Page 120 of Only You
His best friend looked at him sceptically for a moment. ‘You sure?’ ‘Yeah.’ He leaned back against the bench, relaxing his shoulders.
Jair’s brows furrowed but he kept a straight face. Was it messed up to gaslight his friend? Absolutely. But at this point it was almost instinctive. Only his parents knew the full extent of his condition, and he was determined to keep it that way.
‘You sure you’ll be good for the studio this weekend?’ Jair asked. ‘I can drag Tim there.’
‘Nah, I’m good. I’ll be fine. It’s just a routine thing,’ Jones reassured him.
Besides, I can’t afford to miss it.
‘All right, man, don’t scare me like that,’ Jair said, laughing awkwardly.
‘Gotta keep you on your toes, man.’ He grinned and Jair rolled his eyes but chuckled anyway, checking his phone.
‘Listen, I gotta head out, but I’ll catch you later. Let me know how it goes at the doctor’s.’ They dapped again, and his friend jumped off the bench. ‘And remind me to send you the info for the Ty Rivers project!’
‘I will,’ Jones called. Only when Jair was gone did he pull out his phone to set an alarm. He tried to ignore the number of reminders that cluttered his calendar; it was an eyesore.
A sense of dread filled him as he tucked his phone away, and he considered cancelling the appointment. He already knew the outcome. His body was no good, and it wasn’t getting better.
Clasping his hands together, he rested his chin on them, his elbows digging into his legs. He didn’t know how long he could keep doing this.
You need a plan!He bit the inside of his cheek as his mum’s worried voice cut through all the noise in his head.You keep running around like this, you’re going to drop dead.
‘I’m fine,’ he muttered, leaning his head against the back of the bench, and tilting his head towards the sky. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. The smell of grass and leaves was glorious after the humid summer. Trees rustled with the wind and the birds chirped as they flew off for winter. It was a beautiful symphony. He didn’t need to linger on the thought of not being able to enjoy it one day. He was here now, he’d likely still be there tomorrow, and that’s all that mattered. There was nothing else to worry about.
A camera shutter went off, and someone frantically cursed under their breath. He peeked, and smiled, sitting up as Dani sheepishly made her way over to him.
‘I can’t remember the last time a camera shutter got someone in trouble outside of a TV show,’ he said as she sat next to him.
‘I didn’t tell you? I, uh, got a new phone.’ She looked at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze directly.
He eyed the little nicks along the phone’s case and smirked. ‘So, you wanted me to be one of the first pictures on your “new” phone?’
‘No!’ She clamped her mouth shut, and he couldn’t help but laugh at the denial. Huffing, she hid her phone under her arm, still not looking at him. ‘The phone isn’tthatnew,’ she explained.
‘M-hm.’ He leaned back, leisurely resting his arm along the back of the bench. Dani eyed it but didn’t move from under it. He figured that was a good enough sign. At least, he hoped so. ‘You know you have to show me the pic, right?’
She blanched before scooting away. ‘It’s not that big of a deal.’
‘Hey, if you’re going to have a picture of me that can circulate at any moment, I need to at least authorise it.’
She grimaced but reluctantly unlocked her phone, handing it over. ‘It’s not a bad picture.’
He took it, head tilting curiously as he looked at the photo. She was right. It wasn’t bad at all. It wasn’t goofy like the pictures his friends had of him or serious like the few pictures his dad could convince him to take. He looked… relaxed. It had been a long time since he’d seen himself like that.
‘It’s not,’ he agreed, handing her back the phone. ‘I guess I can allow you to keep it.’
She raised her eyebrows at him and inched closer. ‘Allow me?’
He nodded despite her intense gaze. ‘Yeah. It’ll keep you from missing me so much.’ Her eyes widened, and the faintest traces of blush appeared on her cheeks.
‘I— It’s not—’
‘Relax.’ He smiled, raising his hands up in surrender. ‘I’m done teasing.’ Dani scowled and leaned against the bench, her shoulders brushing his arm. He ignored the electricity that skittered across his skin. ‘How’s… everything?’ he asked. ‘Anything new?’
A shadow fell over her face. ‘Other than watching Demir and Selene lose their lives just as they were getting started? The memories were straightforward this time,’ she said, looking down at her lap. ‘We’re kind of bad at picking each other, huh?’
Jones chewed on the inside of his cheek; this time there was no laughter. Instead, he felt an age-old hollowness fill his chest. So many years spent alone, so many days waiting for her, so little time to savour what they had.
