Hello again readers! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long, life has been very... Crazy to say the least... I've been on social media, and such but I never got the chance to really sit down and write. This story is unedited, since I didn't want to bother my editor after months of silence from my end.
This was supposed to be the final part of the story, but I've decided to change things.
Enjoy!
*****
I ended up going back home to try, and see what I could do to sooth my skin. Gina was somehow still there when I walked through the front door.
"For Christ's sake! Don't you have to go to work?!" I didn't hide the bitterness from my voice as I made my way to the freezer. She noticed me in pain, but didn't approach right away.
"I have the day off... what happened to you?" She asked. "Abby's fucking protector, that's what!"
I opened the freezer door, and as soon as the cold air touched my skin, a sigh escaped me.
"Her father?" She asked curiously. "No... Her room mate." I replied.
Before she could laugh at me, I turned to her, and her face changed seeing how red my skin was. "What did she hit you with?!" She asked surprised. "She didn't hit me, she attacked me with boiling hot coffee... does it look bad?" I replied, concerned.
"Oh sweetie! Come, come, I know something that should help," She took my arm, and led me to the couch in the living room near the front entrance.
"Hold on for a second." She rushed off upstairs, and into the bathroom connected to their bedroom.
I could see my reflection slightly through the living room window... I couldn't see all of the details, but it looked like it was just very red. Luckily there were no blisters as far as I could see.
With one last look, I figured the damage probably wouldn't be significant...
Gina got really nervous over it... I wonder if I just can't see it all, I thought.
She came down with a soft looking white sponge, and a napkin that had some kind of blue cream on it.
"I don't think it'll be too bad," I commented.
"No... but it you try to freeze the skin right away, it can blister up faster," She replied.
I didn't remember hearing that anywhere, but shrugged and let her take care of me.
As she got the sponge ready I slowly started calming down, and realized that she wasn't acting slutty, or suggestive. Her constant changes in behavior were starting to give me a headache.
"You're acting normal for once," I noted.
She gave me a dark look before lightly dabbing the sponge on my face.
"I'm still supposed to be your mom," She replied. I rolled my eyes at her. "That and I do actually care you know," She added.
I shook my head. "You're weird,"
She sighed. "You were the first one to make a move!"
I gaped at her not believing she had said that.
"I was not! Did I check you out? Yes. Did I find you attractive? Yes... but I never touched you until you started encouraging it. I tried to avoid you, and you were the one to tease and push me, not the other way around!" I stated angrily.
She didn't say anything as she pressed her lips together in frustration, but she knew I was right.
I sighed laying my head back thinking that the day couldn't get worse. "God I don't know what the fuck I'm doing,"
She continued to ignore me for a moment, and kept lightly dabbing my face. The smell of mint filled my nose very suddenly, but my face didn't seem to sting as bad as she smeared more of the blue stuff on my cheek.
"Is that toothpaste?" I asked giving her a look. "Yeah..." She tried to ignore the expression on my face while continuing her work.
I stared at her, with the new found knowledge that she was rubbing toothpaste all over my face.
"What? It helps with minor burns!" She explained sounding embarrassed.
"Not as much as you think... milk helps it more." I replied. She froze and stopped what she was doing. "Oh... I can go get-"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." I waved her off.
She sat back in her chair and studied me, looking like she was figuring out what to say... For a moment, looking at her thinking, she reminded me of a chameleon...It must have been just me attempting to overthink the situation.
"I'm gonna head out for a bit," I got up and gently wiped some of the toothpaste off of my face. She got up, and faced me, readying herself to say something.
"Um... Your father wants help with moving his office... I would do it myself but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind lending me a hand?" She looked at me with a hopeful expression. From the sounds of it, if she needed to ask me, then she probably couldn't do it at all on her own.
Of course she wouldn't be able to ask my father either...Reluctantly I trusted her, and opened myself up to the idea of helping her.
"Yeah I'll help you out with it tomorrow morning, that work?" I made my way towards the door, wanting to clear my head, and get some space from her. She seemed to be playing nice today, but I never seemed to know when she was going to do a one-eighty on me.
"Yes, thank you David." She smiled at me.
I nodded back before I made my outside to start walking. As I walked I pulled out my phone to text Abby.
****
The air wasn't too cold as I sat on the side of the road, facing the unused baseball diamond. It was cold enough to make me shiver just slightly while waiting for Abby to show up. It took me awhile to get there by foot, but I figured I'd get there either right as or right before she'd come... but I'd been waiting for about a half hour.
The minor cold felt worse than when I had arrived, and I was regretting not getting a jacket before I left home.
Finally I heard her car pull up behind me, and when I turned to see her, she didn't immediately look back at me.
I wondered if she knew what happened with Cynthia at the cafe.
She sat down next to me, not greeting me yet, but staring out into the field with me. I knew I'd need to say something. I wanted to say what was truly on my mind, but I also didn't want to hurt her.
After thinking for just a bit longer I decided that it might be best to just tell her what was really going through my head. I knew that she wouldn't necessarily be happy to hear it but if I could explain it a little more, maybe she'd listen.
"You do believe me when I say I love you right?" I asked.
She nodded, but still had a look on her face that I couldn't read... I figured her nodding meant that I could continue speaking.
"I was... Really drunk last night... I woke up with a crazy hangover, and everything. I hope-..." I took a moment to figure out the words that needed to come out.
"I don't want to hurt your feelings but... It was a mistake... I shouldn't have done it... and I need you to believe me when I say, it's because you mean far too much to me," I wasn't sure what else to say in the moment, so I waited for her.
As I watched her she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in. She didn't seem upset to me, so I took it as a good sign.
"I believe you." She stated gently.
