Memories

|6| • Friendship •

"Yeah, if you like it here?"

"I do," I told him with a small nod. "It's a really nice spot you picked here, I like it."

"It's really one of my favourite spots," he admitted with a small smile. "It's so peaceful.. You can watch a lot of birds around here actually."

"Birds?" I asked, slightly amused. "I didn't know you were an ornithologist. Interesting."

Brian chuckled a little and shook his head. "No, I'm not one of those men who sits in the wilderness for hours with binoculars and a notebook, don't worry. I just like watching the birds do their bird-business. It's very.. relaxing in a way."

Smiling, I unfolded the blanket as neatly as possible. "Yeah, I know what you mean," I told him. "Maybe if we're quiet enough after we eat we can see some birds. It's been too long since I've been in nature like this.."

"We can stay out here as long as you like. Really I haven't done nothing in such a long time. I think I could really use that."

"I think you could too," I told him with a small smile. "Just relaxing. I think you could use that."

Brian smiled a little and nodded, starting to unpack everything from the basket. "I think so too.. I just think I need someone to force me to do nothing. And.. I can't be alone because if I am I just can't keep my mind from wandering, you know? And that never ends well."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. On top of that it's always nicer not to be alone. You know what I really miss is someone I don't have to necessary talk to, someone I can just.. be with. You know? Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, yeah," Brian said with a smile and nodded. "That makes perfect sense, I know exactly what you mean. Like being quiet and birdwatching."

"Yes." I smiled and helped him distribute everything in a way that nothing would fall over. "Exactly like that. See, you just get me."

"Yeah.." He simply smiled.

We decided to start with the waffles so they wouldn't get too cold and stop tasting good. Brian decided to start with ice cream and I decided to start with whipped cream on my waffle.

"Before you start..." Brian picked up his fork and looked at me. "I just wanted to say - again - thank you for coming here.. I'm sorry for messing up so much because you don't deserve to be treated like that, and I really appreciate that you give me another chance. So much. You have no idea. Really.. you have no idea how much it means to me."

"Hey," I said quietly and placed my hand on his for a short moment to get his attention. "I'm still not happy about what you did. But ... I know that you had a reason, whatever that was. And I think you really need a friend right now, and if you want me to be that friend, then I will be there for you. You were my best friend, you know? It's not like I can just forget about that, it's not like I want that. I didn't want to stop talking to you, I was ... I was really sad about that, you know? I don't know what my point was to be honest." I chuckled a little and shook my head.

"You don't have to have a point, just tell me your thoughts," he assured me with a smile. "I like hearing what you have to say. We have so much to catch up on, I hope you know that." He smiled more. "But you can go on and tell me what you feel, what you think.."

"Alright, well I think I was trying to say that despite everything you still have a special spot in my heart somewhere. I just really hope that... that this whole wanting to talk to me isn't just a phase, if that makes sense. I don't know how to put this.." Well, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but I didn't want to be that honest with Brian just yet. I hoped that he wasn't just coming to me because he was lonely and I didn't want that as soon as he wasn't lonely anymore he'd just stop talking to me again.