Previously On, "Too Young"

How could she be so selfish? The answer? It was simpler than you'd think. Sabrina was sixteen with barely any sensibility in her. She had sense though. Boy, did she have enough sense. It was almost like everything needed to make sense to Sabrina. If something didn't make sense to her, then she would just discard it, and come back to it later. Sabrina would come back to it and try to force it to make sense. If it still didn't, then she'd just be done. Sabrina also never thought about the affect it could cause on someone. It was point blank to her. If something didn't make sense to her, then she wouldn't be bothered to deal with it anymore. Sabrina would basically label it a burden. Did she label Bradley a burden? It makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Rowan ran a startled hand through her brown hair. "Wow." She breathed, staring down at the ring in the palm of her hand. "I did not think their fight was this severe!" Sure, Rowan saw their exchanged, sickening messages, but this was a whole new level of seriousness. This was now, promise-ring-thrown-against-the-wall, seriousness. If that made any sense at all. Then almost like she had a sudden realization, she turned her head to the other side of her. Rowan wasn't even surprised when she took notice of Sabrina's own laying there. She picked up the other silver ring.

Rowan shook her head with irritation.

This is one of my favorite chapters that I wrote to date! I used a narrator to tell some of this chapter. It's someone you would never expect as well. It's beautiful though because it's going to really show you how deeply Bradley feels for Sabrina. How deeply he feels for Sabrina without her even being there with him. You see, you don't need extreme, lengthy, open-mouth kisses to be able to express in writing how deeply a character feels for another character. If a writer feels like they need a huge kiss to show how in love someone is, then that author is not writing romance properly at all. Those kisses that you see in movies, and in stories, are only supposed to be extras, like a cherry on a sundae. I'm going to show you a piece of an example of that method in this chapter. Don't fret though. You'll see more of this narrator stuff in chapter's to come. Oh, also it's important to know that it is December 4th 2015 in this chapter. In other words, it's the day of what would have been Brabrina's anniversary. That's why I'm spicing it up with a narrator for you all. Think of it as a treat! Enjoy it:)

The teen boy sat at a table in a small coffee place. It wasn't your normal Starbucks either. This place was called "Anne's Coco Coffee", and it was much smaller, and cozier than a regular Starbucks was. The walls were coated of a light tannish brown, while the ceiling was coated of a cream white. A good-sized green Christmas tree stood at the very far corner of the shop. It had beautiful white-sliver lights surrounding the tree, making the shop glow with a sense of happiness. Golden and Silver ornament balls hung above and underneath the Christmas lights. The decorated coffee shop should've made anyone fall hypnotized into the joy that Christmas provided, but it didn't seem to touch the boy staring at everything with a saddened look on his face. How could it? It was December 4; Sabrina's and his anniversary, or at least it would've been.

It would've been.

That's all Bradley could think to himself as he stared at the entrance. It was almost like he was waiting for something, or rather, someone to show up there. It didn't take a brain whiz to know that he was obviously waiting for Sabrina to pop in. Well, maybe not Sabrina specifically. However, that hope and desperation displayed all over him, made it easy for anyone to see that it was obviously about a girl. An old lady across the table from him just stared at him. She watched the way his fingers tapped on his black jeans in an erratic fashion. The lady's eyes took in the way he would suck his breath in each time he would check his watch, as if he was waiting on someone. Then his defeated exhale after he would drop his arm. It was more instead like he was hoping someone would show rather than waiting, she noticed. There was a difference in his chocolate-brown eyes that she couldn't just push to the side. The teen's eyes weren't holding any hint of happiness in them. They didn't even hold an ounce of nervousness in them, like one's eyes would if that person knew someone was sure to show. His brown eyes weren't even showing that bold eagerness. That type of eagerness someone would feel if they were in the need of a long overdue date with their lover. These were all things she noticed about him. Being sixty-four, she thought of herself pretty wise. At least, she was wise enough to know that this poor boy was waiting on someone he knew would never show. It made her heart-break for him. Sure, she didn't know him, but even she could tell just by staring at him that this boy held so much love for this girl. A girl that would never show. The old lady took her eyes off him at the sound of the entrance bell. There stood a girl with brunette hair. She had a snug grey cardigan on, a white shirt underneath, and dark-blue jeans on. Her sophisticated outfit was paired with grey leather boots that made her long legs appear shorter. It made the old lady smile for a second as she turned to the boy again. For this had to be the girl that stole this boy's heart. She was sure gorgeous. To top it off, she was also staring at him with an inquisitive look on her face, as if she was convincing herself to go up to the teen. Yeah, this had to be her. The sixty-four year old could practically visualize the wheel-of-thoughts spinning around in the girl's head. She was obviously contemplating on whether or not she should go up to the boy at the table. The lady winced as she pictured the girl pulling at her hair inwardly in frustration. It was clear that this girl probably would've too, if she wasn't in public. It was as if the girl finally made up her mind. The lady watched as the brunette let out a deep, aggravated exhale, before she slowly trudged over to the boy at the table in front of her.

Nevertheless, something spoke volumes to the old lady while she took in their interaction. As soon as the boy finally set eyes on this gorgeous brunette, the lady noticed something. This girl wasn't the girl. This girl was not the girl that this boy was waiting for. How did she know? Well, it showed. It actually showed. After all, you would think that the hopeless boy would light up brighter than the Christmas tree behind her if she was that girl. He didn't though. In fact, it seemed like his expression became even more saddened when he saw this girl. Yeah, this was not his girl. Likewise, the lady also realized that he knew this girl. The two shared a short-lived hug before she sat across from him. That was the sign of knowing someone. It was then when the lady stopped observing them. Instead her gaze dropped to the two wedding rings on her old, skinny finger. She cracked a sad smile for she knew that if this boy held the love that she held for her deceased husband, they were sure to find each other again.

Bradley's eyes appeared haunted. His ex-girlfriend's best friend was sitting in front of him. "What are you doing here, Rowan?" He wasn't exactly looking at her as he asked the question. Bradley was more focused on the wooden table in front of him, then at Rowan. Looking at Rowan made his heart ache because he knew Rowan knew everything. The question was what didn't she know? What hadn't Sabrina told her? That was the real question. Bradley was ninety-nine percent sure that there wasn't much Sabrina hadn't told her. The girl sitting in front of him knew everything. The brown-haired teen could tell by just looking at her. Sabrina had told her everything.

Rowan gently bit her lip as her ears took in Bradley's tired question. "I know why you're here." She chose to whisper instead.

Bradley's head lifted up at her whispered statement. "You don't know anything." He mumbled, before his head drooped back down. Obviously that was a major lie; a staged lie. A lie that he only told because he didn't want Rowan figuring out that he knew she knew everything. It would only make her look at him with more sympathy then she was already looking at him with. Pity, he called it. Saying sympathy was obviously just a less pathetic word. "You're 14." He added on, hoping it would get her to back down. It didn't though.

It made Rowan a bit offended. Deciding to ignore his ridiculous comment though, she just continued on. "You were hoping Sabrina would show, weren't you?" It wasn't exactly a question. She just made it appear like one. She didn't want Bradley to think she was accusing him. There was nothing wrong with holding onto hope that the girl you still loved would show up where you first met each other.

At Bradley's silence, Rowan sighed. "Bradley, you and I both know she's not coming."

Bradley's mouth turned into a snarl as he glared at her. "You don't know that, Rowan!" He scowled.

Rowan looked taken-a-back.

It made Bradley drop his scowl, and lower his voice. "I…I mean it's not even 6:00 yet." The teen tried to convince himself. "She…she could still be coming."

Rowan watched how his bottom lip trembled. It was such a slight tremble, but it was there nonetheless. It meant he was about to break down any second now. Rowan knew she wouldn't see it though. Bradley would hold himself together until she left, that she knew. It was such a Bradley Steven Perry thing to do. He was a comedic actor. Bradley didn't cry in front of others. He felt in order to be a comedic actor you had to always be hilarious. There was no time for weakness in that career. It made Rowan roll her eyes at his ridiculous assumption, but it was what he believed. She couldn't change him.

A few more seconds of silence passed before Rowan spoke up again. "Bradley, I need to give you something."

Bradley didn't even look up at her. He would just listen. "What?" The teen questioned in a tense voice.

Unfazed, she reached deeper into her pocket until she felt the silver metallic of a chain. She gently pulled it out and held it on her knees under the table. Staring at Bradley for a minute, she gulped. On the chain held both of their promise rings, Bradley and Sabrina's. She bought the chain for Bradley yesterday afternoon. Now she just had to give it to him. Why did it seem like that was the hardest part? Well, because she knew it would tear him apart inside. Rowan knew she had to though. This was the only way he could heal. Maybe he wouldn't forget about the past. Bradley could never forget about what he and Sabrina shared, but it could at least give him a sense of closure. Bradley deserved that from Sabrina. If Sabrina wasn't going to give him that, then Rowan was going to instead. The brunette knew Sabrina might kill her later, but she had to do what was fair to Brad. She cared about him. This was definitely the right thing to do….even if Sabrina couldn't see that for herself.

However, Rowan couldn't look him in the eyes. There was no way she was going to be able to speak to him either about this. She couldn't bear to look into his eyes, and see the amount of raw heart-break clouded in them. That left her one other option.

Rowan would just slide the chain on his side of the table, and walk away from him. So she did.

At that quiet sound, Bradley looked up at Rowan. Only she wasn't there. Rowan was three steps away from the front entrance again. Just where she started.

He furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion. Bradley didn't notice that Rowan slid anything to him. The teen only noticed after she left. Bradley only noticed after he turned his head back around. The first thing he saw was the chain. It was the first thing that stood out for it was at the top where Bradley was staring. The promise rings connected to it were right at the edge of the table. Rowan slid it that way on purpose. The brunette hoped it would prepare him for the heart break that was to approach him. The darkness that he was sure to slip into after he saw them. And it did.

Bradley's breath caught in his throat as he finally allowed himself to break down. He lightly took a hold of the rings in his palm and closed his first around them both. Bradley didn't remember crying at Sabrina's. He remembered yelling, but crying didn't come to memory. That's because he never did. The fresh tears that was he feeling stream down his face as he put his head down on the table was all new to him. Bradley couldn't remember the last time he cried about anything. Bradley would literally tell you that he didn't remember putting the chain around his neck. Why? The teen was in a trance. Where else was he going to hold the object that threw extreme heart-break at him? In his pocket? Hell no! The boy slipped it around his neck because what else was he supposed to do with that chain? To be honest, he felt like a zombie walking out of the very place he met Sabrina so long ago. Bradley was so numb. His eyes were clouded with wetness. In-fact, Bradley felt so numb that he didn't even feel the freezing, winter chill air that swarmed him the second he walked out of, "Anne's Coco Coffee."

Would he ever feel again?