#coreyfogel

'Airports are depressing,' You decided to myself as you sat at an airport cafe at nine in the morning, surrounded by only myself, the barista and some guy that walked in half an hour ago, looking just about as happy as anyone else here. You had decided that after sitting there for a good hour-and-a-half, since your parents insist on getting to the airport two hours before the plane even arrives in the state, and watching people. Watching people constantly bump into each other and then expecting the other person to apologize. Watching people scream at airline workers as if they're solely responsible for each and every airplane that goes through the airport. Watching thousands of people sitting alone, myself being one of them a majority of the time.

     You were well-aware that airports were depressing, and you were sure that the same could be said for everywhere else.

     You knew that I shouldn't have been there. You knew that the only thing that could come from it would be an argument with your brother, though it wasn't anything new. You knew that you should have just let my mother pick him up instead, and that you should have just given up on reconciliation a long time ago instead of going through security and finding a place to sit near his gate, just so he wouldn't have to walk for a long time. You knew that there was a high chance that he would never forgive you, but what could you say? You were an optimist. Or at least, you were trying to be.

     Your mother assured you that he'd forgive me. That it really wasn't that big of a deal, and that he was just being a 'ridiculous teenager.’ But she seemed to have forgotten that you were only two years older than him, and that maybe you were the one being the ridiculous teenager. Not to mention the fact that Sam isn't one to forgive and forget. Then again, it's pretty clear that no one in the family is.

     You glanced over to the boy that walked in half an hour ago. He seemed to be about seventeen or eighteen. His brown hair was a mess, and his olive skin tone made the dark circles under his eyes more obvious than he probably would've liked. Despite the fact that he was obviously exhausted, he kept his eyes trained on the glass in front of him that allowed us to see the rest of the airport. He was waiting for someone. After a moment of consideration, you decided that you would speak to him. You knew that it would probably be best to leave someone like that alone, especially considering the fact that he was tired and would probably snap on me or be rude, but he was a kid, and it seemed like he could use just a little bit of kindness right then.

    Taking my jacket off your lap and setting it down on the counter in front of you, you walked over to him and sat down on the stool next to him. "Hey, Mr. No-Name-Kid," You greeted. He glanced over at you, his expression unchanged. "Look, do you want something to eat or drink? Coffee? Cornbread? Uh..whatever else this menu has?"

     He was quiet for a few moments, as if he was thinking it over. "Yeah," He told you after a moment. "Thanks. Just please don't, like, kill me."

     "No promises," You joked, getting up to order the food. You ordered the first two things I found on the menu that sounded appetizing. It was coffee and a brownie, which was big enough so that you two could share it without arguing. You brought the two mugs back to the counter where he sat. He was still twiddling his thumbs, looking outside. This time, however, his eyes were trained on a girl in the gate next to the two of you. You set your mugs down and went back to grab the brownie before sitting down next to him. He glanced over once he heard the sound of the fork clattering against the counter, his eyes falling upon the food. "I hope you like chocolate."

     "I do," He assured you, taking hold of one of the forks. "Thank you."

     "No problem," You responded, taking a sip of the black coffee. "So who is she?"

     "Who?"

     "The girl," You stated, as if it had been obvious. When he sent me a confused look, you ganced at the girl that he had been staring at. "The one you've been staring at since I got back. The obvious reason that you're here at an airport at nine in the morning with no luggage, looking as if you haven't got any sleep."

     "Well, you're blunt. And honest. It's kind of refreshing," He chuckled. "Her name's Jasmine. She was my girlfriend of nine months or so. Things were good at first, but then work started to get in the way."

    He explained to you how they had a good relationship for a few months. How he would always make her laugh and how they would spend hours together on the phone, just talking about their days and pushing each other's buttons for the sake of making the other one laugh. He told you how he had slowly begun to fall in love with her, and how all he ever wanted to do was spend the rest of his life with her, no matter how it happened. And then he told you how things started getting rocky when he had to go back to work, which required him to work for twelve hours everyday for a week. How he would come home and get on the phone with her and every night, there always seemed to be a fight. That even on the weekends, one of them would lose their temper with the other and they wouldn't be able to talk for a few hours.

     Apparently, it'd always been a jealous relationship. She just hid it in the very beginning, because she was reassured that she wasn't going to lose him when he spent every hour of everyday with her. But things started to get worse, and eventually, she began asking him to stop interacting with certain people and guilt-tripping him to the point where it wouldn't technically be her fault. It would just be a choice he made, and it just so happened that she didn't seem to like that person. Things didn't get much easier when he had started spending more time with his friend Nicole, who Jasmine didn't seem to like from the very beginning. The more they argued and the more that he spent time around Nicole, the more he started to gain feelings for Nicole.

     Eventually Jasmine found out and spent three hours on the phone, screaming at him and trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to break up with him. He begged her not to, and they negotiated that if he couldn't prove that he still loved her, that he deserved her trust and that he wouldn't hurt her anymore within the next three months, she would leave him. He had a mental breakdown the next day trying to figure out how to do all three of those things, and his friends told him that he should break up with her, and that even though he was unfaithful, that didn't give her the right to scream at him. He knew that they were right, so he did, and now, here she was at an airport with her luggage, moving back to Colorado.

     You told him the story of what happened with you and your brother. How when you two were younger, he had been really close with his dad, and they did everything together. You told him about how one day, on your way to school, you turned the corner and found your father kissing another woman and pushing her against her car. You had told your brother, not knowing what to do, and he told you to stay quiet about it. That if you told anyone about it, your mom and dad would break up, and you would be the reason that they would split up. Not wanting to cause any problems in the family, you tried to stay quiet. You would come home every night and sit at the kitchen table, watching your mother bring you hot food that she had spent the entire day cooking just to make sure that your father had good food to eat after coming home from a stressful day at work.

     You couldn’t handle it. About two months later, you spilled the beans to your uncle. You told him about how you saw them by the gas station every morning on your way to school, kissing. He didn’t believe you at first and thought that you were seeing things, so he decided to walk you to school one day. When he caught sight of the affair, he took a picture and immediately rushed you home, telling your mother about what happened. She got angry with him and there was a huge fight, and she waited for him to apologize, but he didn’t care. He didn’t hesitate to leave right then and there, and Sammy volunteered to go with him, blaming you for being the reason that your parents left.

     The two of you continued to exchange stories about the people that hurt you in the past. You shed a few tears, and so did he. At one point, he had put his face in his hands. You had put a hand on his shoulder, doing your best to console him despite the fact that you could do nothing to help him.

     You asked, "She moved here to be with you?"

     "No," He shook his head. "She used to live with her dad and her brothers, here in California. She always wanted to live with her dad in Colorado, and now, I guess she's getting what she wants. You know, since her family takes pity on her now and claims that I cheated on her."

     "Did you?"

     "No! Nicole and I never did anything that friends wouldn't do until after Jasmine and I broke up. I may not be able to control my feelings, but I can control my body. I'm not a monster."

     "Hm," You mumbled, taking a sip of your coffee. There was just one thing that you couldn't grasp: why was he here? It was clear that this girl was terrible to him. Sure, she may love him, but she never really knew how to show it. She was short-tempered, unreasonable and downright abusive. This girl's done more bad to his life than good, and yet he was worried about her. He lost sleep for nights, ran to an airport and sat in an airport coffee shop in the hopes of just being able to see her one last time. "I don't get you. Your relationship is so obviously broken, and yet here you are, explaining your life story to a girl whose name you don't even know, watching a girl who doesn't even belong to you anymore."

     "I love her," He shrugged. "What do you want me to do?"

     You bit my lip, quiet for a moment. You couldn't help but think back to your brother. Think back to how, despite the fact that he screamed at you and shoved you and treated you terribly after everything that happened, you still refused to give up on him. You were still the one sitting in an airport for two hours, waiting for him to arrive so you could drive him home and cook him grilled cheese. You were still the one refusing to give up on him, despite the fact that he had given you so many reasons to do so. You looked at the clock and saw the time-- 9:26.

     "You have four minutes," You told him. His blue eyes flew to mine, confused. "You have four minutes until they're going to start boarding the flight to Colorado. She was terrible, and you don't deserve to be with someone who treats you like that; but at least I know the important of closure. I know that if you don't get your goodbye with her, if you don't go over there and tell her everything that you wanted to say but never did, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life, because you'll never get the chance to do so ever again."

     And with that, you grabbed your phone and walked back over to your previous spot. He slowly got up, as if he wasn't certain he was doing the right thing. Then he grabbed his things and ran over to Jasmine, stopping directly in front of her. He looked down, blabbering something. It was clear that he immediately regretted his decision, but he didn't stop talking until it was time for her to leave. They were both crying. It was clear that this was painful for the both of them, but you couldn’t say that you felt pity for her in the slightest. She didn't deserve it, no matter how much she claimed to love him and he claimed to love her.

     You eventually looked away, giving them their privacy. No one else seemed to want to, though, as a crowd was gathering around the both of them. You couldn’t help but be worried that you would never see him again. After spending such al long time telling each other life stories, you couldn’t help but hope that he would stay. It had been a long time since you had opened yourself up to someone like that, even if it was just for a little while and to a complete stranger. Lucky for you, your phone vibrated twice, making you lose your train of thought. You raised your eyebrows, confused, as you weren’t sure who would text you this early in the morning. You pulled out your phone, checking the message.

Text From: Corey Don't be upset. I kind of put my number in your phone while you weren't looking. I just knew that I wanted to see you again, and I knew that it'd be awkward to ask for your number post-crying. The name's Fogelmanis, by the way. Corey Fogelmanis.

     At any other point in time, you would’ve been angry that someone had gotten into your phone without permission. At that point in time though, you couldn’t help but be happy. You wiped the sticky tears from your cheeks, a smile coming to your face.