"You have got to be kidding me?" I stare at the brown eyed idiot in front of me with sheer disbelief in my eyes, "No. Just... no. Are you stupid? Why would you even ask me that?" Tilting his head back Wren lets out a groan of pure frustration "Speedy, you know I wouldn't be asking you this if I had any other option, hell, in this situation, I'd much rather go to one of my crazy ex's than to you but I can't."
REWIND BACK TO A FEW MINUTES AGO
"I need your help" he asks me, pleading with his eyes, not really knowing how to respond due to his peculiar behaviour, I wait for him to continue. "I need you to drive me to the lake, like now" he all but demands. Looking at him weirdly, I cautiously ask him "why?" not really knowing if I wanted to know the answer to it.
"I will tell you why but only if you promise not freak out and let me explain" he says. With a small and hesitant nod from me he continues "I just got a call from Chris..." interrupting him, my eyes widen and I automatically say "Nope." Walking towards the door, not bothering to cover my car back up, I shake my head at the pleading Wren "Look, Millie, I'm not asking you for him. Their car broke down and the storm is due to hit, Cole isn't around and God knows when he and Seth will be getting back; they aren't even answering their phones for Christ's sake."
Now in the Living room, I turn to face him, shoving him angrily "The bastard could be burning in hell for all I care, he left me, he left me alone to raise his kid. Our Kid. And now you're asking me to help him? Are you stupid? What the hell is he even doing here? Everyone's saying he hasn't been home in 4 years, hell, you even told me he hasn't"
"I don't know, Millie, I didn't ask for specifics, I haven't heard from him in months, I most certainly didn't expect to hear from him now, I was planning on asking him when I got there only to fin my care buried in 3ft of freaking snow!" he exclaims, "I'm not exactly happy about him being here either. You really think I want him anywhere near you or Alex after what happened to Axel or after he left the two of you?" he questions continuing his rant of utter shit and me? Well, I'm standing in front of him with my arms crossed over my chest, impatiently waiting for him to finish. Once he finally finishes, I ask him a simple question "Why did you even bother coming to ask me? Sure I don't hate the guy but he still broke my heart and the last thing I want to do right now is help him." Sighing in defeat, Wren opens his mouth to speak again and what comes out is not something I was expecting "Look, I get it, I do. But he isn't the only one there, Jesse and Alena are too, with their 2 month old baby. Think about it this way, they are sitting in the middle of a road in a car that has no heating with a 2 month old baby; what happens when the baby gets too cold and goes into shock? That will be on your hands Amelia not mine."
Rubbing my eyes all but softly, I'm now the one sighing in defeat until I realise something "Alena and Jesse had a baby?" I ask in a tentative manner, confirming his words, wren gives me a sharp nod "So, can you help me or not? cause I don't even know what an engine looks like much less how to figure out what's wrong or what's missing."
Grabbing my keys from the pegs in the foyer, I grumble to him "Get your ass in the car but I swear to all that is mighty, he even looks in my direction, not only will I make him wish he was never born but I'll leave you and everyone else there to freeze, you get me?"
"You know, for someone who claims to not hate Chris, you sure as hell don't act that it" he points out, like literally points. Giving him a look as to say 'don't test me right now', I go over to my sister and tell her I need to go do something with Wren; asking her nicely if she'll watch the kids for an hour or so. Reluctantly, she agrees. Eyeing both Wren and me strikingly, I know she has questions and I also know that she heard our conversation or parts of it at least; turns out kids aren't the only snoopy ones around here.
CHRIS' POV
"Damn it!" I exclaim slapping the steering wheel with my hands, "you're motherfuckin' car just gave out" my voice raising slightly when I announce it. Raising his hands in a mocking surrender, he has a slight smirk on his face "Don't blame me, you were the one driving, Mr 'I don't sit in the passenger seat'" He vocalizes that last part while mimicking my accent. Telling him to "shut the fuck up," I swing the door to Jesse ran down pick-up truck and step out into the freezing conditions. It wasn't my idea to come back to Stonebridge, actually it was Alena's. I didn't even tell my parents I was coming, it's been 4 damn freaking years. 4-miserable-fucking-years. Shouting for Jesse to pop the hood, I lift it, not knowing what I was looking for, the smoke coming from the hood a few minutes ago indicates that something was burning or burnt out but what?
Pulling my phone out of the pocket of my faded jeans, I scroll through my contacts, knowing who I was looking for. Pressing the call button on his name, I put the phone to my ear, hoping to god I was right about him being home. After 2 rings, I hear a voice that I haven't heard for months.
"Chris?" I hear the voice of my worried oldest brother, as I ponder how to ask him for help.
"Yeah, Wren, it's me" I start, letting out a breath of air I didn't know I was holding, "look, man, I need some help"
"Dude, you're half way across the country, what could I possibly do for you this far away?" Well, at least I knew he was in town, right now he thought I was in Oklahoma which is a couple states over from where he lives in Nebraska.
"Alena and Jesse had a kid two months ago, they wanted to bring it home for Christmas to meet everyone and I, somehow, got roped into comin' with them" I explain, rubbing my eyes in frustration "but look man, Jesse car gave way near the lake and I have no clue how to fix the busted up old thing, I would have called a repair shop but there's a storm comin' so they'd have closed shop, if they even opened, that is."
A few moments pass and I don't hear anything from Wren, "Look, I know, its been a while... "
"A while!?" he exclaims "It has been 4 god damned years, you little fucker, you have any idea what you leaving did to our family? Did to Millie?" Every muscle in my body tensed when hearing him mention her name, since when did he care about her feelings so much?
"I know, bro, I do" I say into the phone, "didn't Max say she doesn't come home for Christmas anymore?"
"Yes, he did say that" I hear him say in a strange tone "look, I'm on my way. Sit tight okay, I'll be there in 10, 20 max"
Before I have the chance to thank him, his end of the call cuts off and I'm left with a piercing noise to thank instead of my 30 year old brother. Slamming the hood closed, I go back to the drivers seat of the car and get back in, escaping the freezing winter conditions of Boston.
For what seems like hours, we had been sitting in the broken down old truck that now seemed to be more cold than outside. So now, We are standing outside the car, my coat wrapped around Jesse and Alena's baby, meaning I was freezing my ass off, waiting for my pain in the ass brother to get his ass here.
Feeling as though we had waited forever, I slid my phone out of my pocket and once again phoned my brother. He picks up almost instantly, as if he was waiting for me to call.
"Hey man" He says more awkward than he ever had, brushing it off I respond with "How long you going to be, Wren? we're freezing our asses off out here" Telling me to wait a sec, I hear him ask someone how long they were going to be, "Man, who are you talking to?"
Forcing an awkward laugh, he says, in a seemingly higher voice "Well, it's funny you should ask. You see, I went out to drive to you guys but my car seemed to be buried in snow" he explains, his voice not returning to normal still "so, I had to ask someone to give me a lift. This someone can probably have Jesse's beat up old truck up and running again in no time, which is better than me because I don't even know what an engine looks like much less how to spot something wrong with it" Stopping his rambling before he gets anymore wound up, I interrupt with "Wren" I say in a sternly "Who's drivin' the car?" After a few nervous chuckles he mumbles something along the lines of "we'll be there in a few minutes" and then hangs up. Mother-fucker. Something had him wound up, there is only a few things that could be and I'm praying to god that it isn't the first one that comes to mind.
MILLIE'S POV
2 pieces of information I got from this experience. 1) Driving my 2014 range rover through several feet of snow is not as easy as it sounds, nope, it's hard and possibly even scary. 2) Chris looked too fucking good with long hair, seriously, looking that good should be a crime, it could cause some serious injuries; not that I'd say that to his face cause that would just be stupid but you know.
Driving down the small, isolated, snow filtered lane, a familiar red truck comes into sight and I try my damned hardest to finish mentally preparing myself for this. I didn't what I said to Wren about leaving them all to freeze, sadly enough, he knows it too, I would never leave a 'baby' (assuming that wasn't just something Wren made up to get me to help) out in the open like that, much less Alena, one of my only girl friends from high school . Jesse and Chris, however, that was an entirely different story.
Pulling up in front of the smoking bright red truck, I turn off the engine. Closing my eyes, I twist my neck to relieve it from a knot that formed. I am no where near ready for this but like Wren has been saying over and over again for the past 10 minutes "like a Band-Aid" sounds easy, right? Wrong. This is not easy. Not even close.
Opening the door to my Range Rover, Wren is the first to get out and by the time I come up with the courage to get out he car, he is already talking to Chris. This is not how I imagine seeing him again, not after so long and God has he changed. I didn't think it was possible for him to get bigger than he was the last time I saw him but I'll be damned if he didn't prove me wrong. His eyes were still the same startling colour and his hair... god his hair, half of it was held up in a small bun on top of his head whereas the rest of it hung loosely barely scraping his shoulder, Arm folded across his strong chest that fills out his tightly-fit, plain white t-shirt and his jeans hung loosely on his narrow hips. My chest feels tight and I have this over-whelming feeling of pleasant pain that make sit hard for me to breathe. I'm surprised by the familiar fluttering feeling I get in my stomach; something I haven't felt in years, something I never thought I'd feel again. How is it that so much time has gone by and he still has the same effect on me? He hasn't even spoken to me. I haven't even heard his voice.
Slowly but surely, I step out of the car, feeling the stares I'm getting as I slam the car door shut and walk up next to Wren. Everything is eerily quiet and I can't help but say, pointing at he baby in a now blonde Alena's arms "Oh, so Wren didn't make the baby up just to get me to come" with a tone made of ice "but I will still leave you all to freeze to death, if you so much as look at me" I say pointing, but not looking, at Chris. "And you will die" I say, point at a snickering Wren.
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Well, that is a lot to take in. What did you think of Chris' PoV, I found it pretty hard to write due to the fact that I'm not used to writing from a guy's point of view but I hope to add in a few extra chapters or sections from Chris' perspective.
3 chapters in 1 day...I'm proud ngl
As always Vote, Comment and Share. Thanks!
XOXO
Hidden-Alice