Unlikely Circumstances

Part IV "Merging Plotlines" / Chapter 10 / Aero

I fall in and out of consciousness throughout the next two days, with three broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a fracture above my left eyebrow, and bruises all over my stomach and above.

Gabriel comes to visit me on the third day in the hospital, looking as if he's been crying for the past year or so.

"Mom, can you give us a minute?" I ask my mother as the golden-haired enigma enters the room.

She just nods, looking suspicious, but leaving us to it.

"Aero, I'm so sorry... I could have helped, if I hadn't been on the opposite side of the park, if I'd walked you home, I'm just... I'm so sorry."

"Gabe, don't worry, it's alright. I'm going to be fine." I say, trying to explain to him that it's not his fault.

"I know, I just-"

"Hey, stop it."

He finally looks me in the eyes, and I turn to see if anyone's watching, to which I see no one.

"Kiss me and we're good."

He looks around, and also sees no one, leaning over and kissing me, before speaking, "Listen, Aero, we can't continue this, alright? We can't have this happen again, to either of us."

The shock shakes me to my core.

"What?"

"I'm... I'm sorry... I can't stay with you."

"Gabe, no. Come on, we can work around stuff like this-"

"Aero, don't make this harder than it has to be."

I shake my head, "I don't want this to kill our relationship, or, I don't know, whatever this is! I'm committed to this, please."

"We've known each other for a week. We shouldn't be doing this in the first place, it's just wrong." He shakes his head, "There was no way this was going to work."

He starts to leave, but I grab his hand, just like that day at the park, "Wait, Gabe, please."

"Don't talk to me, alright? It's better for both of us."

He pulls free of my grip, exiting the room and leaving me behind, never to fully understand what went down in that room, that fateful room 306 on the third floor, on that one fateful day, October 6th, 2017.

(Easter Egg: The October 6th and room 306 on floor 3 may or may not be a reference to the room Jai was in during TGTD, for anyone who has read my "Truth or Dare" Series.)

I pull out of my dazed state, and exit the choir/band room, finding Sage and walking him to his eighth-period class while I go out to the Camry to wait for him to get out of school.

I continue thinking about that week, and I can still remember all the details. Every single one.

Sage opens the door, all smiles. "So, where to now?" He asks, leaning over and placing a sweet kiss on my cheek and reaching for my hand to hold.

It takes me a second to register he's in the vehicle.

"Hmm? What?" I ask, looking over at a very smiley Sage.

"Are you alright?" He asks, gaining a concerned and also confused look upon his face.

"Uh, yeah, I was just mid-thought when you got in the car." I say, forcing a smile. "Sorry, babe."

"So, Reg's? Home? Park? Somewhere else?"

"Well, let's see, Caramel has dance tonight... so she and Mom will be gone for a while... and then I think she was talking about taking her and a friend of hers to the mall, so the house will be empty for, oh, let's say until midnight maybe? At max?"

Now, a grin or a smirk type of look fulfills his handsome features, as he leans over to me, and whispering, "Well, maybe we should make use of our extended alone time?"

"I agree." I say, starting up the car with my one empty hand. "Home we go, then."

Like I had assumed the house was empty for much, much longer than we really needed, but we make use of the alone time, no less. Snuggles on the couch, a couple makeout sessions all over, but some other occurrences in both his room and mine, before finally we doze off together in my room after talking for a long time about college and jobs, etcetera.

It was an amazing few hours, but with every good thing, there's always something bad to go with it.

So what haunts me all those hours alone with Sage, is that the week with Gabe keeps popping into my head, making it hard to concentrate, which, well, it's not like you need much concentration in the situations I was in, but it still was annoying that Sage wasn't the only thing, let alone person, I was thinking about.

It really put a damper on things.

And worse, Sage noticed.

Hope you guys enjoyed! If you did, feel free to vote, comment, follow; all those help! This one isn't dedicated to anyone, but I'll try to dedicate future ones so if you want to get a dedication show your dedication to this story.

xoxo

-Via

*hands out copies of "The Game of Truth or Dare" so everyone can fall in love with my other books too*

***EVERY CHAPTER FROM NOW ON IS IN PART IV, I JUST WON'T SAY THAT ANYMORE SINCE THIS IS WHEN THE PLOTLINES JOIN AS ONE***