.

You:
I'm sorry, I love you.

I get up and set out to do the one thing I could do to get to Ruel. The one thing I could do to see him again.