One Thing
Miserable. There's no other way to explain how I feel right now. Everything hurts. My heart more than anything else. Why? Why did he have to come up to the hill that day? Why did I have to fall for him? Why didn't I keep my walls up like I normally do? Because I loved him. And it's as simple as that. I was broken and he was there. But now he's gone, and I don't want him to come back.
I remember that day like it was yesterday. Fourteen years ago on that day, my dad walked out on me and my mom. The night before, on my birthday, my dad took me up to a hill that looked out over all of L.A. That night there was a meteor shower and he wanted me to see it. Once it was over, we went to Waffle House, ate, and went home. We entered the house to find my mom pacing the floor. Of course, like any other mother, she was furious. She started yelling at my dad asking him why he would take a girl out at 1:30 in the morning (which was way past my bedtime). Then she saw the smile plastered on my face. She forgot why she was mad in the first place because she saw how happy I was. That was the best day of my life. Little did I know, it would all go down the drain the next morning.
I woke up to the smell of pancakes eggs and bacon. We (my mom, my dad, and I) were all sitting at the table eating when my dad got up and said he was going to go buy a pack of cigarettes.
"I'll be right back." Those were his exact words. But he lied. He didn't come back. Not even to get his stuff. The funny thing is he didn't even smoke. I remember my mom crying when I asked her when "daddy" was coming home. I remember feeling like an outcast when I would see all the other girls with their fathers after school. I remember putting walls up around my heart and not letting anyone in, with an exception of Melissa and Adam, my two best friends. Then I remember going up to the hill the day after my 18th birthday. The day that changed my life. The day that I met him.
I was sitting next to the tree at the top of hill, looking at the view of L.A., enjoying the silence and absent-mindedly drawing in the dirt with a stick. I heard a branch snap behind me and I spun my head around to find some guy standing there wearing a gray hoodie and sunglasses. He apologized for scaring me and told me that this was his spot and he didn't anyone else came up here.
I got up to leave but he grabbed my hand and said it was fine. "I could use some company right now." His voice sounded so familiar, but I couldn't put a finger on which he was. We sat down and for a while we just enjoyed the view in silence. I wish it would have stayed that way. "Um, what's your name?"
When he asked the question, it kind of threw me off. "Uh, Loren Tate. I f you don't mind me asking, who are you? You kind of showed up out of nowhere." He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.
"Ok, promise you won't freak out or anything." When I said that I wouldn't, he took off his hat and sunglasses, and I felt my eyes widen with surprise after I realized who he was. Eddie Duran, international rock star, was standing in front of me. "Oh", was all I could manage to say. The rest of the day, we spent talking. I learned that, that day just so happened to be the anniversary of his mother's death. He learned that, that day was the anniversary of the day my dad left. We laughed and talked and laughed some more and before we knew it the sun was setting and it was getting late. I told him that I should probably get home and that I hoped to see him again. I was going down the hill when I heard someone call my name. "Can I have your number so I can see you again?" I was surprised that anyone would want my number. Especially Eddie Duran of all people. I gave it to him and made my way down the hill with a big smile glued to my face.
After that day, I couldn't stop thinking about him. We started seeing each other every day. I let him get too close. I let myself fall for him knowing that he probably didn't feel the same way. So here I am, crying, knowing that he was just like my dad. Knowing that he was going to leave me and break my heart.
One day, I went to his house/penthouse because he wanted me to help him work on some songs (my mom told him that I write songs). I got off the elevator and walked up to his door to find it cracked open. Something told me to knock and wait for him to come to the door or to just walk away. Instead, I pushed the door open to find him and his ex, Chloe Carter, lip-locking. He didn't see me standing there, so I just walked out. I slammed the door behind me causing them both to jump and Eddie to push Chloe off of him and run after me. By the time he got to me, the elevator was already closing.
That was three hours ago. So far he has left 10 voicemails, 21 texts, and 5 e-mails. I was pulled from my thoughts when my mom came into the room. "You ok, honey?" I shook my head "no", knowing that there was no use in lying because my eyes were red and puffy from crying. "Why don't you just talk to him? You don't even know what happened." I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to talk and not knowing how to answer her question. I don't want to know what happened. He was kissing his ex. Five months. That's how long I've known him. Five months. That's how long it took me to fall for him. But apparently, none of that matters to him. I don't matter to him. My mom was now sitting on my bed next to me, rubbing small circles on my back in a comforting way. Someone rung the doorbell and my mom reluctantly got up to answer it.
After about five minutes, she came back into the room and shut the door. "Who was it?" I asked. She avoided my gaze and I knew she was about to tell me something I wouldn't like. "Mom, just tell me. I'm not five anymore, I'm not going to cry." After a few minutes of silence, she told me who was at the door, and who was now sitting in our living room waiting to talk to me. "What do you mean 'Eddie is out there'?!" Yep, I was right. I definitely did NOT like this. "Loren, honey, just go talk to him. He looks really worried about you. And you never know, maybe this might give you some closure."
With that, she walked out of the room and left me to come up with a decision. Did I really want to go into that living room to face him? Maybe I did, but that doesn't make it any easier on my part. After a few more minutes of debating with myself, I finally worked up the courage to go talk to him. When I got into the living room he was pacing the floor, looking just as frantic and worried as my mom did that night when my dad took me out to see the meteor shower. "You came." He sounded surprised. "What, you thought I wouldn't?" he didn't answer so I took that as a "yes". He sat down on the sofa, and I followed suit, sitting as far away from him as I could. Hurt and concern covered his face. "Eddie, I –"
He cut me off. "No, let me explain. As you already know, I cut things off with Chloe after I found out that she was lying to me our whole relationship. Today, when I came home she was sitting on my couch. We went through our regular routine; she begs for me to take her back. I tell her no. She says this isn't over. I say it is. But, this time was different. I told her to get out, but she threw herself on me. She kissed me, and I guess that's when you came in. Loren, I care about you so much. I would never hurt you. Please forgive me." I didn't even say anything, I just threw my arms around him and he held me just as tight. And that's all I needed; for him to hold. Then he said the one thing I least expec ted him to say: "I love you, Loren." I pulled away just enough to see his face and, very slowly, I leaned in and kissed him. I learned something else about him that day. I learned that he's got that one thing. My heart.
The End!