Cat's POV
"Thank you for calling me. Have a good day." Can this week get any worse? First, my boyfriend breaks up with me, then, he gets hit by a car, and now they're telling me that he almost died?
"Oh God, Tori, Robbie almost died in surgery, why did they have to tell me that?" I can't process anything right now, everything's coming so fast.
"Is your mom willing to take him and Candace in? He's supposed to move with them to New Jersey once he's out of the hospital." And that.
"I don't know, I asked her but she hasn't said anything yet... hey you tried to make me feel better!" I try to put on one of the biggest smiles ever.
"I can try and see if I can swing something if she can't." My smile grows even bigger.
"You'd really want them to live here with you?" The Vega household is a little bit of a wild place, so why add three more people?
"Yeah, Candace isn't as annoying as she seems. She's actually very curious about sexuality right now, I've kinda been teaching her the difference between everything." Wow, she's growing up so fast. Never knew an 11 year old can be like that.
"Cat! How's my brother? I'm scared." She squeezes me so hard. I think that I just broke my back.
"Well, he almost got...dead. But he's in better shape now. We can go and visit him if you want to. It's only 11:00 in the morning, and we can go and say hi to him, give him some flowers, candy, maybe a card? Just a token of love." I wanna do way more to him, but, you know, he's not ready yet. And I'm totally cool with that. But the way he makes me feel is just something I can't describe. Every time we get touchy feely, it's like flames licking my body.
"Okay. So, you and I are just gonna go to the hospital and visit my brother, right now?" I nod.
"Yup, let's go!" Alright, Cat, don't go too fast on a speed bump. I gotta start reading the signs on the road. Yesterday, I missed two exits. I guess that's the price you pay if you choose to become a redheaded ditz like me.
We get to his room, where he's laying down there, smiling like a wimp. It's so adorable!
"Hi, baby. How are you feeling?" Candace and I take a seat next to his bed.
"Please don't call me baby anymore. We broke up, and I'm sorry." Oh, so he doesn't wanna be treated that way anymore?
"Why don't you love me?!" Okay, that was a bit of an unexpected outburst.
"I-I don't understand what you-"
"You're moving once you're out of here. I don't want you to leave me without you saying anything. Please, try to love me again. Tell me that I'm your everything. I need you to touch me one last time. I don't wanna find another guy. You were everything I've ever wanted and needed. Don't leave me." Candace is just sitting there in silence.
"I have no choice, Cat. Unless my mom finds a job in L.A. in less than a day, I'm moving. I'm sorry, but this is my only choice. We have to break up, I don't want our relationship to be restricted to our phone screens. You were my first girlfriend. You were the girl who saw past my ugly and saw who I am on the inside. Just...forget about me. Please. You have so much more to come, and I'm just gonna occupy your brain space." Well, it's come down to this. I'm gonna miss him so much.
"Why would I forget you? You're smart, handsome, sweet, adorable, sexy..." I grip onto his hand. "It's just such a shame that you're leaving. I'm just trying so hard not to cry right now. Remember our first kiss?" The taste of fudgy pistachios still lingers around in my tongue. "I want you to be my last kiss too."
"Cat...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm gonna miss you too." Candace sniffles into my shirt and I rub her head.
"Oh, I'm gonna miss you too. You have an awesome brother, by the way. He's gonna take good care of you." Like that isn't obvious enough.
"Cat, are you gonna give my sweater back to me or not?" He says it with a laugh. And I don't want to give the sweater back. The way it smells just makes me super horny. Because it smells just like him. God, I could just imagine his bare chest on-
"Hello? Sweater?" I snap out of it.
"Oh, I'll just keep it. Forever. And I'll wear it. Forever. I don't wanna get rid of it! I just love the smell of you. Fuck, you make me horny." I can't believe I just said that to a malnourished boy in a hospital bed. Kinda malnourished.
"At least I'm not a clothes-sniffing freak like you. Okay, I'm joking. I like the smell of you." Just me, huh?
"Alright, slow down, lover boy. When are you gonna leave?" I sound so stupid.
"When I get out of the hospital, which is on Wednesday. I know, it's gonna be in a couple of days. I'm gonna miss you." I give him a tender kiss on the cheek.
"I'm gonna miss you too. My mom always told me to never forget your first love, no matter what. And you were my first love. Josh was pure anger and lust. You looked at me as a person and not an item of possession-" Knock knock. The doctor's here.
"Hi, I need to check up on Robbie, so I'm going to have to kindly ask you two ladies to leave." Here it goes.
"Okay, I understand. Bye, Robbie." And that might be the last time I'll ever see my Robbie Matthew Shapiro. No woman deserves a guy like him, and I feel so honored to be his winter love.