Promises

Chapter Two

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1053

June 30th, 2017

"Come on," you groaned, trying to jiggle your key out of the car's ignition. "Just give it up!"

The key eventually gave, but not without causing your hand to fly to the side and smack into the dash. You winced and cradled your hand, biting down on your lip to keep from screaming profanities. With a sigh, you leaned your head onto the steering wheel.

"Just a couple thousand more dollars and we can get a new car," you reminded yourself.

Once your hand stopped throbbing, you grabbed your bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car. The door creaked as you closed it behind you, but you had grown so accustomed to it at this point that you hardly noticed.

"I'm home!" you called as you walked into the entryway.

"Hello, sweetheart!" your mom called from somewhere in the house.

You kicked your shoes off by the door and set your bag next to the stairs before walking into the kitchen to join your mom. She was currently standing behind the counter mixing what looked like a fruit salad.

"How was work?" she asked.

You shrugged and took a seat at the dining room table, "Same as always. I just reshelved some books, gave people recommendations here and there, and did some indexing."

"Sounds fun," she smiled.

"If you consider mundane work fun, then sure," you joked.

She shook her head, "You've always had your father's humor."

You managed a small smile at the mention of your dad. He had passed away from lung cancer nine years ago, and not a day had gone by where you didn't think about him. You had stayed home after he passed away to help your mom out financially. It had never been your vision to live at home in the same small town your entire life, but sometimes things just worked out that way.

"What are you making for dinner tonight?" you asked.

"Chicken breast, roast vegetables, and fruit salad."

"What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, I just know you've been working hard lately."

"Thanks, Mom," you smiled. "Hey, where's Fergus?"

Fergus was a three year old golden retriever that you and your mom had adopted a few years ago to liven up the house a bit. You had ended up with a bit more than you bargained for, however. Fergus was one of the most energetic dogs that you had met, and he was always running around and getting into trouble somehow. He was a lovable idiot of a dog.

"He's in the backyard. I got distracted with helping the new family down the street move in so I never got the chance to take him on a walk. He was running around while I was trying to cook and I tripped over him at least three times."

"I'll take him on a walk," you shrugged.

"You will?"

"Of course, I could use the fresh air."

"Thank you so much, sweetheart."

As soon as Fergus heard the back door open, he came barreling across the yard, stopping just short of you. His tongue was hanging half out of his mouth as he looked up with you with wide eyes.

"You want to go on a walk, bud?"

His tail started wagging furiously. After a bit of trial and error, you eventually managed to get him to sit still long enough for you to clip his leash on. You waved to your mom through the kitchen window before walking through the fence gate. Fergus tugged on the leash a bit as you walked, but you were too busy enjoying the sunshine to notice.

You didn't pay too much attention to where you were going, and before you knew it you were to the big tree where you and Tyler had spent so much time as kids. Fergus began to sniff around the roots as you looked up at the green leaves overhead. Patches of sunlight were shining on the ground, and you couldn't help but reminisce about better times. Curiosity got the better of you and you walked around to the back side of the tree where, sure enough, your and Tyler's initials were still carved into the trunk.

Fergus eventually began to tug at the leash again, leading you further down the road. You pulled yourself out of your own head and redirected your attention to the world around you. Despite the fact that you had walked this road countless times, you always tried to find something new each time. It was one of the few things that made you feel less stuck in life.

You and Fergus both started to grow tired of walking, so you turned around and headed back towards your house. Your mom was on the phone as you walked inside, so you decided to head up to your room to give her some privacy. You had tried to convince her a long time ago that you no longer needed a landline phone, but she insisted on keeping it so that she could talk to the Josephs. Even telling her that she could still talk to them on a cellphone wasn't enough, so you had decided to accept your defeat.

You took a seat at the small desk in your room and grabbed the stack of papers you had tossed to the side of the chair. They were covered in scribbles and ideas for the novel you were working on. You took a second to organize the papers and grab a pen from the small cup in the corner before writing down a few ideas that had occurred to you while you were out on your walk.

"Y/N!" your mom called up the stairs.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come down here?"

"Yeah, one sec."

You stacked the papers back up before sliding down the hallway in your socks towards the stairs. Your mom was in the kitchen when you arrived downstairs, looking more flustered than was typical of her.

"What's up?" you asked, trying to hide the slight nervousness in your voice.

"I just got a call from Mrs. Joseph."

That didn't seem too out of the ordinary.

"Oh yeah? How is she doing?"

"Same as always, but that's not why she called."

"Is everything alright?" you asked, growing significantly more nervous.

"Sweetheart, Tyler is back in town."