I Still Do

Chapter 16

"Idiot." I muttered and he laughed.

I closed my eyes and buried my head in his chest. My face was bright red and my heart was going crazy. What is this man doing to me? I listened to his heartbeat the entire time. It was oddly calming. There was something about hearing it, and I can't describe it.

"Thank you for taking us home, Phil." Wilbur said softly as he helped me out of the car.

"Of course mate! And if you need anything let me know!" He called out as we walked up to Wilbur's house.

"This place feels different." I mumbled as he unlocked the door.

"Well, you've never been here."

The door opened and a sensation of safeness hit me. I wanted to go lay in bed, on the couch, or even on the floor. I knew that he wouldn't care. Something about this place felt so... homey. Maybe it's just me, but he felt homey.

"Welcome home, Jareds."

I smiled up at him and he looked down at me. He closed the door and I stepped more into the house. Records on the walls, guitars on the walls, drum sticks, a microphone in the corner, a bookshelf, plants in the corner, pictures all over the walls.

"Is that mine?" I titled my head as I walked closer to the diploma.

"That is yours." I could hear the smile in his voice.
It's like he never thought that this day would come.

It seems nobody did, not even my doctors. There were a couple medals next to it, and there was a motorcycle helmet on the table underneath it. There was a picture of Dad and I at one of my races next to that. His arms were wrapped around my shoulders and I was smiling widely. My helmet was on in the picture but the visor was flipped up.

I picked up the helmet and looked at the detail on it, taking in what used to be my life. I hope it still is. Something about knowing that I was a motorcyclist really had me going. The blue, red and white tones were all splattered together. There were fingerprints on the back of my helmet.

"Whose are these?" I turned around coming face to face with him.

"The black one is your fathers, the red one is your mothers, the blue is maxs, and the white one is yours. You refused to race without anything with them on you. Whether it be your fathers gloves, socks, anything. So, your dad got that for you for your seventeenth birthday."

"Did you know me then?"

"No, but your father and I went through a lot of stories together."

My stomach erupted into butterflies and I set the helmet back down.

"Why do you have this stuff?"

"I wanted things that reminded me of you that were yurs. I didn't just want things. For example, your helmet, you wore that, you raced with it. The diploma, you wanted it so badly, you wanted that achievement. The wrench necklace, you neve took it off, it gave you good luck. This stupid bloody mug that you hate."

"If I hated it, why did you keep it?"

"I liked to piss you off with it."

I laughed and walked around the place more. He stayed with me, but not too close because he knew that I wanted to explore on my own.

"Why is there a hole in your wall?" I asked after we walked in the hallway to the kitchen.

"Bad at dealing with emotions." He muttered like he was mad at himself for that.

"I can fix it, I know how to fix these things."

"Wow you remember that but not me. So touched Jareds."

I laughed at his remark before walking into the kitchen.

"Why do you have like no cups?" I asked after I opened the cabinet and looked in.

"They were all broken on this floor." He spoke quietly almost like he was scared of how I would react.

"You know I'm not going to judge you for breaking shit right? I'm not scared of you either, so get your head out of your ass." His sad smile turned into a laugh.

"Want to see your room?" He asked before I nodded.

He took my hand and slowly walked down the hallway. He opened the door and I immediately sighed.

"Thank you." I mumbled, hugging him.

I felt his body freeze under my unexpected touch and I felt bad.

"I'm sor-"

"Shut up and hug me Jareds."

I wrapped my arms back around him and laughed into his chest. His heartbeat was beating faster and it made me feel good because I did that. The pastel green walls and the one accent wall made the room feel so much bigger.

It also felt like mine. There was a bookshelf with a couple of books, a car and motorcycle poster, some band posters.

"For a person only staying here for a week or two, you sure decked this out to what i like."

"Maybe after this you'll want to stay here forever? Who knows?" He shrugged with a smile on his face.

"Are you implying that you want me to stay?" I turned to face him with a smile on my own face.

"Maybe I am."

"And maybe I'll want to."

"Maybe you will."

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