Chapter 13
“Aaron?” I whispered his name, not really believing that he was standing right there, just a few feet away from me.
“Who is he?” Both Jeremy and Aaron asked at the same time.
I took my eyes away from Aaron for just a moment to turn and look at Jeremy. Just like Aaron, Jeremy had a frown on his face.
I had stepped away from him, but he’d closed the distance between us when I did. He did keep his hands on his sides though.
“Annabel, why were you out so late? Not that we’re not happy to see you Jeremy, but Annabel was supposed to be back hours ago. We’ve been looking for you,” my dad said with a reproachful tone.
“Silvia said you left her house a while back,” my mom added.
She was also looking at me disapprovingly.
Aaron stayed quiet but he was scowling at Jeremy.
“Sandra, Roger- it’s good to see you two,” Jeremy said to my parents.
He put his hand on the small of my back to get me to walk closer. When Jeremy touched my back, Aaron’s eyes drifted to the small movement.
“Who is he?” Aaron asked before my parents could get back to Jeremy.
“Right, sorry,” I said, shaking my head.
I should’ve gone to Aaron, but I felt shocked that he was here in the first place. I wasn’t expecting him until tomorrow and I didn’t know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that he was here.
I had been planning to visit Matt’s grave.
“Aaron, this is Jeremy,” I introduced the two.
It almost seemed like they were weighing each other out. Although they each gave a short nod, neither of them made any attempts to say anything.
I closed the distance between Aaron and me, pressing myself to his side. He didn’t respond though. His narrowed eyes were fixed on Jeremy, who was shaking hands with my parents.
“After Annabel went to see Silvia, she came over to my house. We were hanging out all day, time just flew by,” Jeremy told my parents with a casual shrug.
When Jeremy said that, Aaron’s accusing eyes landed on me.
“Oh,” my mom said very quietly.
I was barely able to hear her.
My dad’s expression turned solemn after that as well. I knew they both thought I had been hung up on Matt all day- which wasn’t entirely the case.
My day with Jeremy had cleared so many things up. I felt like if something heavy had been lifted from my shoulders.
Things weren’t perfect, but they were a lot better than they had been before I spoke to Jeremy.
“Thank you, Jeremy,” I told him, when he came back to stand in front of me.
He smiled- that sad smile a lot of people gave me. It didn’t bother me when it came from Jeremy though, at least not now.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Aaron and Jeremy kept trying to stare each other down.
“Weren’t we leaving tomorrow?” Aaron asked.
