We've Got This

I turned to leave before he was even through the entrance. There was no point in staying; he would’ve been gone in a minute anyway, and I wanted to save myself the pain of watching my boyfriend get on a plane back to Dallas. I tiredly dragged myself back to the car; I was exhausted from today. Remind me to never drop someone at the airport after going to Six Flags ever again.

I was amazed that I was even able to get myself home safely; I could barely keep my eyes open from all the fresh air I had gotten today. When I got home it was about 9:30 at night, so I parked my car on the driveway behind where my Mom parks; she wasn’t going to work tomorrow, so what was the difference? When I walked inside I saw that there was a note on the counter. I took a closer look, and it was from Dad, saying that they would be staying the night at my Aunt Jane’s house, going over treatment and finance stuff.

I nodded at the note, putting it back down on the counter, before trudging up the stairs and to my room. I immediately stripped myself of my clothes and threw on my pajamas, not even bothering to turn on the light, before going into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I was finished I crawled into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin in the process.

Just as I was about to fall asleep there was a knock at the door. I groaned and sat up, throwing my legs over the side of the bed and sliding on my slippers. “What the fuck,” I grumbled, stomping down the stairs as the knocking continued.

Tyler’s P.O.V.

I turned to get one last look at Jean before I left, but she was already walking away. My heart dropped a little, but I didn’t blame her. She didn’t want me to leave, and she was also dead tired. I would want to go to bed if I were her too. But that didn’t stop me from hesitating before handing the attendant my ticket. “That your girl walking away?” I heard a man ask from behind me.

“Uh, yeah, my girlfriend,” I replied. “I live in Dallas; I was visiting her for the weekend.” I then got my ticket back from the attendant, but didn’t head down the tunnel just yet.

“Do you love her?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, with all my heart,” I replied without any hesitation, and it was the God’s honest truth. I really did love Jean with all my heart.

“So what are you still standing there for then?” the man asked. “I can tell just from the look you have in your eyes that the last thing you want to do right now is get on that plane. Get your ass out of here and get your girl!” He exclaimed, and that was all the motivation I needed.

Luckily for me I only had a carry-on bag, so I picked it up, threw it over my shoulder, and took off running for the exit. It took about ten minutes to get a cab once I got outside, and I quickly got in and gave the driver Jean’s address.

When we got there I jumped out of the back and grabbed my bag, paying the driver on my way out. I then headed up the driveway and to the front door. As I started knocking on the door it dawned on me that her parents may already be asleep, but there was not turning back now.

I heard some grumbling and stomping on the stairs, and I knew I was Jean; she must have been asleep, and she had told me a few times that she absolutely hated being woken up. My heart was racing by the time she finally opened the door.

Normal P.O.V.

I was utterly shocked when I opened the door; my boyfriend was on the other side. “Tyler? What are you doing here?” I asked.

Instead of responding he just grabbed my face and kissed me forcefully. “I couldn’t leave yet; I love you so much,” he replied breathlessly once he finally broke the kiss. I then pushed him back from me and caught my breath. “What are you doing?” he asked breathlessly.

I shook my head. “Tyler, you need to go home,” I said softly.

“What are you talking about? You don’t want to do this? You don’t want to be with me?” he asked, hurt.

I shook my head. “Ty, of course I want to be with you. Just not like this. If we do this now, and then you go home for who knows how long, we’ll both regret it. This isn’t a movie. Everything isn’t going to just fall into place once we sleep together. So come on; I’m gonna go put actual clothes on, and then we’re going back to the airport.” Before he could even argue I was back up the stairs in my bedroom getting dressed.

The drive to the airport was silent, and that silence was deafening. I had to break it somehow, but I didn’t really know what to say. Finally I decided on “I know this isn’t what you were expecting, but honestly, it really is better this way.”

He shrugged and just took my hand from its resting place on the gear shift, kissing it softly. “I know,” he replied. “It just sucks.”

I sighed. “I know baby. But remember that old adage: distance makes the heart grow fonder.” I looked over at him and he smiled.

By now we were arriving back at the airport, and I parked in the underground garage. We went inside and I was with him the entire time, making sure he was actually getting a ticket to go home. Luckily there was a flight leaving in an hour, so he bought the ticket and we made for the gate hand in hand. Oddly enough, it was the same gate that the plane he ditched took off from.

As we approached the gate I looked up at him. “You know you’re getting on the plane this time,” I said as I stopped walking.

He sighed and looked down at me. “Yeah, I know. I really don’t want to though,” he replied.

I nodded. “I know. I don’t want you to either. But you have to. You need to get to training for next season; get your leg back into top shape so you don’t get hurt again.” He nodded. “And besides, it’s like I said before; it’s not goodbye forever. It’s just goodbye for a while. We’ll see each other again by the time the season starts. But for now, you need to get moving,” I finished, pushing him towards the gate entrance.

Before he turned to leave he put his bag down and kissed me, his hands on either side of my face. “I love you,” he said, resting his forehead on mine. “I’ll text you when I get home.” I nodded and he picked up his bag, heading for the gate. Again, I didn’t bother staying, so I turned and went home.

One Month Later; End of July

Tyler had texted me when he landed back in Dallas a month ago like he said he would. Since then we’ve talked almost every day, texting every day and talking on the phone every few days. It was hard finding time to actually have a phone conversation; I worked every day and Tyler was always busy with training. But we found time and made it work the best we could. I was even able to talk to Jamie a few days out of the week.

My knee surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning, July 28th, at 6am. Since Mom and Dad were already busy enough with Mom’s treatment, Jen Benn was nice enough to come up and drive me to the hospital and stay with me for a few weeks, until I could do everything on my own again.

If there was one person that I had become closer to than Tyler and Jamie, it was Jen. She just got me, and we talked all the time. Aside from Nicole, she has become one of my best friends for sure. She had landed at O’Hare this morning, and now we were hanging out in the living room, just watching TV, since I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anymore until after my surgery tomorrow. “I’m hungry,” I grumbled, rubbing my stomach lightly.

She chuckled. “Sorry babe, doctor said no food or liquids for 12 hours before surgery. So suck it up sister,” she replied, tossing a pillow at me. I just threw it back at her and we laughed. Then she looked at the clock and turned back to me. “It’s getting late anyway, we should get to bed; we have to be up at the crack of dawn.”

I groaned and stood up. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s hit the sack, even though I’m not the least bit tired,” I replied, turning off the TV before following her up the stairs. My parents were already in bed, so we were plenty quiet as we got ready for bed ourselves.

Jamie’s P.O.V.

“Hey man, let’s go grab a few drinks,” I turned to see Segs standing in my doorway.

I shook my head. “I don’t know bro, we have our first heavy training session in the morning,” I replied, standing up from my couch and walking into the kitchen. “And besides, if we both go and drink, who’s gonna make sure we make it back in one piece?” I asked, turning to him.

He sighed, sitting down at the breakfast bar. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll drive. I don’t want to get crazy, just have a few drinks. I promise,” he replied.

He had me there; he never offered to drive unless he was serious about not getting too crazy. I had to take him at his word. “Alright Segs, just a few drinks,” I said, grabbing my wallet and house keys from the bowl by the front door before following a giddy Tyler to his car.

“So how’s Jean feeling about her surgery tomorrow?” I asked, trying to make conversation.

“She’s doing alright. I mean of course she’s nervous, but she’s been through this before. I ordered her flowers; they’ll be waiting for her when she gets home tomorrow afternoon,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

I nodded. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate that, since we can’t be up there with her,” I replied. “But my sister will take good care of her,” I added.

A few minutes later we arrived at our destination, and I wasn’t all that surprised that we were at a club, not a bar. I shouldn’t’ve expected anything less, but I was still a little disappointed in Tyler. “I know what you’re thinking Chubbs, but I’ll be good,” he said as he shut off the car. I didn’t say anything as I got out of the car. “Why don’t you grab us a table? I’ll get the first round,” he said as we went inside.

“Sounds good,” I shouted over the loud music, and we parted ways for the few moments. Ty was back inside five minutes with two beers in his hands; one for each of us. I took mine from him with a nod in thanks and took a big swig. This was good; maybe I could trust Tyler to take it easy this time.

Boy was I wrong.

About three hours into our night Tyler was absolutely plastered; he had to have a hand on the bar to keep himself upright. And to make matters even worse, he ditched me for a circle of sluts that surrounded him at the bar. I knew he was already talking out of his ass, so I decided to pull out my phone to record him, just in case he did something so stupid and reckless that he couldn’t talk his way out of it later. By that, of course I mean cheating on our girl.

As I approached the bar, I could tell he was already getting himself into trouble.

“You know, I do have a girlfriend,” he slurred, right in the face of the bottle blonde to his left. “But she’s not nearly as pretty as you ladies, and she lives all the way up in Chicago.” I then pulled him away from the girls and looked him in his bloodshot eyes.

“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” I seethed.

He forcefully pulled his arm out of my grip. “What does it look like man? I’m having a good time with some good people before we start training tomorrow,” he replied, turning away from me and stumbling back over to the bar, where the ladies welcomed him back happily. I then held my phone back up; this was leverage now.

“Sorry for the interruption, ladies. Anyway, like I was saying, my girlfriend is such a prude. I went to her house to see her before I came back to Dallas, and she wouldn’t even give me any before I left! Can you believe that? I’m sure none of you would give me blue balls like that,” he said, twirling the hair of one of the girls in his fingers as he took another shot of who-knows-what. “And you know what? I don’t really know why I’m with her at all; her family is so fucked up it’s not even funny. I mean, she has a gimp leg that she’s having surgery on tomorrow, which is, you know, whatever, and her mom has cancer! We found out together a month ago. That can’t possibly end well!” I was at a complete loss for words when he said that. I had no idea that Jean’s mom was sick; she never said anything to me about it. “I don’t want to have to pick up those shattered pieces. I really could get out now; technically we haven’t consummated our relationship, if you know what I mean,” he continued, wagging his eyebrows at the girls. “And I mean, she’s up in the Windy City. Long distance relationships never work anyway.”

I had heard enough. I turned off the camera and saved the video. I opened a new text to Jen, attaching the video, telling her to record Jean’s reaction when she watched to video tomorrow. Then I turned to Tyler; I was seeing red. I pushed by all the ladies and clocked Tyler in the face, taking his keys from him. “Find your own way home, asshole.”

Notes

Hey guys. I'm so, so sorry this took so long. My mom passed away in early April, and as I am only 24, I haven't exactly handled it well. I lost the motivation to do a lot of things, including writing at some points.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I hope to be back on a semi-regular publishing schedule soon.