Drowning Darkness

Chapter Eight

The next morning, I was awoken by the coffee aroma filling the apartment. I removed the covers from my body and got up from my bed. I headed towards the kitchen which seemed to be the source of this arousing smell. As I entered the kitchen, I saw Jules fiddling with her coffee mug.

"Hey," I whispered so she wouldn't get startled.

"Oh, hey, you're up." She said as she put down her coffee mug and wiped away the tears which covered her face. She looked so lost, like she had no idea what she was doing with her life. She was physically there but her head was somewhere else, I could tell by the small talk we tried to make.

"Jules, " I finally spke out, "I know you're not ready to talk about what happened and that's okay. I just need you to know that I'm here for you, whatever you need. You might think I may not understand, but I've had my fair share of hardships."

"Thank you, Andrea. Means so much." She said weakly as she tried to put on a smile.

The day passed by like that, there was not much to do. I went to college while Jules took yet another day off. I also ran into Eric and Andy who just like me were also worried for Jules. They offered to come meet her, but she said she wanted to be left alone for a while and so neither of them pushed her that much.

At home, I was preparing dinner for the two of us as Jules snuck up to me. She didn't say anything for a while and just leaned against the grey fridged and closely analysed me as she cook. She was lost in thought yet again. Her golden looks were tied up in a messy bun, dark circles were beggining to appear beneath her eyes which had lost their sparkle. 

"My brother's been missing." She spoke.

"What?" I spoke in shock.

"My younger brother, he was in his senior year of high school, went to school the other day and hasn't been seen since."

I kept the spatula down next to the stove and went over to Jules to embrace her in a long comforting hug. "It's going to be alright." I said in the crook of her neck. As we pulled away from each other, I took her by the hand and headed over to the sofa. "Talk to me about it, it'll help." I assured her.

As we sat down, she explained, "They don't know where he is, how he is or even if he's...alive. The police have been searching everywhere for him. He's my younger brother, the only one from my family I'm still close to." Tears slid down her check as she spoke, "We grew up together, played together, cried together and now, now I don't even know where he is. Or even if he's a-alive."

"Jules, you needn't worry. I'm sure you're brother's fine, wherever he is. You said the police are searching, right? They'll find him soon, and it's going to be like he was never gone. You can't loose hope okay? Promise me you won't"

"I promised," she mumbeled under her breath.

"And listen to me, you need to start taking better care of yourself. Your brother would want that. You need to start going to college, do you hair, eat, sleep, smile and most importantly annoy those little dimwits." She let out a laugh that I dearly missed.  

"Thank you, I needed that"

The rest of the night we spent talking about random things, since I was trying to ger her mind off her problems. Eric and Andy dropped by after Jules texted Eric that they could. They didn't stay for long, however I think there's something going on between Jules and Eric. I cought them exchanging glances, you know those glances. And Eric even sounded quite worried about Jules. I didn't ask them anything though because obviously right now's not the time. But I will, soon.

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Over the next few days, Jules was still crashing at my place, but well, I refused to let her out of my sight. I even accompanied  her when she went to her place to pick up some stuff. She seemed to be doing better. She obviously, wasn't the same she was before the incident, but better than the lasts few days. She was eating better, sleeping better and if it was a good day, she'd throw in a smile or two. 

Friday evening, after college, Jules and I went for a stroll to a park nearby. It was dark even though it was just five, that happens when winter's right around the corner. The street lamps were shining as bright as they could, the trees whilsted due to the strong wind as the kids played in the ground. 

"Have you heard from your parents?" I asked Jules.

"They called yesterday, still no progress. The police say that if it had been a kidnapping, there wouldv'e been a call for ransom, but not word," she answered.

"Oh. I'm sure they'll find him."

"Yeah."

In an attempt to change the subject, I asked, "So what's going on between you and Eric?"

I saw her cheeks turn into the color of tomatos, ask I asked her that. "What're you talking about?" She questioned, trying to beat around the bush. I gave her the look, the one which said that I knew she was hiding something. "There's nothing going on between Eric and I," she insisted, as she picked up some pace and started to walk back to my apartment.

"Hey! Come on, you can tell me. I saw the way you too were looking at each other the other day," I said as I finally cought upto her.

"It's just that he's been there for me for the past few days and it means a lot having him there. Plus, he's a little cute." She smiled.

"A little? You know you have a crush on him girly," I teased her, "And I'm sure he likes you too. It's like my sixth sense. So is there any future to it?"

"Eric's a great guy, but I'm afraid your sixth sense is wrong. He doesn't like me. I mean why would he? And as for my feelings, I honestly don't know what I'm feeling right now. I don't have time for anything, much less a relationship." 

"I'm sure this all will blow over soon, and then you and Eric can live happily ever after, with me ofcourse." I joked. Jules let out a laugh and put her arm around me as we walked home. "There is no happily ever after as long as you are there my friend," she teased me.

Author's note

I realised the previous chapters might've been too short, so here's a longer one. There's much more to chew on in this. I'll be updating as soon as I can before I take a break for a week. Need to get things together, hopefully it won't be too long! And please disregard any typing or grammaritica errors, I haven't editted these chapters. Happy reading everyone, don't forget to vote and comment!:)