Bad Romance - 34. Chapter 29

“Joe?” Marie repeated sternly, “Did you not hear what I said?”

 

Joe kept ignoring her, looking down in his plate and eating from it silently. It angered his father, and Cedric scolded, “Your mother is telling you something, Joseph.”

 

“I am not going, okay?” Joe snapped at them and looked up, “You asked me to go talk to him and I said I don’t want to. End of the conversation.”

 

“But would you at least tell us the reason?” Marie asked.

 

---

 

“Because I did the most horrible thing in the world,” Gust said, looking out of the window in his room. His mother sat on his bed with Candes, trying to talk him into going over to Joe’s place to have a talk and settle everything between them. “I was so rude to his mother yesterday. He must be angry with me.”

 

“Then go apologize to him honey.” His mother suggested, “I am sure he will forgive you.”

 

“I don’t know if he will.” He looked down dispirited. “And I am too embarrassed to even face him.”

 

Candes stood up and went over to where he stood. She put her hand on his shoulders and asked “But why? His mother has already forgiven you, hasn’t she?”

 

---

 

“You might have forgiven him, mom. But I can’t forget the way he talked to you.” Joe fumed, reminding himself of Gust’s offensive words. “I can’t tolerate anyone being disrespectful to you, not even Gust.”

“Oh my sweet little boy,” Marie smiled as she tousled his hair with love, “I know you love me, but Gust loves his mother too.” She turned serious suddenly and shamefully said, “I wasn’t very kind to her, not yesterday not ever. So I understand him being protective over her.”

 

“Yes, but he could have been a little less harsh on you.” Joe countered. “I mean he knew what you were going through. He knew how distressed you were while Angel was missing.”

 

“Well I could say the same to you.” He looked at his mother quizzically before she sternly answered. “You could have taken a milder way to deal with him rather than hit him like that when you knew what he must have been feeling at that time.”

 

Realization surfaced on Joe’s face and he was reminded of his boyfriend cupping his reddened cheek, and looking at him with a shocked and scared expression. He swallowed a lump in his throat.

 

---

 

Gust frowned at Candes, “He did nothing wrong. I deserved that.”

 

“No, you did not!” Candes gasped.

 

“Yes I did, Candy.” Gust argued, “I wonder if he hadn’t stopped me, what would have happened? Maybe I would have said something I would have regretted.” He paused, then realising the situation he sarcastically chuckled, “Not that anything I said before I don’t regret. God! I almost called his mother worthless.”

 

“I am sure you didn’t mean that honey.” Dafna took him into a calming hug.

 

“No I didn’t mom.” His voice cracked and he hugged her tight feeling overwhelmed with his emotions. “I am scared mom. I don’t want to lose him; he is my life.”

 

“Shh” She tried to sooth him as he quietly sobbed in her arms. “You won’t lose him sweetheart because he loves you as much as you love him.”

 

---

 

“Tell me if I am wrong?” Marie challengingly asked her son. She had a smug look on her face because she knew Joe wouldn’t deny what she had just said.

 

“Mom, I ...”

 

“Yes or no ... I just want to hear that.” She said. “Are you in love with Gust?”

 

Joe exhaled. “Yes I am.”

 

“Well, then don’t be such a stubborn ass; sitting here and not doing anything. Go and talk to him before things get worse.” Marie almost ordered him. “I wouldn’t want you to miss out on a great guy like Gust, because I feel he is perfect for you. And I am not just saying that, I have had this feeling for a long time even before I put on this pathetic drama.” She rolled her eyes and excitedly admitted, “Not just that, but I can actually see him as my potential son-in-law in the near future.”

 

“Wha-” Joe’s head jerked back and with an amused look, he kept staring at his mother’s face. However, that broke a roar of laughter out of Cedric. He couldn’t help thinking how difficult it was to expect what his wife would say at times.

 

@@@

 

Luke stirred as he slowly began to wake up to some sweet aroma hitting his nostrils. He moaned in pleasure. The strong hands gently massaging his shoulders were doing the trick and he relaxed under the touch.

 

Warm steady breath tickled near his nape and he smiled in his sleep feeling Noah’s soft lips kissing and licking his neck. “Good morning,” Noah’s cheerful voice sounded near his ears and Luke moaned again.

 

“What a sweet way to wake me up!” He said groggily, yet his tone was filled with bliss. He twisted his neck to meet Noah’s sweet lips and began to kiss him, which soon turned passionate. His eyes opened to his boyfriend’s blue ones staring back at him. He broke the kiss and sighed. “I have missed this.”

 

“Me too,” Noah smiled sadly, as he possessed Luke’s lips once again. Luke rolled him down and started to kiss, lick and suck his neck. Noah grunted in pleasure as he was marked by him.

 

Luke moaned out his displeasure for Noah was fully clothed and quickly began to unbutton the blue dress shirt he wore. However hot he thought his boyfriend looked in that shirt, he wanted nothing right now but to get rid of it from his body.

 

Much to his dismay, Noah stopped him. “Wow Luke, slow down... remember what we decided last night?”

 

Luke frowned looking down at him. He had that cute smile on his face, the one that showed off his vampire teeth and Luke would just melt by its sight.

 

He exhaled frustratingly and moved away from over him. Yes, he perfectly remembered what they had decided the previous night when they had talked. Noah wanted to start over again with their relationship trying to renew it with a greater meaning and much better memories. According to him, the way their relationship evolved was unique but far from perfect. Through most of their journey, Noah had made several mistakes and he wanted to correct them all, now that he was getting a second chance.

 

For Luke, the idea was tempting. It made him curious what Noah had in mind when he said they would “start over”. But he cringed at the thought of “no sex as of yet”. Basically, Noah thought that it was ironic how things happened in a weird order of them getting together. And it was even funnier that they never even went out on an official date with one another.

 

“So what are you saying, what we should do?” Luke asked discouraged, still a lot curious.

 

Noah grinned. “I am taking you out today.” He said and started to pull away the blankets from over Luke, “Come on, get up and get ready. We have to leave soon.”

 

Luke chuckled lazily at his excitement. “Can I at least ask where are we going?”

 

“You will know.” His boyfriend secretively smiled and winked at him.

 

@@@

 

Luke came to realize where they were going as soon as they entered the gates. Noah brought him to the biggest fair that was happening in the area – The Missouri State Fair. He had heard a lot about it. Maxi had actually told Luke about all the fun those eleven days brought them. Luke had insisted he and Maxi would go there. Plans were made and he was looking forward to it, until that incidenthappened.

 

His mood soured by the memory of Maxi, but he didn’t show it on his face. He didn’t want to kill Noah’s good mood, and so played like he was happy to be there.

 

Soon Luke forgot all about Maxi as he began to feel the rush of excitement as he explored the fair. It was like the whole population from the state had gathered there. Children, teenagers, adults ... all had crowded into the fair. There was lot of hustle and bustle but everyone had huge grins on their faces.

 

“Damn it! This seems more difficult than I thought it would be.” Luke uttered in aggravation as his last thrown hoop missed the target again.

 

Noah chuckled looking at him adoringly, “I can’t believe you are into plush toys like those.”

 

“Hey I like them, what’s wrong with that?” Luke asked in a defensive tone.

 

“Nothing.” The brunette laughed at that and called for the stall owner’s attention. He bought another set of hoops for himself and glanced at Luke, “So tell me; which one do you want?”

 

A smile curled up on Luke’s face and he animatedly pointed to the toy, “That Bugs Bunny one!”

 

“Okay.” Noah looked over to where the said target was and using one of his three hoops, he carefully threw it in that direction. Much to Luke’s surprise, the hoop easily ended up falling around the aim. He let out a squeal in happiness and began to jump up and down. He threw his arms around Noah and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “How was that?” Noah asked grinning ear to ear.

 

“You are just awesome, Noah!” Luke grinned back.

 

The owner smiled at them and brought the stuffed Bugs Bunny to him. Noah watched him as Luke possessively held it under his arms like a little kid. “Two more left; which one do you want next?” Noah asked.

 

Luke thought for a while, tapping his finger over his chin as his eyes scanned through all the soft toys. “There! The naughty Tom cat!” He pointed.

 

Again, Noah aimed his hoop at it and shot it exactly around that stuffed toy. The owner looked suspiciously at Noah this time but didn’t say anything while handing “Tom” to Luke. Noah just blinked innocently. As far as Luke was concerned, Luke was just thrilled Noah won him another stuffed animal. “Now I want ...” He began to say, but Noah interrupted him.

 

“Let me get something for me this time, will ya?” Noah giggled and Luke slyly smiled. Noah looked through all of the targets and when he was sure what he wanted, he threw his hoop towards it. And like a pro, he didn’t miss this time as well. Luke was dumbfounded at his skill; he made a mental note to ask Noah later how come he was this good at basketball?

 

The old stall owner, immensely irate, gave the toy to Noah who smiled apologetically to him. The brunette then turned to his boyfriend and said, “Here this is for you. He is actually my messenger, so see what he has to say.”

 

Luke looked at Noah and then at the cuddly brown teddy bear in his hands. He took it and read the words that were written on the fluffy heart shape thing stuck on the toy’s belly. It read, ‘For Someone Special...’

 

“Oh Noah!” Luke threw his free hand around Noah, careful not to drop the other toys in his other hand and hugged him tight. “You always know how to make me feel special.” He dug his nose in his nape and whispered. “I love you so much.”

 

Noah hugged him back and whispered, “I love you too,” as he kissed Luke’s head.

 

Luke briskly stepped back from Noah when his eyes landed on a ride. “’Freak Out!’ Oh my God! I love that ride!” He exclaimed and took his boyfriend’s hand in a firm grasp. “Come on Noah, let’s go. I wanna ride on that one.”

 

But the brunette pulled him back with a worried expression and shook his head. “No!” He gazed at the scary ride once again. It kind of looked like a pendulum that went swinging to a dangerous level while the chairs occupied by the riders also rotated around. “That is too dangerous Luke.”

 

“Are you scared, Mr. Mayer?” Luke teased and giggled.

 

“No, but ...” Noah didn’t what to say. Yes, he was scared. He never liked riding such dangerous rides and this one was out of the question. He decided to change the subject. “Listen, we haven’t had anything to eat before we left home, so why don’t we go grab some food? I don’t know about you but my stomach is starting to growl.”

 

“You are no fun.” Luke pouted. “I want to go ride on that.”

 

“We will, okay. But let’s just eat first.” Noah pleaded with his eyes.

 

Luke knew what he was trying to do. “If we eat first, I am sure you will throw it all up when we go ride that.” He pointed out.

 

“But...”

 

“Please please, please,” Luke almost begged. “We can go eat once we are done riding that. Don’t worry; I will hold your hand throughout the ride.”

 

“That is sweet of you indeed.” Noah said smiling slightly, then sighed, “Fine, let’s go.”

 

Luke screeched out a ‘yay’ and hurriedly took him to the ride. They paid for it and got into the seats, secured themselves for safety and they were set to go.

 

“I can’t, I just can’t do these rides.” Noah kept repeating. “Oh my God ...” He gasped as the chairs slowly got in motion and so did the ride. “Shit! I am just gonna close my eyes.”

 

Luke laughed. “Hey it’s safe, just enjoy the feeling. Have you ever been on the rides?”

 

“I have been but ... FUCK NO!” He screamed as the ride swung fast and his heart skipped a beat. Luke watched amusedly as his boyfriend shut his eyes tight and pursed his lips to stop himself from crying out. But his face cringed and frowned every time the pendulum ride made a brisk swing. The fast rotating of the chairs wasn’t helping to calm his nerves either. The blonde couldn’t help but guffaw throughout the ride.

 

Once they got off it, Noah gave out a sigh of relief and rubbed his face, “Never again!” He mumbled and headed towards the food booths. Luke was still giggling at the incident. “What?” Noah looked at him annoyed.

 

“You should have seen your face.” He laughed. “It looked like you were gonna jizz in your pants.”

 

“Very funny,” Noah retorted, but he had a hint of smile on his face. “Can we go eat now? The concerts are going to start soon. Pizza?”

 

“You don’t like pizza.” Luke looked amused that he would ask that.

 

Noah rolled his eyes. “No, I really do. You want to eat or not?”

 

Luke nodded. “Who’s performing at the concert today?” He asked, following Noah to the pizza booth and spotting a seat for them to sit on.

 

“Lady Antebellum and the Eli Young Band. I love both of them, so I don’t want to miss it.” Noah stated.

 

“Cool.” Luke grinned and looked around, “This place is really cool, reminds me of my childhood days. Dad used to take me to Kentucky Derby every year. It used to be really awesome. He would let me ride on the new horse that he bought.”

 

Noah smiled. “I have noticed there is a barn there at your grandmother’s farm. Do you keep horses there?”

 

“Oh yes! There are so many horses in there. Each one of us in the family owns at least one horse. I own two, dad gifted me those on my tenth and sixteenth birthdays. Shiver and Ivory, that’s what I named them.” He smiled at the memory and looked down at his hands as if studying them. And then all of a sudden, he confessed, “I miss them. I wonder if I will get to see them anytime soon?”

 

“Hey, you will.” Noah took his hand from across the table and kissed it. “Things have gone back to normal now. Didn’t you hear what your dad said? He has dropped all charges against me, and now we can go back to Oakdale to start where we left off.”

 

“You think we can go back?” Luke hopefully asked.

 

“Sure.” They shared a smiled and Noah stood up to kiss his forehead from across the table. He lovingly caressed his cheek and said, “I am gonna go place our orders. Pepperoni with extra cheese right?”

 

“You know me too well.” Luke perked up.

 

The brunette winked back and said he would be right back. Luke took a moment to look at the other rides again. There were lots of them... he wanted to try riding on the one that was called ‘Speed’, but Noah’s ‘freaked out’ face came to his mind and he shook his head giggling to himself.

 

“Luke?” A familiar voice called, and he looked up. His mood immediately soured at the sight of the person standing in front of him. He sharply looked away from him. His face was pricking his eyes right now. “Luke, please listen to me.” The guy begged.

 

Luke looked at him with an angry glare, “What do you want, Maxi?” He hissed.

 

Maxi opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Noah who had probably seen him and had come to Luke’s rescue immediately. “Mr. Castro, it is better if you leave right now. I already told you; I don’t want you anywhere around my boyfriend.” He raised his stern voice.

 

“Mr. Mayer, I just want to talk to Luke just once. Please let me at least ...”

 

“I can’t trust your presence with him at all.” Noah snapped. “No way am I letting you even talk to him.”

 

“I swear I will be quick, and I promise I won’t show my face anymore.” Maxi said with all his sincerity.

 

“You are not ...”

 

“Noah.” Luke stopped him as he charged towards the boy. “Let him say what he wants to say. I want to hear whatever it is.” He clenched his teeth looking at Maxi. The anger never subsided.

 

Noah was taken aback by that. He stared at Luke’s face in disbelief for a moment, considering his decision. Then he looked at Maxi, calmed his anger and said, “Alright. Let’s hear what you have to say.” He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting impatiently for Maxi to begin.

 

But the boy looked visibly very uncomfortable. He hesitated, “Sir ... I mean if you can let me ... um ... I want to talk to Luke alone.”

 

“Yeah right!” Noah yelled. “Like I am gonna let you ...”

 

“Noah, it’s okay.” Luke said, “I will be fine. Can you please leave us alone just for a minute? I want to get this all straightened out once and for all.”

 

“But he ...” Noah began to counter.

 

“Just a few minutes, baby. Please? This won’t take long.” Luke pleaded.

 

Noah looked at Luke, then at Maxi and gave him a warning look. “I will be watching your actions.” He said and walked to sit over at another table, so he could watch them.

 

Maxi took the seat across from Luke and sat there silent for some moments. That agitated Luke. “Are you just gonna sit there and say nothing?” He asked, “If that’s how this talk is supposed to go, I’m outta here.” Luke began to get up. Maxi went to hold his hand to stop him but the blonde took back his hand as if burnt. “Don’t touch me, you perv.”

 

“Sorry, I am sorry... Shit!” He held his hands up. “I didn’t mean to do anything pervy I swear. I was just trying to stop you.” Luke mumbled something under his breath but Maxi couldn’t quite clearly hear it. “What?”

 

“I said, tell me what you have to say already.”

 

“Okay, okay... I am sorry.” Luke looked away. “No listen, I mean it... I am sorry ... for every mistake I made. And that’s what I wanted to say.”

 

Luke banged on the table with his fist. “Mistake? You call it an effin mistake, Maxi?” He was fuming and his eyes were red with raging anger. “You almost raped me.” He said lowering his voice, conscious of the people around. “Who knows, if Noah hadn’t shown up on time, what you would have done to me. Oh but you must be quite disappointed by that huh? Your plan didn’t quite work out the way you wanted it to.”

 

“No Luke, I made no plan. Believe me, it was the booze. I was so drunk; I didn’t know what I was doing.” Maxi explained.

 

“Okay.” Luke snorted, “Let me get this straight: you tried to have your way with me when I was drunk, just because YOU were drunk? Do you expect me to buy that shit and forgive you just like that?”

 

“No, but ...” Maxi exhaled. He was at a loss for words. He thought he knew what he was going to say to Luke when he approached him before, but now being in front of him, he was just numb. “Luke, I never meant to do it. It was just an accident.”

 

“Oh, so you’re saying you just tripped and fell on the bed on top of me?” Luke retorted.

 

“No! Fuck... don’t make this hard for me please Luke. I was just here to apologize to you for my actions.” Maxi said.

 

“You have already made it complicated, Maxi.” Luke seemed to calm a bit, but his face remained unaffected. “We were good friends and you ruined it all.”

 

“I didn’t mean to.”

 

“But you did. And I don’t understand why?” the question had been bugging him for a long time now.

 

“Because I liked you, Luke.” Maxi came clean and sighed, “And I still like you. I am attracted to you.”

 

Luke was flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to say. When he found his voice, he began to ask, “B-but you knew I was with Noah ...”

 

“Yes, and that’s why I buried all my feelings for you inside my heart.” Luke could see it in Maxi’s grey eyes that he was saying nothing but the truth. “But that night, with all the alcohol I had, I guess I had no control over my actions ... and finding you so close to me when I carried you into your bedroom, I couldn’t hold back my desires and I ...”

 

“Stop it!” Luke yelled and frowned at him. “You disgust me.”

 

“Why Luke?” Maxi scowled back. “Just because I have some uncontrollable feelings for you?”

 

“No, because you acted upon them and did the most horrible thing to me. To us, to our friendship.”

 

“I know ...” Maxi closed his eyes and a tear escaped his eye as he opened them. “But you have to know I do value our friendship very much. I miss you ... I miss you as a friend. I miss doing things with you, I miss spending time with you.”

 

“It’s too late to miss anything Maxi.” Luke’s voice cracked and he looked down.

 

A scared look showed up on Maxi’s handsome face. “Don’t say that. We can ... we can still fix this.” He stuttered. “I am apologizing to you Luke. And I promise to never do something like that again. I promise I will try to win your trust back only if you give me a chance. One chance Luke, please. We can go back to being friends if you make your mind up to forgive me and forget the past.”

 

Luke kept shaking his head at him from the very first word he started to say and raised his voice, “No Maxi. I can’t forget it. You make it sound so easy but ... NO! It is not easy for me to forget something like that and move on. Even if I try to forgive you and we go back to being friends, it will always be in my mind. We would never be able to attain that sort of closeness that we used to have. I won’t be comfortable around you.”

 

“Please Luke, please forgive me.” Maxi begged.

 

Luke sighed. “I can’t. Maybe as this pain you gave me begins to alleviate, I might actually forgive you. But I would never forget what you have done to me.” He stood up and in a moment, Noah was behind him palming his shoulders as they began to leave. However Luke stopped and turned to Maxi again as he said, “You are a good guy Maxi. I say that even after the mistakes you have done. And truly, I think we could have been great friends if you hadn’t ...” Luke trailed off and just stared into the glassy grey eyes. “I wish you happiness in your life, Maxi. Just don’t let your mistakes define what kind of person you are.”

 

“Will I ever see you again?” Maxi asked, swallowing a lump.

 

“I am afraid you won’t.” He looked at Noah as he said, “We are moving back to Oakdale.”

 

“So what? This is goodbye?”

 

Luke smiled sadly. “Yeah. Goodbye Maxi.” And hand in hand, he walked away with Noah. He actually felt better now, a lot better. Guess this was what needed to calm his disturbed mind.

 

@@@

 

Gust quickly put on his shirt. He was gonna get nice lashing from his boss for running late. His shift was starting in five minutes and he was still at home.

 

He rummaged through his drawers for his watch and finding it, he hurriedly began to put it on. However, the silver watch shone the familiarity in his eyes and his hand stopped. It was the one that Joe had given him back when they had started dating. He slowly removed it and turned it over to look at the inscription. Lightly moving his fingers over the words, he read them aloud, “You own my heart”, and smiled at the happy memory. The memory was truly precious because that was the moment he had realized that he was in love with Joe.

 

‘He knows I love him so much, that I need him in my life. He understands me he used to say. Then why can’t he understand now why I did what I did?’ He thought sadly gazing at the watch.

 

He sniffed needlessly, recovered to his normal self, and put the watch back on his wrist. He almost flew down the stairs and headed towards the door. “Mom, I am off to work. See ya later!” He called behind him. He knew she must be in the kitchen and he was loud enough for his voice to reach her. He took his car keys from the side table and opened the door.

 

Gust jumped back, taken aback by the person standing at the door. “Joe!” He gasped looking at the guy who nervously shifted his weight onto his other foot.

 

“Hi,” Joe quietly spoke, not sure of where to start.

 

“Hi” Gust waited with bated breath for Joe to say something. When he didn’t, he began to ask, “What are y-” However, he was cut short when the brunette captured his open mouth and began to kiss him hungrily, as if his life depended on it. Well, it sort of did.

 

Gust was pushed back inside the house and the hungry kiss deepened as he began to reciprocate. Joe smiled into the kiss before embracing his boyfriend into a tight hug. He kissed his ear several times, before saying, “I am sorry. I shouldn’t have hit you like that. I am so sorry baby.”

 

“No, baby.” Gust made him to look into his eyes and said with guilt, “It was my fault. I behaved badly with your mother. I shouldn’t have said those things. I regret it and I am sorry. I apologized to her this morning and I feel like I owe you an apology too.”

 

“Shh” Joe quietened him by placing his finger on his lips. “Let’s just forget it okay? Things have gotten better now. I believe there should be no room for any grudges to be held now, right?”

 

They smiled at each other and hugged again. “I love you, Joe.”

 

“I love you too! I am so in love with you, baby.” Joe said and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of Gust’s embrace.

 

@@@

 

Luke and Noah dashed inside the bedroom, while their mouths were engaged in a passionate kiss and in the flash of a second they were on the bed undressing each other.

 

The concert was fun. There were songs, yelling, and lots of sweat. That’s what turned them on and looking at each other drenched in their sweat, they couldn’t hold their lust back. They left the fair in a jiffy, getting to the car as fast as they could and made out for awhile inside the car.

 

Noah hurriedly drove back home. However, in the middle of the long drive, Luke couldn’t stop himself and before Noah could say anything, the blond head had already leaned in, unzipping his pants and sucking his already lengthened muscle. The brunette couldn’t believe how they had safely reached their house, because he swore he wasn’t concentrating on the driving at all. Luke had his attention diverted to something else.

 

Not long after he parked the car in front of the house, he exploded all of his load inside Luke’s mouth. Luke pleasantly gulped it all and even licked his shaft dry.

 

And now they were back home, all naked, lying in the bed playing with each other’s body. “I can’t wait any longer.” Noah said, looking down at Luke.

 

“Who the hell said anything about waiting?” Luke grinned. “God knows how much I have missed you.” He put his hands around Noah’s neck and pulled him in for another kiss. He moaned as his boyfriend began to suck on his lower lip sensuously. “I swear Noah; if I don’t feel that thick muscle inside me tonight, I am gonna go wildly crazy.”

 

Noah pecked him. “Oh we can’t let that happen, can we?” He bit on Luke’s lip and said, “Although I love that wild side of yours ...” Luke smiled at that.

 

They made love a couple of times that night. One time Noah rode Luke to orgasm; a desperate, needful sex, but it was close to lovemaking. The other time, Luke fucked him before they collapsed from exhaustion. Noah fell asleep almost immediately after Luke had made him experience his third hot release. Though Luke was exhausted, his mind was too wound up to sleep. He kept thinking about things, about his dad, Maxi, Oakdale, his family there, his friends, and most importantly his relationship with Noah. It was getting back on the right track after a long time it seemed, and he liked that. Noah had told him they were gonna move back to Oakdale this week and it had made him ecstatic. Luke was already making mental notes of what he was gonna do once he was back in his hometown. Once he was quite satisfied with himself, a peaceful slumber finally took over him.

 

@@@

 

Candes huffed out her exhaustion. She hated her life right now. All this weariness she felt because of the pregnancy; she would walk a few distances and she would feel like she had climbed a huge mountain – like right now; she just got up from the dinner table and stepped into the living room.

 

She looked down at her growing belly. It wasn’t that grown actually, but there was a bump showing already. Five months had passed by so quickly and a lot happened with her life. Her so called reputation at school was gone. Nobody even noticed her presence. And obviously, she was off the cheerleading squad as well. It was okay until she found out the bitch Ashley had actually taken her place. It burnt her insides with something worse than jealousy because she became the girl whom anyone could pick up on. Her parents had never tried to contact her after they threw her out. It was like she was dead to them. Every time she would be reminded of them, tears would cloud her eyes and she couldn’t hold them back.

 

And the worst thing in this whole mess – Matt wasn’t even around. Matt, who Candes thought loved her. He was the guy she had fallen in love with but he had sort of left her alone in the middle of nowhere. It just felt like that to her. Why? She always wondered why he didn’t just call her at least once. Did she mean nothing to him anymore? It had been a whole month since he was gone and she hadn’t heard from him once. She would ask Mrs. Rivera every now and then, but she would say he was coming back soon and would just oddly change the subject.

 

Candes sighed. Her life totally sucked as of now. She looked back at everyone else still eating at the dinner table and smiled seeing Gust and Joe interacting. She was happy they were back again and everything was back to being alright.

 

The home phone went off at that moment, bringing everyone’s attention to it. Gust’s dad began to get up but Candes called behind her, “I will get it.” She picked up the phone. “Hello, Rivera residence.”

 

“Hello, I am calling from Oakdale Memorial. I was told by Dr. Hughes to inform you that Mr. Rivera’s health is getting critical and he needs surgery as soon as possible. So if anyone from the family could come ...”

 

“W-w-wait!” Candes was confused. “Mr. Rivera ... But he is right here.” She thought the lady on call was speaking of Gust’s dad.

 

“Who is it, Candes?” Ben’s voice came from behind her and she looked at him puzzled.

 

“The call is from the hospital. They say ...”

 

“But Mr. Matthew Rivera has been here for the entire month under medical treatment.” Candes heard the nurse say and she froze.

 

“Give me the phone.” Ben’s face showed horror and he began to take the receiver from her grasp, but she stepped away, looking at him in disbelief.

 

“Matth-Matthew Rivera?” Candes began to tremble with panic rising in her and she stared numb at a miserable Ben looking at her, feeling bad. “Wh-what happened to him?”

 

“Brain tumor, miss. Have you no idea about this?” The nurse asked. “Are you related to Mr. Matthew? Hello ... miss... are you there?”

 

@@@

 

---TBC---