ALL THE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND

Chapter 1

"Sleep."

Dylan said as he yawned.

"Are you telling me that or yourself?"

I responded with a smile.

He let out a smirk at the other end of the screen as he rubbed his deep, mocha-brown eyes in fatigue. I could tell he was feeling lethargic and would crash any second-the indication was quite obvious as his eyelids kept shutting while he struggled to keep them awake.

"Who's texting you?"

I inquired, as he picked up his phone.

"Aria." He said her name with a smile that I was well too acquainted with- a beam of lust.

"A new girl?"

Before the words left my lips, I knew the answer that was to come. "She's beautiful."

Dylan praised.

"Well, I wouldn't have expected you to smile at a troll now, would I?" I subtly mimicked the way he was able to charm women that were far out of his league-not saying he was unattractive, because he wasn't. It was just another one of his tactics I never understood, yet wished I had. "Do you want to know how we met?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"It's an insane story. I promise," he retorted, ignoring my question. "Tell me." I set my hair behind my ear, as he began.

"Remember how I was supposed to fly back to Boston last month?" I nodded my head, letting him continue.

"It was honestly just pure luck. I was sitting next to this elderly man with a scruffy haircut and a scowl on his face- he absolutely loathed his seat position because he couldn't recline. So, after hearing him whine, I volunteered to give up my seat, he obviously accepted." "You willingly offered a senior citizen your place with no ulterior motive? Why does that sound ridiculously impossible to believe?" "I can be a gentleman when I want to. You just never choose to see it that way."

He asserted a hint of charge, silencing my egoistic self that enjoyed nothing more than to speak without thinking.

"Hmm." I bit my lip to conceal any embarrassment my impulsiveness caused.

"But coincidentally, in the seat next to the man, there was a short-haired blonde, with one of the most engaging blue eyes, and she wore a top that did wonders for her-"

"—There it is." I cut in, as my better judgment took its place. "That did wonders for her image- it made her look elegant." He covered up.

"Sure, elegance is the word."

"Regardless." He ignored my comment and continued, "She playfully told me that my gesture towards the man was insanely sweet, and we got to talking - turns out, she volunteers at an old age home, back in Boston." "Right, so she was voluntarily devoting her time to talking to you because she saw you as an old man that needed help?" I played around as his jaw stiffened.

Evidently, my musings weren't as comical as I thought they were. "Are you going to let me finish?"

"Yes sir. I'm dying to know how this love story ends."

I tried not to add sarcasm to the tone, did, because the truth was, I knew how this was going to end. It was always the same tale, just with a different name.

"Thankyou for your interest." He remarked back as I realized I may have

gone overboard with the humor- I was still right, and I knew that, but I'd let him prove it in a minute. Till then, my banter could wait. "I'm sorry. Please tell me."