Seventeen.

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"We need to talk." I blurt out and can see Tony shift slightly in his shoes so I take the hint and walk over towards the edge of the fountain and take a seat.

"Go ahead." He sits down next to me only inches away but his eyes don't meet mine. Instead they looking up into the bright night sky. Along with a street light that is near us, the stars glow off of Tony's face and is making everything harder to make out. I had 15 minutes to discuss what I was gonna say to him but now it's all mush when I look at the piece of metal that rests right under his eye.

I've grown to love that damn thing.

"Whatever happened between us is cool." Tony speaks and I almost don't react to it because it doesn't sit well in my head. How could he possibly be cool with this?

"I mean, if I had a girlfriend who paid more attention to another guy, I'd be pissed too." The laugh that escapes from his lips makes the ends of my mouth twitch up into a smile. Not because he is speaking the utter truth but because I haven't heard that laugh in so long.

"I can have a guy best friend though, thats the thing. Nothing is going on between us so why can't Peyton see that?" I shake my head and pick at the loose strands on my jeans that I messed up prior to coming here. I ended up tripping over a rock as I was looking up to the moon and ripped more of the rips that came along with the jeans.

"He's jealous of me, I mean... I'm just that awesome." His shoulder nudges into mine and I rest my head against him as soon as he makes the contact. It's been far too long without my best friend and I have been having withdrawls ever since the day I walked away from him.

"How have you been?" I change the direction of topic because I've came to realization that whatever happened between us is gone and in the past. I know Tony will forever be my best friend and I can't give that up over my boyfriend not being able to understand that.

"I've been okay. So bored actually, I've been hanging with Heather and my roomate Seth. They aren't as cool as some people, I know."

"You mean me?" I remove my head from his shoulder and look up at him as he continues to look up into the sky. The way his cheeks move back, I can tell theres a smile on his face as he thinks of his smart comeback... but nothing comes. Instead he breaks his stare up at the sky and beams his eyes down onto mine. There isn't much space between our faces and the way his eyes flicker up and down, takes my breath away.

"I've missed you." The words slide out of his mouth and I can smell the faint hint of watermelon on his breath. The smell almost knocks me backwards as I take it all in and close my eyes, thinking about how much I truly have missed his presence. When my eyes flutter back open, his face isn't on me anymore they're instead back looking into the sky.

"How have you been?" His tone is now clipped at me and I am taken back at how the mood has changed but I try and push it back as I answer him, "I've been okay."

The truth is, I've been almost miserable.

The day I left him standing at the party almost broke me down to pieces, seeing Peyton have the winning smirk on his face almost took me overboard. Nothing could have possible been worse that night but life isn't fair always and I was faced with my parents divorced. Of course I wasn't okay and that put the topping on the cake. I broke down in my room shortly after Peyton left to go get ready for the party. Everything had seemed getting out of hand and what sucks more was that the person I wanted more wasn't there to help me, he didn't even know about my parents.

He just thought I was okay.

"What's wrong?" Tony voice cuts right through me and the tears start to fill my eyes and pour over. I hate crying in front of people and I curse underneath my breath for letting it happen again. I feel a warm touch and I shiver at the connection, Tony swipes his thumd underneath my eye lid wiping the excess water coming from my eyes. He pulls me into a warm embrace and wraps his arms around me pulling us together, our thighs touching and my head resting against his chest. I can hear the sobs coming but I try to hold them back but it makes it all worse. He rests his chin on top of my head, giving me silent shh's as he continues to rub his hand up and down my back.

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