Page 2 of A Love Unfaltering

Even his voice sounded different now that I thought about it. He didn’t sound arrogant or proud like I was used to; instead, he spoke softly and politely, which was a dramatic shift from the sarcastic and rude conversations I was used to having with him.

“I… Well, everything’s been alright. University is done in just a few weeks, and then I’m finally finished with this degree. Maybe I’ll find a bit of work with it if I’m lucky,” I said, chuckling a bit and eventually sitting down in the booth across from him.

It was good to catch up with him.

“Other than that, not much has changed since you left. I’ve been working, doing school, and generally just trying not to be swamped with studying.”

An English degree wasn’t all that much work compared to other things, but it was still difficult to manage both work and school.

“I’ll get a whiskey burger with fries, please,” he eventually said, closing the menu and handing it back to me. I nodded and wrote it down in my notebook, put the menu back in the holder at the front, and then put the ticket in the window for the cook.

Byron, the 33-year-old line cook who didn’t talk much, seemed just as baffled as I was to be getting business. I shrugged, and then he nodded and got to work preparing the food.

“I bet you’re excited to get out of this place, at least,” Jared said, and I turned back to face him and leaned against the bar.

“Put in my notice a few weeks back. I’m leaving the day before graduation,” I said, grinning and nodding. I was fine with working at the Capital Diner, but it wasn’t my dream job. I was excited to get out and start doing things I enjoyed.

“Have you still been writing?” he asked, gesturing to the booth in front of him. I sat down again and was interested to hear him talk about my writing like it was a positive thing.

Jared wasn’t a reader. He didn’t understand my love of English, which extended to making jokes about my work.

“I… Yeah. Just on the side, I don’t have much time these days,” I said, meeting his eyes and searching them for any sort of budding joke or criticism.

There… Wasn’t any.

He seemed like a completely different man. Had his time away from home changed himthismuch?

“That’s good. I… Well, I’ve been reading a bit more recently, and I read some of your stuff. I’m sorry for being an ass about it in the past. I should’ve put in more effort to encourage you. I know you work hard on it.”

Alright, now I was utterly floored.

“I… Yeah, it’s fine, man. Are you sure you’re alright? You’re acting… Well, not to be rude, but you’re actingpolite,” I said, laughing a bit and watching his face.

He laughed as well, but it was good-natured. “Yeah, I’ve been working on myself a bit. I know I haven’t exactly been the best friend to you, and I want to be a bit better in that regard. If anything’s weird, I’ll stop,” he said, which left me a bit stunned.

“I… No, you’re all good. That’s good of you to work on yourself.” I said, not having much else to say. It was like he’d really taken all of my complaints to heart and was actively working on himself. It was what I’d been asking him to do for years.

Him not doing that was probably one of the key reasons we’d drifted apart, but now…

He had all the memories of our past but was the kind of person I would hang out with.

“It really is nice to see you again. I’ve missed our stupid conversations,” he said, laughing as the cook’s bell rung out. I got up to fetch his food for him and brought it back to the table, where he took it happily.

“I’ve missed you, too,” I replied while he took his first bite of the burger. I watched him for a couple of seconds, perplexed that the only man I’d ever felt anything for was now actively working on fixing all of the reasons I’d never considered a relationship with him.

Even now, I remembered all the small crushes through middle and high school that had faded because of how I saw him treating other people.

This might be a bit dangerous if he turned out to be a reformed man. The thought of it made me chuckle a bit, and he looked up to meet my eyes with delight in his own.

I felt butterflies in my stomach, but I quelled them with annoyance. I couldn’talreadybe falling back in love with him. That would just be ridiculous.

“I’m glad you’ve been doing well,” I said after a moment. “I know that things must be tough with what’s going on. It’s good of you to be there for your father.”

Jared nodded, polishing off his burger before picking up a few fries with a sigh.

“It’s hard seeing him like that. But at least I know he’s happy that I’m there, and that’s all I can do for him now. Stage four cancer isn’t something that can be helped all that much, so we’re just doing as much as we can to keep him comfortable now.”

It was a horrible situation. Jared had been close with his father for as long as I could remember, and I still remembered the haunting call I got from him one night in February when he cried to me about how his father was dying.

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