Messy

Jared

I pull into Evan's driveway. He climbs out of the car and sprints to the house. He's really fast. Two minutes later, he comes out wearing a black jacket. It's a little big on him, probably so the cast will fit under it.

"Ready to go?" I ask, watching him tug at the sleeves of the sweater.

"Sure." He replies in a shaky voice.

He's being so brave. I would never be able to do this if I was him. I'm already angry at his dad. I can't imagine how mad he is.

"It'll be okay." I say, taking a hand off of the steering wheel and resting it on his shoulder. "I'll be there. Your mom will be there, my parents will be there. And you can stay as many nights at my place as you have to. You can stay until he leaves."

"Okay. Thank you."

We drive in silence for a little while before he speaks again.

"His wife and kids are coming." Evan whispers. "I don't know what that's going to mean."

"I-"

"I'm scared, Jared."

"If he touches you, he's dead. What's one more murder?" I let out a laugh to hide my fear for him.

My laugh. Something I really hate about myself. I've had people tell me that I have a great laugh, but I really despise it. It's awful. I wish I could change it. I try to keep it down for the most part, but I am a generally funny person. I like laughing, even though my laugh totally sucks.

Evan laughs, too. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I don't think I even feel bad about what we're doing."

"Me neither, actually. That's weird."

"It won't be too hard to move on when it's over, right? I mean, you're great at lying. I know what we're doing. Everything will go as planned."

"We've gotten off-topic."

I laugh against my will. I try to swallow it back, but it doesn't work. "So. What do you think will be different if your dad's family is here?"

"I dunno? Do you think he'll leave me alone? Maybe he'll just ignore me. That wouldn't be terrible. Is his family being trained to hate me? I...I don't know them."

"It's gonna be okay, Ev. They aren't going to be- I mean, they could be, but it doesn't matter. They don't matter. They're only here for a while. It isn't permanent. I won't leave you alone until he's back in his hole in Colorado."

"Thank you, Jared. Seriously."

By now, it's dark everywhere. We pull into the driveway at my place and I turn the truck off. Evan takes a deep breath. I give him a supporting smile. We stumble down the sidewalk through the complete darkness. I hold his hand as tight as I can without hurting him.

I hate how fast I've forgiven him, how fast I've taken him back. I mean sure, it's been years since we stopped hanging out, but I should have given it more time after he apologized.

But I didn't.

And I'm happy, so whatever.

I'm never letting him go again. Next time, we'll talk things out.

I use my house key to open the front door. I can hear polite chatter in the kitchen.

I give Evan's hand a squeeze, then let go before we enter the kitchen.

"MOM I'M HOME!" I half-yell, wandering toward the source of the conversations. The speaking stops.

"Hey, honey!" She crosses the kitchen and gives me a gentle hug. She moves to Evan, hugging him as if nothing ever changed. It's like it used to be. It's comforting.

"Are you going to be okay?" She whispers to him. I'm not sure if I was supposed to hear. Evan nods and takes another breath.

"Dinner's not quite ready yet." Mom says in a louder voice. "Why don't you two go play video games or something." It's not a question. She doesn't want Evan to be in here with his dad.

"Is Heidi here?" I ask.

"No, not yet. I'll call you down when she arrives. I've just been catching up with Mark and meeting his lovely family." She doesn't like his family. Not many people can pick up on my mother's opinions, but I can. She doesn't want them here. She doesn't think that they're... what's the word she used? Lovely?

"Well, have fun with that. Evan and I are going up to my room." I motion for Evan to follow. I don't want him to get into more trouble with his dad, so I don't hold his hand like I want to.

Once we're in my room, I shut the door and lock it. I'm not taking any chances.

"This is going to be horrible." Evan says, his face buried in his hands.

"I know." I admit. "But it can't last forever."

He nods. I sit down on my bed next to him and put an arm over his shoulder. "I'm going to keep you safe."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to say thank you enough."

"You don't have to."

We sit in a comfortable silence for several minutes.

"So... Connor." Evan says.

"The only thing we really need to figure out is if we have the supplies, and a way to administer the drug." I say.

"Do you have *insert some drug that takes a long time to kill a person if overdosed*? We could just sneak in inside of some food, right?"

"Yeah, that works. I don't think I have *insert same drug* but I have a sneaking suspicion that you do."

"Yeah... I mean, it's locked up in a box that takes, like, a million keys, but I do have it. It's gonna be hard for me to get a hold of it. It's something my mom takes for *insert not terrible sickness that requires said drug* so there's no reason for me to have it. I'm going to have to be quiet about it."

"We'll figure something out. We aren't going to let Connor ruin your life."

"That sounds incredibly hippocrytical, seeing as we're literally going to kill him"

"You're right." I laugh. "It'll be fine. I-"

"JARED! EVAN! DINNER!" My mom suddenly calls from downstairs. I smile at Evan before standing up and heading for the kitchen. He follows me closely.

"Hi, mom." Evan says to Heidi. Heidi smiles a huge, real smile.

"Oh, Evan, I was so glad to hear that you and Jared are hanging out again!" She says excitedly.