Chapter 13

Last one before I leave. I was a writing fiend this week! Hopefully I'll get a chance to write a bit this next week so I'll have something to put up when I get back. Enjoy!





In the middle of August I got a call from Thomas. He told me he was back from Austria and was settling back into his house in Buffalo. He wanted to know if I could fly up for the weekend. I was happy to hear from him, but it just didn’t feel quite the same as it did before the summer. I told him I would and like before he sent me the itinerary.

A week had gone by since the last time I had talked to Sidney. I’d called him on his birthday and he told me that he’d be back in Pittsburgh at the end of the month. He’d be back the week after I returned from Buffalo. I was excited and nervous to see him. The conflicting feelings were both products of the same thing. Since being in Cole Harbour I hadn’t been able to deny that I had some sort of feelings for Sidney. What exactly they were though, I wasn't sure.

When the weekend came I got on the plane to Buffalo and Thomas picked me up like he did every time before. He kissed me in greeting and took me back to his house. We were barely through the front door when he put his arms around me and began to kiss me.

“Hey, wait a second,” I said pushing him away. “Tell me about your summer.”

“I can tell you about that later. I missed you,” he replied kissing me again.

“Thomas, come on. I’m here all weekend.” I sat down on the couch and with a sigh he sat down next to me. “How was Austria?”

“Austria was fine.” I waited for more but nothing else came.

“How were your parents?” I asked probing him for information.

“Like they always are, I guess.” What the hell was wrong with him? Why wouldn’t he talk to me about Austria?

“Well, what did you do?”

“I don’t know. I hung out with my family and some friends.”

“What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you tell me about what you did this summer?” I asked him suspiciously.

“I didn’t do anything worth talking about. I went home and hung out. That was it.” He leaned over and pulled me to him. He kissed me again and I gave in. I just figured we could talk later. As he carried me into the bedroom it occurred to me that he hadn’t asked me about my summer.

After we’d had dinner we were hanging out on the couch in the living room. He’d been more talkative but he still wouldn’t talk much about Austria. Maybe he really didn’t do much while he was there that was worth talking about, I thought. Then his phone rang.

“It’s right next to you. Will you hand it to me?” he asked me. I turned and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. The caller ID was on the outside and I saw the name “Ashley” as I was passing it to him. Why was she calling him now? He got up and walked into the bathroom shutting the door behind him. What was that about? Not feeling great about the situation I got up and stood outside the door.

“Hello? I’m just at my house, why? I know that. Look, I’m pretty busy unpacking right now, can I just call you tomorrow after I’m off the ice? I miss you too. I can’t wait to see you next week either. I love you too. Bye, babe.” Tears fell down my cheeks as I felt like he’d just ripped my heart out. I was a grade A idiot. He opened the door and saw me standing there.

“I thought you said you ended things with her,” I said to him.

“Lee-lee, I’m sorry. We decided to get back together,” he responded.

“You never went to Austria!” I yelled suddenly realizing that he’d been lying to me all along. “You went back to Minnesota and spent the summer with her. You never left her, did you?” I accused. I thought back to all the short phone calls, female voices in the background, and short notice trips. I walked into the bedroom began to grab my stuff and throw it in my bag.

“Lee-lee, wait.”

“Don’t ever call me that again,” I spat at him. When I had every thing in the bag I ran out of the bedroom and put on my shoes.

“Loralei, hold on. Your flight home isn’t until Sunday. Don’t go,” he pleaded.

“I’ll find the earliest one back and I’ll stay at a hotel until I get one.” He tried to beg me to stay but I ignored him and walked out the door. What a fool I’d been. I sat down outside and called a cab. Thomas didn’t come outside and try to talk to me again. I should have known. How did I not know?

The cab came and brought me to a hotel next to the airport. I called the airline after I checked in and got myself on a plane early the next morning. I spent the rest of the night crying. I couldn’t sleep well and got on the plane the next morning depressed and exhausted.

I was angry more with myself than with Thomas. He’d already done this to me once and I don’t know why I thought it would be different this time. It should have been a warning sign when even after he told me he’d ended things with Ashley that he still didn’t want anyone to know we were together. How could I have been so stupid? When I got off the plane I got in my car and drove straight to Sheila’s house. She looked shock when she saw me standing there with tears in my eyes.

“Rory, what are you doing here? I thought you were helping your parents move back to New Jersey. What’s wrong?” she asked letting me inside. I collapsed on the couch as she brought some tissues over.

“I was so stupid. Sheila, I’m the worst human being alive,” I sobbed.

“Honey, what are you talking about?” Without holding anything back I told her about when Thomas first called me. I told her about how I’d been stupid enough to believe everything he’d told me and about all the lies I’d told her, Phoebe, Reagan, my family, and work. When I was done she put her arms around me until I stopped crying.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I lied to you guys.”

“Ror, don’t apologize. You thought he’d changed and he was your first love. I know what that’s like. You don’t need me to be upset at you. What he did to you was punishment enough. I just hope that you learned from this.”

“I’ve got to tell Phoebe and Reagan and apologize to them.”

“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll take care of it. I don’t think they’re going to be any angrier at you than I am.” I hugged her.

“Thank you,” I said to her.

“Hey, I guess I get now why you kept denying you were dating Sidney.” I laughed at her then and suddenly felt better knowing that I’d be seeing him soon. Just thinking about him put a smile on my face. It wasn’t until later that I realized I’d never told Sheila that she was wrong when she had said that Thomas was the one thing keeping me from dating Sidney. I should have argued with her and told her it was because I didn’t think of Sidney like that, but I hadn't.

A few days later I was sitting on the couch watching TV when the doorbell rang. I smiled before I even answered the door. I knew exactly who would be standing there and I couldn’t wait to see him. I pulled open the door to see Sidney standing there smiling just like he always did. Before he had a chance to say anything I threw my arms around him and hugged him.

“Well, hello to you too,” he said laughing. I laughed too and invited him in.

“How was your trip?” I asked him.

“It was good. Non-eventful, thankfully, like any trip should be.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room.

“Sit, I have something for you,” I commanded. He gave me an odd look.

“What are you talking about?” I left the room without responding. I grabbed the wrapped present and brought it in to him.

“Happy belated birthday!” He laughed.

“This is enormous,” he said.

“There’s more than one thing in there,” I explained. He opened the box to find there were more boxes. “I didn’t want to wrap them separately so I just stuck them in one box and wrapped that.” He shook his head laughing at me.

He opened the first box to reveal gold and black M&M’s. He looked at me with a strange look until I told him to read them. When he did he began to laugh. They said “Finally legal!” on them. The next box he opened contained a bottle of champagne and I told him that we’d crack it open when he was done opening the rest to celebrate that he was finally legal for everything in the United States. He rolled his eyes at me but laughed anyway knowing it was the last time I’d be able to use that joke against him. The last box was the biggest and he looked confused as he opened it. He narrowed his eyes at me and started to laugh. It was a Cooking for Dummies book.

“Sorry, I give joke gifts,” I told him. “Even so, this is your bible if you want me to teach you how to cook, got it?”

“Got it. Thank you,” he said reaching over to give me a hug.

“You’re welcome. How about some champagne?” I got up and grabbed a couple of glasses and opened the champagne. I made sure that I opened it in the direction of Sidney, much to his dismay. “Oops, sorry,” I said sarcastically as I laughed at his wet clothes.

“I will be getting you back for that one,” he told me. I poured the champagne and we clinked glasses before settling in to catch up.