November
"Hey, I'm glad you came," I said to Josh as he walked through my door.
"Hi, my love! How are you?" Josh asked, pulling me into his embrace.
"Ah, Josh, I don't know. It's a strange feeling, I can't explain it," I replied, holding onto him. "With all this happening to Julia, and knowing how my brother has been feeling about me, it just makes everything even more complicated." I nestled into Josh's arms, feeling a kiss on the top of my head.
"I can imagine, my love. I know how important Julia is to you, and even more so your relationship with James. It's hard to deal with, I understand," Josh said, releasing me from the embrace and pulling me to sit on the couch.
The house was empty, my parents had left in the morning, and James didn't spend a second at home; when he left school, he went straight to his girlfriend's house to keep her company. In fact, since the fateful day, Julia's grandmother passed away, I hadn't seen my brother at all, and it bothered me.
James and I were inseparable, but that reality seemed to have changed in recent months. With all the drama I went through at the beginning of winter, plus everything happening in his girlfriend's family, I imagined that's why I ended up unintentionally drifting away from my other half.
"C? Love?" Josh called me, sounding a bit impatient.
"Hi! Hi! I'm sorry, my love, I'm a bit spaced out," I said genuinely.
"Wow, love, it's always like this when I'm with you, always distracted, thinking about anything but being with me at the moment," Josh complained, making me look at him with a confused expression.
"Hm, I thought you loved that about me, how I daydream, like I'm making elaborate plans in my head. Don't you?" I asked, sitting facing him, moving away from his arm that was around my shoulders.
"Not all the time!" Josh exclaimed.
"Do you really understand everything that's going on?" I questioned, looking deep into his eyes.
"Yes, I understand, Julia's grandmother died, I just don't understand why that affects our relationship so much," Josh asked aggressively, and that sentence startled me.
"So you didn't really understand what's happening." I stood up and walked to the other side of the room. "Abigail was like my grandmother too, and Julia is my best friend. Being by her side and feeling the pain of this loss is something I need to do because I spent time with that lady, and I know how extraordinary she was." I felt a lump form in my throat. "So forgive me if I'm not meeting your needs because I'm grieving!" My voice choked up. "She was important to me too, Josh!" A few tears escaped from my eyes. "And I know that like you, other people think I'm pretending, but I'm not!"
"Hey, hey! C, come here!" Josh stood up and pulled me into his embrace again. "I don't think you're pretending, my love! Far from it! I know you care, and you're suffering. Forgive me for not expressing myself properly, I... come here!" he said as I pushed him away.
"It's not your hug that I want right now!" I whispered, letting the tears roll uncontrollably down my face.
"Chloe, don't do this! Come here, my love!" he tried to hug me again, but I didn't let him get close.
"I think you should go!" I pleaded weakly and choked. "I thought having you here would be a good idea, but it wasn't! Please, Josh, just go."
"Chloe!" Josh begged, trying to approach me again.
"Get out!" I shouted, my voice breaking as I simply pointed to the door of my house. "Please!" I whispered.
"Okay, I'll go! But call me if you need anything, I'm here for you!" he said, backing away from me even more. "I love you, Chloe!"
YOU ARE READING
Down For Me ENGLISH
Teen FictionWhat is the true meaning of "count on me"? We hear this phrase daily from various people in our lives, but what does it really mean, what does the person really intend to say? Can we really count on them? Chloe and James realized that in the end...
