Cigarettes [Bennoda] ✔

Chapter 18

I went up to the front door and saw that Mike was standing there with a little, sad smile on his face. His eyes weren't bright and happy like they had been the last time we had seen eachother. They were a bit sad and red.

I put my cigarette out in the ash tray on the coffee table and sat my beer on top. I walked over and stood about a foot from him.

"Hey." I said quietly. "Hey Chester." He said back quietly. I wrapped my arms around his body and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry." I whispered. He took a deep breath. "Sorry for what?" He asked. "Your wedding. I'm sorry." "It's not your fault... It was my decision." He said as he pulled away a little to look at me. "Leaving her on our wedding day was a mistake, I should've did it weeks before, but I didn't know how. I just... I knew I couldn't marry her that day. I couldn't marry her knowing that I cared deeply about someone else." He said with a little smile. I smiled back.

"Awww!" I turned around and saw Ryan and Amir standing in the doorway. I just chuckled and looked down. I turned around and looked back up at Mike.

"So... what are you doing here in Phoenix?" I asked. "Well... I promised to come back, remember?" "Yeah. I remember. Did you bring those Star Wars movies?" I asked. He smiled. "I did." He said. "Come on. Let's go to my room." I said. He nodded. I turned back around and my friends were still standing there.

"We're gonna head out I guess." Ryan said. "You two look like you have a lot to catch up on and a lot of Star Wars to watch, so we'll leave you to it." He said. I nodded and they started walking out. "You need me to give you a ride?" I asked. Ryan shook is head. "We live like a block away Chester. We'll be fine." He said. I nodded again. They left and Mike and I were left alone again.

I smiled, took his hand and led him to my room. He sat his backpack down and opened it. He pulled out a stack of movies and smirked. I just smiled.

"We have to wait for my dad to leave before we watch movies because he's watching some game right now and that's the only TV in our house. He usually goes to one of his friends houses on Fridays to hang out." I said. Mike smiled and nodded. He sat his movies on my desk and walked towards me.

I looked up at him and smiled. He smiled back and ran his hand down my jaw. He leaned in and kissed me softly. He pulled away slowly and put his head against mine.

"I missed you." Mike whispered. "I missed you too... why didn't you call or text me? Why haven't you been on social media at all?" I asked. He pulled his head away from mine and sighed. He walked me over to the bed and we sat down. He stared at my hands that were in his for a while before sighing again.

"After the wedding day... I was a mess. I was getting tweets and phone calls and emails left and right. They were all either asking about what happened with Anna and I or yelling at me for what I did. I didn't know what to say to most of the people, so I just disconnected myself from it all. Everyone in my family and Anna's family are still angry with me. I decided to come here to get away from all that and spend time with you." He said. I smiled. "Well I'm glad you came." I said. "Me too." He said.

"Hey Chester?" My dad called from the other side of the door. "Yeah dad?" I asked back. "I'm going to Johnny's house. I'll be back in a couple hours." He said. "Alright have fun." I said back. "You too." He said.

"Who's Johnny?" Mike asked as we got off my bed to go to the living room. "My dad's best friend. He's nice. My dad basically grew up with him and he's always been around. We go there over for dinner and cookouts a lot." "That's cool." "Yeah."

Mike got his movies and I got a few blankets. We went to the living room and I unfolded the bed couch for us to lay on. I put in the first movie, turned off the light and got on the bed with Mike. We got under the covers and he pulled me close to him.