He pulls me in for a warm hug, I’m not sure what the future holds, but right now I feel like I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.
Next to Lana and my brothers, Aspen is the only real hug I’ve ever truly felt safe. It doesn’t matter where we are, he feels like home.
I didn’t need the perfect apology, I needed the truth, and Aspen gave me both.
“C’mon, it’s cold. Let’s go to my place,” I tell him.
So we do, we run across campus, back to mine and Lana’s dorm. I don’t text her Aspen’s here because I'm pretty sure she already knows that and told him where my class was. I gotta thankher for that later. When we arrive at my dorm, I open the door and say our famous line, “Honey, I’m ho– AHH” Lana, and Derek, naked, fucking. Again!
“MY EYES!” I hear Aspen shout.
I shut the door so fast, interrupting myself. That is now the second time Aspen and I walk in on them fucking.
Both Aspen and I start laughing. “I thought Derek left for home already,” he says.
“Apparently he needed to say goodbye to Lana first,” I tell him.
“The least they could have done was put a sock on the door,” He says.
I laugh. “Yeah about that, we actually tried avoiding that by saying “Honey, I’m home.” This way other people on our floor wouldn’t know we were fucking, but that’s on them for doing it on the couch,” I tell him.
“God, they’re like rabbits,” Aspen says.
I laugh, hopefully they’ve dressed by now. Aspen does the classic secret knock on the door and then we enter, staring at our half dressed best friends wondering how lucky we are to have ended up here.
42
Aspen
Dreams really do come true, everything is going better than I could have ever imagined. Not only did Genevieve accept me back, but she also has agreed to move in with me. How can I complain when I have everything I could have ever wanted.
My phone rings and I glance at the screen, Dad, I already know why he’s calling. A part of me wants to ignore it let it ring until it stops but not this time. This ends now.
For good.
I take a breath and answer. “Hey Dad.”
“Hey, bud. You get that money by any chance?” His voice is casual, like this is just another conversation.
I grip the phone tighter. “Yeah, I did,” I say letting the silence stretch before I add, “but I’m not sending it.”
A beat passes. Then…
“What?” His voice sharpens, the easygoing tone cracking.
“Find another way to pay for your addiction, I will never be you.”
I hang up before he can respond.
My hand trembles slightly as I lower the phone, but the weight that lifts from my chest is undeniable.
It’s over, for good.
I turn my phone off and shove it in my pocket for the rest of the night.
A huge sense of relief washes over me and I feel a little lighter.
I look up and Genevieve, Lana, Gen’s best friend and emotional anchor and Derek, my best friend and recent softie are all just staring at me. Then when Genevieve smiles, I know I did the right thing.
