The Promise (33 page)

“Oh shit
!” I say, unable to stop the laugh that escapes me.

“Oh man it was brutal! She was screaming, my
fuckin’ shoe flew in the lake and Jack just kept coming at me. I can still hear him now, ‘Matt, your ass is mine, you sorry sack of shit! I’m gonna kick your ass and then drown your bitch ass in that fucking lake!’” Matt says with a ridiculous fake voice, which only makes me laugh even harder.

“I’m sorry, man, but that’s hilarious!” I tell him, still chuckling
quietly. “Is that the only time it happened?”

“No, today was the third time,” he admitted, laughing at my shocked expression.
“When we went to prom, some girl had brought some guy from a different school.  Jack went the bathroom and this guy starts to hit on Sophie. I told him to back off but he didn’t listen so I yelled at him. Next thing I knew, the bastard punched me right at the same time that Jack walks back out. We all ended up in this big fight right in front of the hotel. Jack and I were all over the guy who was going after Sophie but then his friend’s came up and started to help him out. We told her to stay back but then one of them jumped on Jack, so Sophie starts beating the hell out of him with her bag, screaming like a freaking lunatic,” he says dramatically.

“Oh my God!” I say in disbelief and Matt’s shaking his head
in amusement, recalling the memory.

“
So, the hotel called the fucking cops on us and we all ended up in jail on prom night. Ana was so pissed! She ended up bailing Sophie out but left our asses in there for the rest of the night. When we got out the next day, she cussed us both out, made us pay Sophie’s bail back, wash her fucking jeep and all kinds of shit!”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” I say as I look back o
ver to Sophie and see her gently lying down. “This really fucking sucks.” I sigh. Matt follows my line of sight and does the same.

“Yeah, but it’s all part of it, ya know? She’s gotta grieve and no amount of love from any of us is going to take away the love she ha
d and still has for him,” he tells me before taking a long sip of his beer.

We sit in silence for a
further few minutes until I ask the question I’ve had in my head ever since I saw him with her in the bar.

“So how long have you been in love with my girlfriend?” I ask him and his look of surprise fades almost as quickly as it appears.

He considers my question, his eyebrows narrowing as he appears to be thinking, before finally answering me.

“Sophie started
at our high school on a Tuesday. Her first class of that day was second period English with Jack. I fell for her in fourth period Spanish. I used to think that if there wasn’t the two hour difference then everything could’ve been different for all of us, you know? But now I know better and what I thought back then was a load of crap. It was always Jack back then and I guess it’s supposed to be you now,” he says quietly, gesturing towards me with his beer in hand. But there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What’s that?”

“You seem like a nice guy and I like you, but, Sophie? I love the shit out of that girl. I’m more than willing to die for her in a second. If you hurt her, it’s your ass. You got that?”

Hearing his words
, for some reason, don’t surprise me at all. I nod my understanding as I look directly into his eyes.

“I hear you, man. I’m glad you’re on her side but
I have something that I need to spell out for you now. You’re not the only one who loves Sophie or the only one who would lay their life on the line for her. She’s chosen to move on with me and I’ll tell you this straight, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not ever going to let you or anyone else come between us so don’t even try it. Do we understand each other?” Matt nods before we clank our beers together again.

We sit here for a few more minutes, watching her out there
beside Jack’s grave. My heart aches for her. There’s nothing I wouldn’t be willing to do to take the pain away from her. Matt reaches out, giving me a pat on my arm.

“She’s gonna be out there for a while
, man. You may as well try and get some shut eye.”

“Nah, I’m good. I’ll stay up and keep an eye on her. Go ahead and crash man,” I
tell him, seeing from the corner of my eye that he’s nodding off. He walks back over to the driver’s seat before sitting down. I make my way back over to my truck, stopping for just a moment. “I think she’s asleep.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” he agrees a
s I stare out at her. As I go to walk towards her, he places his arm out to stop me. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to get her. I can’t let her sleep out here in the dirt. If she wakes up and wants to go back out there
then fine,” I answer as I push his arm to the side. “I can’t leave her out here in the dirt. I don’t care which one of you decides to get mad first.”

Reaching
her, I look down over her small frame and want to cry. Her beautiful hair has grass in it and is all over the place. Her cheek is smeared with mud from the dirt and tears.

I lean over her and lift her up bridal style, twisting her body until her legs are wrapped around me and her head is resting on my shoulder. She barely moves
as I place her gently in the cab of my truck. I know that on top of being drunk, she’s completely exhausted.

Grabbing
my jacket out from the back, I lay it over her before climbing in the driver’s side and raising her head onto my lap. She stirs a little before I hear her letting out a small sigh. She hugs her hands around both the top and bottom of my leg like a pillow before settling. I stroke her hair away from her face and let my hand rest on her arm, rubbing gentle circles until I hear her breathing evening out. I know she’s sleeping soundly.

I don’t know how long I
’ve been sitting here, just watching her sleep. I’m sure that at least a couple of hours must have passed by before I finally feel myself beginning to doze off.

The last thing I remember
is humming softly to her and watching as a small smile crept across her face.

I’m in the cab of my truck
, five hours from home and with my drunk girlfriend. She’s passed out from crying over her dead ex-boyfriend and dreaming about God knows what … but she’s smiling. She’s safe and she’s with me.

I can sleep now.

Chase

I’ve been awake for a few minutes but
haven’t yet opened my eyes. Something is telling me that the harsh light of day will be more than I’m ready for, and I don’t mean specifically from the sun.

Sophie still has her head rest
ing against my leg although she’s beginning to stir awake. I decide that it’s now or never.

I love her and no matter what else happens today,
my love for her won’t change. I open my eyes and look down to see her emerald eyes already settling on my face. I can’t stifle the sigh of relief at seeing her beside me.

“Good morning
, Baby,” I whisper.

“Hey,” she
answers quietly. We sit silently, studying each other for a few moments before she speaks again. “What are you doing here?”

“Ana called me last night
. She said that you wouldn’t answer your phone and that Matt couldn’t find you so she was worried. We were all worried,” I explain as she bites on her lip, while so obviously lost in her own thoughts.

“You drove
for five hours just to look for me?”

“It didn’t take quite that long, but yeah
. I came to look for you.”

“Thanks,” she
begins. “Do you know what time it is? My phone died.”

I
glance at my watch before looking back at her, “It’s about nine forty five. You’ve only slept for around four hours … How are you feeling?” I ask as I take the dead phone from her hand before plugging it into the car charger I’d bought for her. After all the rum she consumed, I’m sure she’s most probably going to have a killer hangover right about now.

“I’ve been better
… My head hurts …” she admits. I pull the shade down to block the daylight from hurting her eyes, before reaching over her to grab a bottle of Tylenol that I always keep in the truck.

“Sit up
, Baby,” I whisper, watching as she slowly complies. Climbing out of the truck, I reach into the small cooler that’s in the bed of my truck and grab both a bottle of water and a Gatorade, before walking back to the driver’s side. I climb back in, closing the door as quietly as I can. As I hand her the bottles, I take the Tylenol from her, opening it to pass her some. “Take these.” I say quietly, handing them to her before opening her water. She takes a sip and swallows the pills down slowly.

“Thanks,” she says
, looking down at her hands as though she’s not sure exactly what to say to me.

She looks like hell.

Her face is smeared with dirt and her hair is all over the place. She’s wearing pajamas that she’ll probably throw out when she gets back and her eyes are swollen from crying. She’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen though. The woman I’m deeply in love with hasn’t lived an easy life. I know this now more than ever, but I’m hoping that I can make this as easy for her as I can.

“Sophie?” I whisper
. She glances up at me nervously. “I meant what I said to you last night. We don’t have to talk about anything, okay? I just needed to make sure you were safe. If you want to go back outside, I won’t be mad. I just couldn’t leave you out there alone like that once you’d fallen asleep. If you want me to take you home, I’ll do it. If you want me to get you a room somewhere so you can get some sleep, I’ll do that. I’ll take you wherever you want to go. I can leave if you want me to but I’m really hoping that you want me to stay. I’ll do whatever you need me to do, okay? You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to. I just want to make sure you know that as long as you want me, I’m here. I’m so sorry for everything I’ve put you through. I’ll give you whatever you need. You just have to tell me what it is.” I look at her, waiting patiently as she continues to chew on her lip, still staring down at her hands.

I don’t know how long we s
it here. It has been at least a few minutes until she begins to cry softly. “Shh, come here,” I say, putting my arm out to her. She slowly moves her way over to my side of the truck, curling up beside me and leaning into my chest. I wrap my arms around her and rock her as she sobs quietly against me. Stroking small circles on her back, I try to soothe her as she continues to cry into my chest. I hate seeing her cry more than anything in the world and would happily die a thousand deaths if I thought it would keep her from ever feeling this way again. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I’m so sorry,” I whisper as I kiss her on the top of her head while continuing to rock her. A few minutes later, she gently pulls away and looks up at me.

“I’m sorry, Chase. I should have told you sooner,” she says in a broken voice
. I shake my head at her.

“No, none of that, okay? You deserved to tell me however and whenever you wanted to. I shouldn’t have put you in a position where you felt like you had to tell me anything before you were ready. You did nothing wro
ng, okay?”

“I promise I was going to tell you this weekend. I just wanted to get through this week
before telling you everything,” she says as I hold her teary gaze. “Tomorrow is the first anniversary of his death. I just wanted to get through it and then I was going to tell you.”

God
. I really am an asshole.

“Sophie, I’m so sorry. Please believe me. I feel so awful about this,” I plead with her
, seeing her turn to face me.

“I know you do,” she whispers and I kiss her
on the forehead. She pulls away and sits herself back against the seat, looking up at the ceiling of the truck as she releases a huge sigh. “God I just feel horrible,” she finally admits. “Ugh! I think I might be sick,” she declares while fumbling around so she can push her door open. I watch her walk around the back of my truck and immediately make a grab for the water. Walking over to join her, I rub her back while she bends over to throw up. “Please don’t watch me, Chase,” she pleads before her stomach heaves again. I pull her hair back and look away, but stay with her. “Go away! It’s only going to get worse!” She wails but I shush her. 

“I’m not watching you
, Sophie, but I’m not leaving either.” I tell her as I place the cold bottle against her neck. She releases a small sigh of appreciation although it’s short lived and drowned out as she begins to heave some more. It goes on like this for a few more minutes before she finally stands, taking the bottle from me as she proceeds to rinse her mouth. “I bet you wouldn’t mind using my toothbrush now would you?” I joke while pulling her under my arm and kissing her on the forehead again.

“Actually, I would love to use your toothbrush right now,” she gives a weak laugh a
s I look at her with both surprise and a slight smirk.

“Well lucky for you I keep an extra one in my work bag,” I wink at her
before grabbing it from the side of the truck and handing it to her.

“Thank you,” she whispers
, taking the toothbrush and the small tube of toothpaste from me. When she’s done, she hands them back to me and stands awkwardly in front of me. She grabs my phone from the door and looks at the time. “Wow, it’s almost eleven.”

“Yeah,” I say a
s I keep my eyes on her. “Is there somewhere you’d like to go?”

“I wouldn’t mind some coffee,” she s
uggests, the corners of her mouth quirking up as I give her a small smile.

“
Coffee it is.” I say as we walk over to the passenger side door before I open it up for her. I make sure she’s buckled in safe but as I’m about to close the door, her hand catches mine.

“Chase?”
she grabs me and pulls me to her, pressing her lips against mine.

Finally! I’ve
been wanting to kiss her for hours but haven’t been sure how she was feeling about us.

I’ve already
told myself that until I know she’s ready, if she ever will be again, that I’ll back off and give her some space. I let her control the kiss and relish her touch as she brushes her lips over mine, gently slipping her tongue into my mouth and running it over mine. She slowly ends the kiss before looking directly at me. “Thanks for coming to look for me,” she whispers as I move the hair from her face and give her a smile.

“I’ll always come looking for you, Sophie,” I whisper and
watch as a smile crosses over her lips. She gives me another quick kiss before releasing me from her hold.

***

Sophie

I wake up
to find my head resting on Chase’s lap. I have no idea how I got in here or how long I must have been. I feel a lot different than I thought I would, though.

A
large part of me is still angry about the way everything happened, but I’m surprised when I realize that none of the anger is at Chase anymore. I guess spending the night in a graveyard, crying over lost love, has put a few things in perspective for me.

I feel him stirring and know
that he’s awake. Watching him, I see him beginning to open his eyes. When he does, they zero right in on me.

He begins to
explain what brought him out here and how he found me. He does his usual Chase thing and takes care of me. I don’t talk a lot because I really don’t know what to say. I’m thankful when he doesn’t force me to say more than I’m comfortable with.

I
still can’t understand how he’s become so patient with me. I know I don’t deserve it from him but I appreciate it nonetheless. Truth be told, I’m still afraid. I remember the looks of pity I received after Jack had died. I never want to see that look over Chase’s face. I want him to love me, not pity me. I’m scared him knowing the truth about Jack will change things between us. Change things in a way that will destroy my heart.

We talk
for a few minutes, with Chase telling me how sorry he is. With his words, processing everything again in my mind combined with the ridiculous amount of rum I consumed only a few hours ago, I instantly feel my head beginning to spin out of control. I sit up as I try to ease the sensation, but the wave of nausea worsens.

“God I just feel horrible. I think I might be sick,” I tell him
, bolting from the truck. I barely make it to the back before I’m already heaving.

In no time, Chase is
beside me and holding my hair for me. I plead for him to go away and not watch but he refuses to leave my side. This action alone warms my heart, even if it humiliates me at the same time.

Once I’m
feeling a little better, Chase tries to ease the tension by making a few jokes. He hands me a toothbrush and some toothpaste from his work bag and so I clean up.

I need to wake up and get my body moving.

There’s simply too much that I need to get done today without me having another breakdown. I seriously need to get my shit together.

Chase offered to leave and although I know this trip will be comfortable for him, I’m selfish enough t
o admit that I don’t want him to leave me yet.

We
both decide to grab some coffee, and I’ll admit, this is my way of buying some time although I also know we need to talk.

As we walk back around to
the passenger side of the truck, I think about how he’d driven five hours to find me. He came looking for me even after everything that had happened.

He
’d found me crying over Jack in a graveyard, three sheets to the wind, tucked me into his truck with him, all so I wouldn’t have to sleep in the dirt. He just held my hair up as I threw up, before giving me his only toothbrush. If I’ve ever doubted my feelings for this man before, I know that I never will again.

I’d be
absolutely crazy to let this man slip through my fingers.

My whole body is
consumed with emotion as I climb into the truck. I can’t help myself as I push the door away from the frame, so as to stop him from closing it.

“Chase?” I sa
y. He pulls the door open wide again as he looks directly at me. His eyes are filling with uncertainty, but I know that I can wipe it away.

G
rabbing his face, I bring him closer to me and kiss him, putting everything I have and feel for him into it so I can reassure him that I still want him.

After a moment,
I notice his chest relaxing. I can feel the anxiety slowly drifting away and leaving him as he lets me take control. He places his hands down, so they’re resting on the seat on either side of my legs.

Slowly pulling
away, I whisper, “Thanks for coming to look for me.” He gently pushes the hair away from my face, the way he always does and after searching my eyes, he smiles at me.

“I’ll always come looking for you, Sophie,” he answers
. I believe him. I give him another chaste kiss on the lips before I let him close the door.   

***

As we arrive at Meg’s Diner, we sit ourselves down in a corner booth, stirring our coffee as a few people I know come over to say hello to us.

Chase
handed me a clean shirt and I cleaned up the best I could before we came in here and in the cab of his truck. At least I don’t look quite as bad as I did, but I know I don’t look good either.