Mr. Lone Boy /BoyxBoy/

||Twenty-three||

"He left nine days ago."

"Really?" I asked weakly.

Ian nodded.

"Has he talked to you?" I asked.

"Yes, but I'm curious as to why he's avoiding you."

"He's not avoiding me."

Ian raised his eyebrows.

I huffed. "I'll give him a call."

"Are you going to see your parents soon?" Ian asked abruptly, I almost chocked from the food in my mouth.

I coughed painfully, my eyes watering. "No."

"I thought you wanted to."

"I don't trust them."

"They're your parents."

"They also abandoned me," I shot back, not feeling hungry any more.

Ian regarded me thoughtfully."Don't you think they deserve a second chance?"

I had thought about it. Usually, I would say that they do deserve a second chance and maybe they did, I just was not ready for it.

"I need to go," I said, standing from the bench.

"Where?" he asked, standing as well.

"I don't know," I snapped.

Ian's eyes squinted at me, and I wanted to smack his face so bad but I knew not to act on my feelings. Especially the ones that only seemed to fill me up with irritation.

"I'll see you around then," Ian said, giving me a little wave with his hand before he walked away.

I stared after him. His hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his worn out leather jacket, his back hunched over as he pulled the hood of his jacket over his head. As if he was trying to hide away.

I glanced back at the bench and picked up the fruit salad and the half eaten beagle, dumping them both in the dumpster along with the rest of the food.

~

I walked to the apartment, the dog whining the entire way back. As soon as I walked in my apartment, I pulled out my phone and gave Devin a call.

"Hello?"

I froze, not really expecting him to pick up. "H-hey, it's Nate."

"Oh, hey, how's it been?"

"Good."

"What's up?"

"Just checking up on you. It's been a while."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah, I've been busy."

I sighed. "Dev, why haven't you called?"

"I told you, I was busy."

"Busy enough to ignore your best friend?" I meant to say it teasingly, as a joke, but it came out as angry-jealous.

Devin groaned. "I'm sorry."

"Have you been avoiding me?"

"Maybe?"

I winced. "Oh."

"Look, I've been gone over a week. I was just worried you'd get mad."

"I'm not mad."

"You know what I mean. I don't want you to think I'm staying here for good, but I need more time."

"I understand," I said stiffly. "How are your parents?"

"They're great! They're not mad anymore, they finally accept me," he said.