Brady Hutton
"Just please come home and we can settle-"
I sighed when I heard the voicemail from Liam. I wanted to go home and be with him. I wanted to apologize to him and tell him how much I regretted calling things off with him. Ryan had brought me back to the dark place that I used to be in when we were younger and hearing from Liam after so long actually made me realized that I'm not the person I was at that exact moment.
"You ready for your next flight?"Ryan came inside the motel room.
Nonetheless, I still couldn't get back home. I already got myself in too deep and if I left Ryan alone, chances are both he and I will die in a matter of days.
I don't know exactly which gang Ryan pissed off but these people were not people you want to mess around with. Rumour has it that they sell guns illegally and have killed before.
"Yeah, sure whatever, "I mumbled.
"Someone's in a mood."He rolled his eyes.
"If my life doesn't depend on this, I would have let them kill you weeks ago, "I said seriously.
"I'm not gonna reply to that so..." He shrugged.
&&&&&&
"Stop that."Liam let out a chuckle and shoved the camera away, "It's creepy."
"It's not my fault you look amazing in that outfit," I said jokingly.
It was the day that Liam and I had our second kiss at the carnival and I just discovered a video that I recorded of us together on my phone.
"Anything you want to say to our future selves?"I asked Liam.
"Yeah, don't piss this guy off."He said sarcastically, "Anything you have to say, big guy?"He asked me.
"Dear future Brady, "I started, "Don't fuck up."
I miss that moment because we were truly happy then. We didn't had any arguments about me being secretive and I wasn't disappearing on him.
I put my phone inside the locker and went to the ring, where I jogged through the loud crowd.
My opponent came in a few seconds later and my jaw dropped after seeing how big he was.
His arms were filled with veins and his muscles looked bigger than anything I have seen before.
I was obviously not ready for that but I wasn't expecting anything less on the semi-finals.
"If you have doubts, remember that our lives depend on this," Ryan said casually.
"I swear that when all of this is over, I'll make sure that your the one in this ring with me, "I said in a straight tone.
The guy swung for the first punch instantly after the bell rung but I managed to avoid it and punched him in the face but that did not affect him, instead that made him angry.
My only thought was how do I beat a guy this huge?
I came up with the idea to aim for the legs but he managed to avoid my kick. He picked me up with his shoulder and placed me on the corner before his fist connected to my fast and it never stopped.
The referee tried to stop him but he refused and went as far as shoving him onto the floor.
He was still punching me and I could feel myself drifting away as I coughed up blood. The bell was already ringing, signaling that the guy was disqualified.
But that still didn't stop him.
It didn't take me long to realize that the guy was most likely working for the people that were going after Ryan.
Liam Rawley
I sat down on the booth inside of the diner that all of us decided to visit once again. It was the same booth that Brady used to bring me to and it hurt me so much to be reminded of him after I tried so hard to not think about him at all.
Everyone stopped whatever they did when I first took a seat. Dan and Laurel, who were sitting next to each other in the booth looked the most suspicious as they looked at me like they've seen a ghost.
"Didn't realize that the two of you are on talking terms again."I remarked but no one said anything,which raised my suspicion even more because they suddenly got quiet, "What's gotten in all of you?"
"Dan and Laurel are together."Roy blurted out.
"Damn it, Roy."Dan said angrily, "I thought we already talked about this?"
"That's amazing."I let out a weak smile, "Why don't you guys not want to tell me this."
"We didn't want to tell you because you and Brady broke up not long ago and we didn't want to rub it in your face," Laurel explained.
"Brady and I broke up weeks ago."I pointed out, "When did this even happened?"
"The same day that you broke up with Brady, "Roy mumbled.
"Oh, wow."I said awkwardly, "Even so, I think it's great."
"We appreciate that, "Laurel said with a wide smile.
"Still think it's a bad choice for Laurel."Tess remarked out of nowhere, "I mean come on, just look at her. And now look at Dan."
"Shh, babe."Roy said to Tess, "Let them be happy."
I took a sip out of my milkshake after everyone finally went silent.
It didn't take me long for me to hear my phone buzz and I grabbed it quickly, hoping that Brady replying to all four of the voicemails that I sent to him, begging him to come home.
I was disappointed to see that it was only Roy sending a meme in the group chat even though all of us were literally sitting at the same table.
Roy let out a soft chuckle to himself while I just frowned and put my phone down.
"Nothing from Brady yet?"Laurel asked softly.
"Nope."I shrugged, "Whatever."
"He's probably hurting as much as you are."Dan said, "Just give him some time."
"I gave him time."I mumbled, "I gave him three weeks to do something but he just ghosted me like I'm some hookup that he didn't want to contact anymore. It hurts."
I looked at everyone and just realized that I made it all about me. I mean, I should have been happy for Laurel and Dan but instead, I just ruined everyone's lunch.
"I'm sorry."I sighed, "Let's not talk about him. Tell me more about how the two of you got together."I said to Laurel and Dan.
"Can I tell it?"Roy said, "Please, please."
I looked at Laurel and Dan and both of them gave me a weird look before Dan gestured for Roy to continue.
"Okay. So, they hook up and-"
"Don't start from there, you idiot."Dan cringe.
&&&&&&&
I looked through my sticky notes on my textbook while studying in my room and couldn't help but took a glance at my phone.
I took an oath to stop calling Brady because I didn't want to think about him anymore but as a notification from the group chats pops up, I could see the wallpaper on my phone with the picture of me snuggling on Brady's chest while he smiled widely for the camera. I never changed it because I had some hope that Brady would come back to me and tell me that he still has feelings for me but it might not happened.
I finally got the strength to go to the settings and changed the wallpaper from that picture to a blank cyan wallpaper.
For some reason,that was not enough for me.
I dial Brady's number with the attention of it being my final one.
I waited for a few seconds and wasn't even surprised that it went straight to voicemail.
"Hey, it's me again."I started, "I don't even know if you hear any of these but I just wanted to say that I give up, Brady. Waiting for you is just exhausting. I tried to wait for anything really but you made that almost impossible me."The tears fell down my cheeks quickly, "I hate how much I blame myself for everything that happened but the truth is, you are the one that ended things. You were the one that suddenly got all secretive and the worst part, you left when I realized that I fell in love with you."My voice cracked on the final part, "So if you expect me to call you after this or ask around about you, that's not happening. I'm done, Brady. You are the first thing I have ever given up on and even if you don't get this message, I'm glad that I've said it out loud."