Ryder and Zac are waiting on the bottom of the stairs. Finn is sitting on the ground by the door, laughing as Apollo licks his face.
"Where's Micah?" I ask as Apollo trods over to me. I crouch down to scratch behind his ears.
"He said to go ahead." Zac says, standing. "He'll catch up."
I nod, and we go out the door. The porch is huge, and the driveway stretches all the way down to the big gate at the end. I haven't been in the garage, due to my fear of cars. I haven't been in a car for four years. Ever since He crashed...
"Jake, c'mon." Finn says, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the driveway. It's not dark yet, but the sun is slowly going down. Ryder and Zac are ahead of us, and Ryder is holding Apollo's leash.
At the bottom of the driveway, I see Lio and DJ.
Lio is my best friend. He has thick, wavy black hair that hangs in his face, and smooth, light skin. He's had plenty of boyfriends, but DJ has lasted the longest. Also, Ace. He's dating them both, though I haven't seen Ace in a while. He's Jackson's brother, and looks a lot like him.
DJ has dark hair that's tied in it's usual short ponytail. He's lean and tall, and clearly muscular. When Lio lost his job a couple weeks ago, DJ offered to let us live here.
"Hey, Jake." Lio says, smiling as he comes over to me. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." I tell him. That seems to be a constant answer. "Where'd you guys go?"
He rolls his eyes. "DJ said we were going to the beach, but he brought me to Fine Dining again."
DJ owns a very successful business he inherited from his parents. He's constantly spoiling Lio, who pretends to hate it.
"Where are you guys going?" He asks me.
"Park," I say. "I'll see you later?"
"Yeah," He says. "Later."
The park is a two minute walk from the house, so we get there soon. There aren't that many people here today, which is nice. There is a group over by a tree, talking.
We walk and talk, mostly Finn doing the talking to me. Zac is walking ahead with Ryder, and they're talking about something I can't hear.
When we pass the group by the tree, one guy catches my eye.
"What's wrong, Jake? I thought you loved me."
I flinch, and Finn frowns.
"You okay?" He asks.
I swallow, glancing back at the group. The guy watches me, and I move closer to Finn. "I don't know."
"What happened?" He asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
"That guy..." I murmur. "He used to...I...he's my ex, I think."
"Oh." He says, glancing back. "Did something happen?"
"He..." I swallow, licking my suddenly dry lips. "No."
"I-I do love you!"
"Prove it then."
I close my eyes, and take a deep breath. That was years ago. I'm fine. Everything's fine.
"Jake."
I open my eyes and notice we stopped. Ryder and Zac are in front of us, concerned looks on their faces. Apollo's sniffing at a tree.
"Yeah?" I say.
"Are you okay?" Zac asks softly. "You zoned out for a minute."
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say.
I glance back again. We're far from the group of people, but I can't tell if that guy is watching me or not.
"Jake, you look sick," Ryder says. "Should we go back?"
"No, I'm okay. Let's keep walking."
They seem reluctant, but we continue. Usually, when I walk with Ryder in the morning, we'll go around a few times. Finn insists we go to the playground, though, so we walk over.
Zac and I sit on the swings, and Finn attempts to climb to the top of the jungle gym. Ryder walks around with Apollo.
"Jake," Zac says, his voice soft. "How do you feel about parties?"
"I don't know. It depends." I say. I don't like crowds. Too many people reminds me of His funeral...
"Well, I-"
He's cut off by a shriek by Finn. His foot slipped, and he's hanging onto a bar. Zac and I both stand, but Ryder's already there, wrapping an arm around Finn's waist, and pulling him down.
"How many times have I told you not to do that, Finn?" Ryder demands. "You're going to get hurt!"
"Sorry, Ry," Finn says, giggling. "I'm fine."
Zac sighs as we walk over. "You need to be more careful, Finn."
"I know, but I almost made it to the top this time!"
Ryder grumbles at him, and I notice someone coming towards us with Apollo. Micah.
"Finny, quit climbing things," He says when he gets to us. "Are you okay?"
I glance across the park where the group of people were. Most of them are gone, but three of them are still there.
"Hey, Jake, you want to go back to the house?" Finn asks.
I nod. "Sure."
Zac walks Apollo this time, since Finn is on Ryder's back ahead of Micah and I. We're nearing the three people, and one of them is staring at me again. I inch closer to Micah.
"Hey," One of them says when Micah and I walk past. "You."
"Me?" Micah says, raising an eyebrow.
"No, the short one."
I swallow, remembering that voice well.
Micah frowns. "What do you want?"
"Don't you remember me, Jake?" He says.
I don't look up at him. Micah's fingers slide into mine, and he tugs me forward. "We're going to be late, sweets, come on."
I nod, and walk with him. But a hand on my shoulder makes me freeze, and turn.
His blue eyes bore into mine. "Jake, what's wrong?"
"I thought you loved me!"
"I do, I promise!"
"Liar!"
"I'm not! I do love you, Aaron!"
"You won't even touch me!"
"I just don't want to do that yet."
"See? You. Don't Love. Me."
"I-"
My cheek stung from the slap. He walked away.
"Is there a problem?"
Ryder's voice jerks me out of my thoughts. He's standing in front of us, arms crossed. Zac and Finn are beside me and Micah.
Aaron scowls. "Just trying to talk to him."
"We've got to go." Ryder says. Micah tugs my hand again, and I turn away as he starts walking again.
"Sweets, loosen your grip a bit, okay?" Micah murmurs to me. I realize I'm clutching his hand tightly, and drop it.
"Sorry," I mumble. "And thank you."
"What happened? Who was he?"
"My ex," I say quietly.
Zac frowns. "Did he hurt you?"
"He...no...not a lot...." Only when he was mad. Which was most of the time.
"Sweets, it's okay. We're going home, alright?"
I nod, trying to stop my hands from shaking. Micah takes one again as Ryder catches up to us.
"Jake, what happened?" He asks, stopping me. He frowns at my shaking hands. "Are you okay?"
I nod again.
"Jake, look at me." He says. I look up at his worried face. "You're shaking."
"I-I'm fine." I say.
He purses his lips. He doesn't believe me. Which is understandable, since I'm lying. "Let's go back."
Micah doesn't let go of my hand, and I don't pull away.
When we get to the house, Ryder goes ahead, calling Lio. He appears at the top of the stairs, and his eyes widen when he sees me.
"Jake, what happened?" He asks.
I swallow, but don't say anything. I never told Lio about anything Aaron did. I just said he cheated on me, and we broke up. He did cheat, but that wasn't it.
"Ugh, you're so pathetic. I don't know why I ever dated you anyway."
I hear someone say something, but I don't really hear. I'm pulled somewhere with a couch, and I feel arms wrap around me.
"You should be grateful I asked you out. No one else could like you. Except maybe your stupid friends."
"Jake, it's okay." Someone says. "Calm down, it's alright."
"God, you're annoying. I don't care, okay?"
I feel a hand rubbing my back soothingly, and my eyes flutter shut. I curl closer to whoever's lap I'm in.
"Would you just SHUT UP?"
I flinch hard, gripping someone's hand.
"It's okay, Jake, It's okay."
Lio punches Aaron hard. Aaron stumbles back, gripping his nose. Lio kicks his stomach, then punches him again.
I smile a bit before drifting off to sleep.