the framework's laid

Darius didn’t want to confess that, while she may have recognized him, he did not recognize her. Her story was very feasible, he attended church every week with his grandparents; it was one of the conditions of staying with them. At first, Darius begrudged going to church–he had no connection to religion, and he wasn’t interested in starting. But as the years went by, he began to not only tolerate, but look forward to church every week, and his beliefs in religion strengthened. However, there were still many people he didn’t know at church, and he wouldn’t have been able to tell her apart from the dozens of other girls that attended with their grandmothers. But he didn’t want to offend her, so he nodded in realization. He smiled at her, “Yeah, it is.” He laughed a little, “All good things, I hope?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye. “I wouldn’t trust every word that woman tells you,” he playfully joked. “And your name is….?”

Ellie nodded and got him what he’d asked for, wrapping the cones up as well so they wouldn’t break so easily. “Alright… Your total comes to $4.75 all together,” she said with a nod, brushing a little of her hair back as she did. As she looked up at him, she could tell he didn’t recognize her, which only furthered her embarrassment. Why did she have to open her mouth? 

“Yeah, good things… She seems like she’s proud of you.” The girl looked back up from the register, smiling softly as she struggled to form coherent words now. “Ellie Busch,” she told him. The bell above the door chimed and she couldn’t help but smile as one of the others walked in, meaning she was off of her shift for the day. She pulled off her apron and hung it up, along with her name tag, before hopping over the counter. “I hate to run out, but my shift just ended, so I should probably head home…”

Darius blinked at the message Ellie conveyed from his grandmother. Pride wasn’t something he was used to hearing, especially from her. She was a hardened woman who rarely complimented at all. At the same time, it didn’t throw him so much for a loop, for it wasn’t out of character that she would talk about him that way to others–he was just surprised. 

Darius watched as Ellie took off her apron and fought back the instinct to ask if he could walk her home. That would be far too forward, and come off most probably as overbearing and overdoing it. “And I have ice cream that I need to make sure doesn’t melt,” he added, to himself as much as to her. He looked her over once then smiled softly, “But I hope to see you around, Ellie Busch.” And in a small town like this, the chances for his hopes coming true were high.

She sighed and pressed her two fingers against her closed eyes. “Sit,” she invited, but it came more as a command. She went to the kitchen area and grabbed a cup and poured water from the tap adding ice cubes. She went back over to him and held it out to him. “Here, you should drink something,” she sighed a little. “I…” She scratched the hair against her head. “I just have a lot of studying…I…” She pulled over a chair and sat opposite him. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. “I…I can’t just drop everything…I…You came with no notice, no…” she huffed. “I didn’t mean to….” she let out a slight groan of irritation at her inability to form full-length sentences as she pulled her legs up on the chair wrapping her arms around them. 

Brandon was completely silent as he looked down at her, unsure of what to say or do. He felt like he done something wrong by coming here. He didn’t want to hurt her in any way. He just thought… Well, he just thought that since they were in love once, they could be in love again. That could also just being Brandon trying to give the situation some hope.

Sitting down, he took the cup from her with a quiet thank you. “I know… I know, Ari. I… I don’t want you to drop everything okay? And if… And if you’ve moved on from me, or it’s too much right now, I completely understand. I’m not asking anything of you. It would be selfish if I did.” Brandon took a deep breath, setting his cup down. “I’m not upset with you. I would be crazy to think you were gonna open up the door and everything would be back to the way it was.”

She sighed deeply and scratched her forehead. She couldn’t think about this now. She was busy, she had a life. She couldn’t screw up her future just because her ex-boyfriend showed up on her doorstep. Like she thought before, she was not that kind of girl, and she refused to turn into one. And she knew, that Brandon knew her to be one. If they were to make this work, if they were going to try, she couldn’t sacrifice who she was–he wouldn’t want who she isn’t. “How about this,” she offered, matter-of-factly, as if he were proposing a business meeting instead of a date to salvage a past relationship. “Tomorrow’s my last final, which makes tomorrow night free. Can we meet up and deal with this then?”

It had been three years since August had been in remission. He never thought it would be possible. There was a point where he was almost a goner, with no hope of surviving. But here he was: a cancer survivor. Jack and him had been closer than ever. They had moved in together and the two had been inseparable. They were living as a real married couple, in their own apartment complex. They still lived in close vicinity to his mother, who August could never dream to part from. His mother even had been dating someone for the past six months, and things were starting to get serious between them. August couldn’t have been happier for her. He couldn’t have been happier in general. Everything was okay; everything was wonderful. 

Lately, however, August had been feeling more tired than usual. He tried to ignore it, knowing that he would need to suck it up and go to work. August was only in his second year of college, it had taken him time to catch up on his GED from what he had missed when he was sick. However, he had a job at Starbucks and he was studying to be an industrial psychologist. This past week he had pushed himself to keep going, but today he found himself feeling far too under the weather and tired to go in. He remembered that Jack and him had a special date night scheduled and he felt awful that he would have to reschedule. He stayed in bed all day, sleeping. 

Jack felt like he was living a dream. He was with a man he was completely head over heels in love with, and things had never been better. He wore his ring proudly every day, telling anyone and everyone about the light of his life whenever they asked about it. Some people thought it was crazy of him to get married so young, but Jack thought the opposite. It would’ve been crazy not to have committed to August. He was perfect in Jack’s eyes.

Over the past three years, Jack had been working on getting a degree in secondary education. Despite it being his second language, Jack had a clear passion for English so that is what he had decided to minor in, along with his native tongue. While being a full time student, he also had a part time job as a waiter at a local restaurant so that he could help pay bills. That was exactly where he was coming from when he opened up the door to their home. He hadn’t expected August to be there so he went into their bedroom and began to change, before noticing the lump on the bed. “Babe...?” Jack went over to their bed and sat at the edge of it, pushing his husband’s hair back. “What’s wrong?”

She sighed and pressed her two fingers against her closed eyes. “Sit,” she invited, but it came more as a command. She went to the kitchen area and grabbed a cup and poured water from the tap adding ice cubes. She went back over to him and held it out to him. “Here, you should drink something,” she sighed a little. “I…” She scratched the hair against her head. “I just have a lot of studying…I…” She pulled over a chair and sat opposite him. She ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. “I…I can’t just drop everything…I…You came with no notice, no…” she huffed. “I didn’t mean to….” she let out a slight groan of irritation at her inability to form full-length sentences as she pulled her legs up on the chair wrapping her arms around them. 

Brandon was completely silent as he looked down at her, unsure of what to say or do. He felt like he done something wrong by coming here. He didn’t want to hurt her in any way. He just thought... Well, he just thought that since they were in love once, they could be in love again. That could also just being Brandon trying to give the situation some hope.

Sitting down, he took the cup from her with a quiet thank you. “I know... I know, Ari. I... I don’t want you to drop everything okay? And if... And if you’ve moved on from me, or it’s too much right now, I completely understand. I’m not asking anything of you. It would be selfish if I did.” Brandon took a deep breath, setting his cup down. “I’m not upset with you. I would be crazy to think you were gonna open up the door and everything would be back to the way it was.”

Darius didn’t want to confess that, while she may have recognized him, he did not recognize her. Her story was very feasible, he attended church every week with his grandparents; it was one of the conditions of staying with them. At first, Darius begrudged going to church–he had no connection to religion, and he wasn’t interested in starting. But as the years went by, he began to not only tolerate, but look forward to church every week, and his beliefs in religion strengthened. However, there were still many people he didn’t know at church, and he wouldn’t have been able to tell her apart from the dozens of other girls that attended with their grandmothers. But he didn’t want to offend her, so he nodded in realization. He smiled at her, “Yeah, it is.” He laughed a little, “All good things, I hope?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye. “I wouldn’t trust every word that woman tells you,” he playfully joked. “And your name is….?”

Ellie nodded and got him what he’d asked for, wrapping the cones up as well so they wouldn’t break so easily. “Alright... Your total comes to $4.75 all together,” she said with a nod, brushing a little of her hair back as she did. As she looked up at him, she could tell he didn’t recognize her, which only furthered her embarrassment. Why did she have to open her mouth? 

“Yeah, good things... She seems like she’s proud of you.” The girl looked back up from the register, smiling softly as she struggled to form coherent words now. “Ellie Busch,” she told him. The bell above the door chimed and she couldn’t help but smile as one of the others walked in, meaning she was off of her shift for the day. She pulled off her apron and hung it up, along with her name tag, before hopping over the counter. “I hate to run out, but my shift just ended, so I should probably head home...”

“Please don’t leave,” her voice was quiet; a childish whimper. She looked up at her with tear-brimmed eyes, searching for the kindness and serenity that she always remembered she’d seen in his. “Please. I’m scared and I’m stressed and I’m confused and I don’t know what to do about you or this, but…please. Just please don’t go. Please don’t leave.”

Brandon felt like an idiot. A failure. He had waited too long and now it seemed he had lost the only girl who had ever really cared for him and his well-being. Sure, plenty of girls had expressed interest in him since he’d been away, but none of them were Ari. None of them were as intelligent, kind, determined, or as beautiful in his eyes. That didn’t seem to matter anymore, however. 

Until she grabbed his arm. His heart fluttered in his chest at her touch, his eyes widening a little as he looked down at her. Did this mean she felt something still? That she just didn’t know how to respond right away? Her words made him even more scared, however? What did that even mean? He knew he couldn’t leave her like this, however, and he wouldn’t, so he nodded quietly and shuffled into her dorm.

Darius smiled at her. When she leaned against the counter, she accentuated her body in a way that Darius found very attractive. …Not that he was looking or anything. “I guess it’s the East Coast blood still in me.” He looked at her, trying to figure out if he’s seen her around either. “I don’t know…I’m awful at these kinds of things. I forget people I’ve met, I forget names, I’m really bad.” He thought about it for a few more moments. “I don’t get out much though.”

“You can just have them for free if you’d like, since it’s Mother’s Day and all. My boss is a pretty nice guy so I’m sure he won’t mind when I tell him later.” She got a few cones and placed them in the bag before walking over to the freezer. “So... We have pints? Which are $3.75 each... Or you can just do a whole quart for $8,” she told him, holding up both of the containers. “But I guess it just depends on how much she likes ice cream.” She smiled, letting out a laugh. “For example, my mom is crazy about peanut butter chocolate ice cream so I’m making sure to buy her a whole quart that’ll just be for her.”

As he continued to speak, the connection finally sunk in for her. “Church... I’ve seen you at church! With your grandmother... She’s friends with my grandma and great grandma. I dunno if you know them or not...” She felt color rise to her cheeks as she rambled, quickly shaking her head as she tried to keep herself from talking to much. “But, ah, anyway... I knew I’d seen you somewhere before. It’s Darius, isn’t it? Your grandma is always talking about you...”