If I fall for you

Would you fall too?

Chapter 14 ~ Fall

     Scar Patterson

I was positive that the burnt cookies would be completely un-edible, but I'd be damned if I let them go to waste. Grabbing the tray of cookies and the two glasses of milk, I started to make my way towards Jamie. In a blink of an eye, he charged towards me and tackled me to the floor, spilling both the milk glasses and the cookies all over the both of us.

"Dude!" I snapped at him. "What the hell?"

Jamie's lips stretched into a grin. "You're alive! I thought you were dead, oh my god ... This is so weird! Like who would've thought that we would actually meet again. It's so insane. I have no idea why I didn't notice before I mean, your eyes..."

I placed my hands on his chest and shoved him away from me. "What are you talking about?"

He plopped down on the floor beside me. "When your dad got into that car crash, I was there. I helped you out of the car."

I stared back at him, unblinking. Before I hit my head, I recovered the memory of a little boy saving me that day, and he did look an awful lot like Jamie. But I didn't really think it would be him. What were the chances of that happening?

I ran a lazy hand through my hair and gazed at him. "You left me there," I spat. "You said you were coming back for me. You didn't." I could feel my throat getting dry from every word I spoke as I tried to fight the tears forming in my eyes. "My dad would be still be alive if you came back for us!"

Jamie's eyes widened in shock. "No, he wouldn't. He was already dead when I rescued you, Scar." He placed a tentative hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. "Scar, don't be mad. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead."

"You should've let me die!" I raised my voice unintentionally. "I lived my whole life thinking that it was my fault. Do you have any idea how much that hurts me? No, you don't. Because your parents are still alive!" I struggled to get back to my feet as I slid my damp shirt over my head and threw it to the floor.

Jamie remained seated on the floor with his ice blue eyes looking at me in disbelief. "Seriously?" He questioned, as if I was the one who offended him. "The fact that you're so oblivious to everything makes me laugh."

I furrowed my brows. Was he really trying to make jokes right now? "Oh, so you think this is funny?"

Jamie, still not making a move to stand up, started to fiddle with his fingers as he glanced down at the floor. It looked as though he was silently debating an issue in his head, before he finally looked at me with a half smile on his face. "I got into a car crash that day, too," he finally said. "Our cars collided with each other."

I could feel my heart rate slowing down as I took in his words. Was that really what happened?

"My parents and I were on our way to pick up Jillian from her ballet practice," he continued. "I guess it's safe to say that we didn't make it."

I lowered myself to my knees, becoming interested in his story. "Jamie."

"When I regained consciousness, I saw that my mom and dad were still alive but they were stuck. Like the seatbelt jammed or something, I don't really remember. My mom, being the doctor that she is, wanted me to check up on the other car we collided with since I was the only one who was able to get out of the car. She wanted me to assess the damages and report back to her."

"So I did. I went through the woods, tracing all the tire tracks and snapped tree branches, and I found you. The crash was nasty. There were tree branches impaling the glass and metal tearing away from the car. I was able to get you out of the car, but your dad was already dead. There was tree branch impaled into his neck, and even if he was still alive, I was too small to get him out of the car."

"When I saw how much you were bleeding, I knew I had to do something. My mom taught me that whenever there is a bunch of bleeding, then I need to apply pressure. So, I wrapped my t-shirt around your leg wound and I went back to my parents to report what I'd found, but when I got back..."

Jamie squeezed his eyes shut and sucked in a huge breath of air. I had a feeling that I already knew what was going to come, but I needed to be sure. Placing a hand on his thigh, I gave him a nod of reassurance. "You can tell me."

His eyes flicked to mine and I could tell they were filled with self-hatred and sadness. I wondered if that was how my eyes looked like whenever I talked about my dad.

"The car exploded," he finished in an almost inaudible whisper. Throwing his arms around me and burying his head into the crook of my neck, he began to sob heavily. Reluctantly, I wrapped my arms around his lower back and allowed him to drown himself in his tears. I remembered when I found out my dad didn't survive the car crash. I had wanted someone to cry to, and I wanted to be that person for Jamie.

I stroked his long, blond hair, allowing my fingers to get lost in the tousled mess. "What about that woman?" I questioned him. "At your house. Isn't she your mom?"

He shook his head, still holding onto me tightly. "She's my foster parent."

I sighed as I pressed him closer to me. "I didn't know, Jamie. I'm such a dick."

I could feel him nod. "Yes, you are," he whimpered.

"Hey," I said softy as I pulled away from him. He glanced at me with red, puffy eyes as he waited for me to continue. "We can get through this together," I told him. "We can help each other."

Jamie sucked in a breath and gazed back at me with soft, tentative eyes. "What do you mean?"

"No one understood what I went through. Yeah, maybe Amy did. Maybe my mom did. But no one else besides my family did. It's so relieving to know that we've kinda went through the same thing, you know. It brings us closer."

Jamie dragged a lazy hand across his face, wiping his tears. "It brings us closer," he repeated softly. "You want us to be close?"

"Well, yeah." My hands slowly inched up his thigh to grab onto his hands which were folded in his lap. We just sat there, unmoving and staring at each other. If anyone were to walk in on us, they'd definitely think we were crazy. But we understood the craziness.

"Scar..." Jamie's voice was so soft and sweet, like a personified version of honey.

"Yes?" I asked him, not breaking eye contact.

He intertwined his fingers in mine and leaned forward, capturing my lips in a soft, endearing kiss. Little shivers of pleasure shot through me as I melted against his touch and moved my lips with his. I was vaguely aware of the fact that I was kissing a guy, but to me Jamie wasn't a guy. He was just Jamie.

He ended the kiss abruptly by pulling away and parting his lips slightly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

I didn't give him time to finish and I pressed my lips against his once more. My hands skimmed along the sides of his arms, making their way to his face and cupping his cheeks slightly. I breathed him in, savoring the smell of his familiarity. The smell of his passion. The smell of him. Every second that passed made me crave him even more.

Kissing him felt very different from kissing Francesca, in a good way. I always felt compelled to be the dominate one in our relationship. With Jamie, we were equals, giving each other time to lead and time to follow. I couldn't believe I was missing out on this my whole life.

"Wow."

I tore myself away from Jamie and scrambled to the other side of the kitchen, but it was too late. I looked up at the chubby girl standing in the main foyer with her curly hair pulled back into a ponytail, her backpack hanging on one shoulder, a hand on her hip, and her mouth agape. "A-Amy. It's n-not what it l-looks l-like."

She lifted a delicate brow as her hard gaze shifted between me and Jamie. "Really? So you weren't sucking Jamie's face off just now?"

God, this is so fucking embarrassing. I slapped my palm against my forehead and racked my brain, searching for an excuse that would explain why I was making out with Jamie on the kitchen floor.

Even from where I sat, I could hear Jamie silently chuckling to himself. "It was all me," he confessed. "I kinda forced him to kiss me."

Amy gave Jamie a weary look, obviously not buying it. "Right," she drew out as she fixed her posture and flashed us a smile. "Anyway, Scar, you have company."

"What?" I inquired as I scrambled back to my feet. Amy gestured over to the front door where Trey and Francesca stood on the other side with giant smiles on their faces. "Did you invite them?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. They just really wanted to see you."

I glanced over my shoulder at Jamie, who was still seated on the floor. There was a strange darkness in his eyes and I immediately knew it was because of Francesca. He didn't like her, for some reason, even though he didn't even know her.

Instead of dwelling over Jamie's current state of mind, I made my way to the front door and propped it open, staring back at my former friends with a questioning look. Francesca looked beautiful, as always. Her long, silky, black hair hung over her shoulders in loose waves and her big brown eyes were highlighted only with a hint of mascara. She was perfect that way, not needing any makeup to enhance her natural beauty.

Trey, on the other hand, looked like he always did with a slightly wrinkled gray t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap. I almost didn't notice his hand was draped around Francesca's waist.

Fighting back a groan, I asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

Francesca's rosy lips widened into a charming smile. "We wanted to see you! Everyone at school sends their condolences. It was such a scare, having you in the hospital like that. We don't wanna lose our star football player."

I scratched the back of my head nervously. "I'm not all that special."

"Of course you are," she reassured me with that sweet, brilliant smile still on her face. "And to celebrate your marvelous recovery, Trey and I are taking you out to dinner tonight. And you're not gonna make up some lame excuse to back out of it. You're going and that's final."

I stood there with hesitation, taking occasional glances at Jamie, who had finally relocated to the sofa. Trey touched my arm softly, causing me to snap my eyes to his. "Dude. Why do you keep hanging out with him?" He whispered. "He's weird."

"Oh, uh ... He's, um, helping me with some stuff right now," I lied through gritted teeth. As soon as I said it, I could hear Jamie erupting in a small burst of laughter. The kind of laughter that people did when they knew something more than what was being let on.

Francesca jumped up suddenly and clutched onto my arm as she pushed past me into the house, dragging me along with her. "Scar, I almost forgot! Christmas is coming up soon and you know how we always do Secret Santa!"

I slapped a hand on my forehead. "I totally forgot."

"Because you've been too busy ditching us," she scoffed, giggling as she did so. She reached into one of the compartments of her backpack and pulled out a small jewelry box filled with crumpled pieces of paper. She squealed excitedly as she held it out for Trey and I to pick from it.

"Would you guys mind if I joined in on this Secret Santa?" Jamie called out from the sofa, making all of our eyes snap to him.

Francesca was hesitant. "Uh, well, I guess ... sure. Any friend of Scar is a friend of ours." She forced a friendly smile as she reached in her backpack for a piece of paper, tearing off a piece, scribbling Jamie's name on it and throwing it into the jewelry box.

When Jamie joined the circle, he stood a bit too close for my liking. I tried to take a not-so-obvious step away from him, but he responded by moving closer to me.

"All right," Francesca announced as she clapped her hands together. "Pick."

I decided to go first and stuck my hand into the jewelry box, pulling out one of the crumpled pieces of paper. Slowly, I unfolded it and almost smiled when I saw Jamie's name scribbles in Francesca's awful handwriting. I tucked away the paper and watched as Francesca, Trey and Jamie picked their person.

Francesca let out another exaggerated squeal before shutting the jewelry box and sticking it back into her backpack. "This is so exciting," she exclaimed, wiggling her perfectly arched brows. "And you," she jabbed a finger into my chest, "don't forget about dinner tonight. I'll text you the details." She interlaced her fingers with Trey's and dragged him outside, leaving me and Jamie in silence.

"So," he drawled out as he folded his arms against her chest and stretched his lips into a sly smirk. "Why do you like her, again?"

He had no right to mock me. He may have meant more to me than I thought he ever would, but he didn't have the right to insert himself between me and Francesca. He couldn't possibly understand what it felt like to be in love with someone who played with your feelings. "I'm going to that dinner," I told him, as if reassuring myself. I knew he would try to talk me out of it, like he did with everything that dealt with Francesca.

His stare grew blank, as though he was staring into space. "Kinda figured," he said gruffly. "You bow down to Francesca's every command."

It was the way he said it. With such malice, such hatred, lacing his words. "I do not," I snapped back.

"You do," he retorted. "Just face it. You're her bitch. You know it, and she knows it too. That's why she constantly takes advantage of your love for her. That's why you can't let her go."

He had nerve to act like he knew anything about me or Francesca. Sure, she acted like a slut sometimes but that wasn't her fault. I knew deep down she loved me as much as I loved her and Jamie was just trying to break us apart. "What do you know," I muttered under my breath and brushed past him into the kitchen where I made an effort to clean up the spilled cookies and milk.

"I know that if you want to keep your sanity, you won't go on that dinner date," he added with a knowing look on his face. "Can't you see it's all a ruse to rub their relationship in your face? If you didn't notice, then you are literally blinded by love."

I dumped the cookies into the nearest trash can and threw the tray into the sink harshly, not caring about the sharp clanging noise that it made. "Just because we kissed doesn't mean you get to boss me around. And what the hell was that just now? We were standing right in front of them, and you were trying to feel me up!"

Jamie's eyes widened in shock and his surprised expression was soon followed by laughter. "Trying to feel you up?" He repeated, still laughing. "That's hilarious."

"It's not," I seethed. "It's already bad enough that we hang out more than we should. I don't want them to think there's something going on between us."

He took a defensive stance and raised a skeptical brow as one corner of his mouth twitched into a slight smirk. "There is something going on between us." He was looking at me with eyes that dared me to say something else.

"Yeah, but they don't know that and I want to keep it that way. You heard what Francesca said. The whole school was worried about me when I was in the hospital," I recalled. "They love me, and possibly being gay isn't going to be very appealing to them."

Jamie's smile grew wider. "Correction. They love the idea of you. Because if they actually got to know the real you, they'd hate you."

I screwed my face in confusion. "What?"

"You do realize that you're basically saying you want to keep us a secret because it could possibly ruin the way people look at you. Could you be any more of a walking cliche, Patterson?"

Well, now that he put it that way... "Whatever," I substituted for lack of a better word. Not all of us were completely open with our sexuality and willing to intimidate straight boys who ran kissing booths and consequently, turned them gay. If he expected me to take this in stride and turn into a rainbow, then he was wrong. Completely wrong.

I fished my cell phone out of my pocket as soon as I felt it vibrate and smiled once I saw the text message from Francesca. "One of teammates will be running the booth today," I told Janie absentmindedly as I read over the text message. "Will you still be here when I get back?"

He seemed utterly surprised by my question. "You want me to stay?"

"Yeah, course. You can help Amy with her homework or something. We still need to talk about how we're gonna split the money."

He leaned against the marble top island. "You agreed to splitting the money if I got you and Francesa back together. I haven't."

I waved a finger in the air and grinned widely. "Not yet," I said, "but I have a feeling this dinner will seal the deal for me. I could tell Francesca about how much I thought of her when I was unconscious and she'll be so flattered that she'll want to get back together again. Perfect, right?"

Jamie gave me a blank stare, but after a while, he just nodded. "Sure," he replied with obvious sarcasm coating his words. "You'll definitely win her back with that. Hey, and while you're at it, tell her that you feed pigeons for a hobby. That will definitely make her panties wet." He smiled that annoying little smile of his and began to whistle softly to himself.

I shook my head in disbelief while trying to fight back a laugh as I headed towards the front door. Grabbing my coat from the rack and slipping it over my arms, I flashed Jamie a quick smile before snatching my keys from the end table and padding my way to my Jeep.

It had only taken me five minutes to arrive at the address Francesca texted me. It was a small pizza place in the middle of town that was known for its extra cheesy pizzas. I found it odd that Francesca would want to eat at a pizza place, considering she hated pizza, but I was too excited to question it.

I had arrived before Trey and Francesca, so I took it upon myself to find a table near the corner by the window. As I sat there, I wondered if Trey and I could ever be friends again. He betrayed me by hooking up with Francesca, but technically, we weren't together. I tried to remain calm when she slept with all the other boys, so why did I get worked up when she hooked up with Trey?

Maybe it was because he was my best friend. There was an unspoken rule; you don't make a move on your friend's crush. But could I really blame him for not following that rule? We had been friends for such a long time and I was about to throw that away for a girl?

Well, she wasn't just any girl. She was my first love.

After a while of sitting in solitude and waiters constantly asking me what I wanted to order, I checked my phone. It was nearly forty minutes after the time Francesca told me to be here. I knew her well enough to know that she was never late. She didn't even leave a message saying that she was stuck in traffic or something to that effect.

I sent her a quick message questioning her whereabouts and rested my head in the heel of my hand, sighing heavily. My mind kept drifting to the thought of Francesca and Trey getting caught up in so much rabbit sex that they totally forgot about me, and what a discomforting thought that was.

After another twenty minutes with no reply from Francesca, I decided they weren't going to come. Miserably, I found myself texting