There he was. Jack, the man I had spoken to on the phone, stood before me in nothing but a towel. I felt my heart drop in my chest. My nightmare was coming true right before my eyes. Jack was taking my best friend away from me. He was taking the girl I had fallen for away from me.
Abby sauntered out from the other room and looked at Jack. She held such admiration in her crystal blue eyes as she looked at him. She held a look that I wish that once she would look at me with. "Go put some clothes on."
"I was looking for conditioner." Abby looked over at me with a smile as if Jack was not even there. However, he was well aware of the situation. He seemed to strut forward with Abby close behind. He had that dumbfounded smile spread across his face.
Abby wrapped her arm around Jack as she spoke to me. "Connor this is Jack…my baby brother."
Her brother? The half-naked man in front of me was her brother? They had no resemblance from what I could see. They must take after different parents. Yet, it made me feel better too. I felt all the jealousy disappear as the information sunk in. He was her little brother, which meant that he was not going to take Abby from me.
"Jack, go get some clothes on." Jack turned quickly, heading back into the back room.
Abby immediately turned around to face me. "Connor, can you please crash somewhere else for a bit. Jack just needs to stay somewhere for a little while. He's my baby brother." As much as it killed me I was willing to give her whatever she wished. "Yeah…" I did not even hear the rest of what I had said. All I was aware of was Abby was looking up at me with her blue eyes that made me melt. She looked concerned and relieved all at once. I assured her that it was fine, which just made her look even more relieved. Yet, I could feel my heart drop once again in my chest falling farther then before.
"I promise Connor its only temporary." I could feel that this temporary stay was going to feel even longer then she intended. But he was her baby brother. Who was I to get in the way of family? I was just going to have to live with this until it was over.
"It's okay Abby. Let me just grab some things and then I will just get out of the way." I headed in the direction of my room but was stopped by thin arms wrapped around my waist. She pressed her small body against my back. I could feel the warmth of her body seep through my shirt. "Thank you Connor." I wish that this was not the reason she hugged me.
As she let go of me, I felt my body grow cold. I could still feel her small form impressed on my back. A cold pit grew in my stomach as I realized that I was only good for being a friend in Abby's eyes.
***
I quickly packed my bag of clothes and my essential belongings. With each item that I placed in my bag though I felt like I was unwanted even more. Abby was kicking me out of the one placed that had ever felt like home to me. Everywhere else I had always felt mocked and made fun of because I was the computer whiz kid. I was always a technological genius which no one ever understood. Except for Abby. No matter what I said or did, Abby was the one that never looked down on me.
This was the least I could do for Abby in response to how she had always treated me. She was the one who always had my back.
I descended the stairs slowly trying to not rush my exit from the flat. And Abby. At the base of the stairs is saw Abby's blond head bop around in the living room. She looked like a spunky pixie as she seemed to buzz around the room. "Abby? Is it okay if I… Oh, hi Connor. Is there something wrong?" Jack stood to my right at the base of the stairs. I looked over at him quickly. There he was standing in nothing but a pair of jeans. If it wasn't for the fact that he was Abby's little brother, I would have thought that he was trying to rid me of Abby.
Abby quickly stopped what she was doing in the living room and looked over at Jack and me. She seemed eager to hear the answer to Jack's question. "No Jack, I'm fine."
"Good. Now Abby…"
"Get whatever you want Jack." With that he ran off back in the direction he had come. "Are you sure you are okay with this?" I looked over at Abby who had not moved from her position. She looked so beautiful standing there bathed in the little slits of lights that were cast through the windows. She seemed like a dream standing there. I just wish that this was just a horrible nightmare and that I could wake from it at any moment.
"I am sure that I will be fine." I descended the last two stairs and dropped my bag as Abby came to give me one last hug. "Thank you so much Connor. I can't express how much this means to me. How much you are helping me with Jack. You are the greatest best friend I could ask for." I didn't want to let her go as much as her words shocked me. "I just don't want my brother asking questions that I cannot answer. Or ask questions that are not true."
"Well, I should go. To help with the prevention of questions from your brother." I wanted to stab myself for that. I was feeding into leaving the flat. For leaving Abby. "Okay, Connor. Don't feel that you can't come back and hang with Jack and me." She let me go which once again filled my body with a sense of a cold pit in the base of my stomach. She didn't step away from me though. Without any warning she leaned forward and kissed my cheek. "Thank you Connor."
I couldn't breath. I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. Abby had kissed me without any sign or warning. "Connor, are you okay?" I could only nod in response. "Well, you should go then. I will see you at work okay?" I nodded again. Slowly, I leaned down and picked up my bag. I walked away from Abby and exited the flat as soon as I could.
Before I closed the door completely I heard Jack's voice. "Where is your boyfriend going?"
"He's not my boyfriend."
"I just figured because he answered your phone."
"No he is just a really good friend." I could hear a bit of admiration in her voice as she responded to Jack's comment.
Maybe staying away for a while would start something closer between me and Abby.