The One who got Away_A Second Chance Romance

by Mia Ford

  “We need to get dressed,” Leah gushes with her cheeks flushed. “I need to get out of here.”

  “Right, sure.” I push myself into a standing position and buckle up my trousers. “Are you coming to mine?”

  At that moment, the door swings open and I can see a very angry Brandon on the other side of the door. Me and Leah might be dressed, but it’s pretty obvious what’s been happening. Maybe it wasn’t so quick after all.

  “What the fuck is going on here?” he yells in temper. “I cannot believe this. You vanish, Zane, and I come looking for you, worried that you’ve gone home for being awkward. But no, you’re still here, with my sister.”

  I glance at Leah and she looks at me. We both realize that this is it. We’ve been caught and there isn’t any way out.

  Chapter Twenty Seven – Leah

  Shit, shit, shit! I wasn’t thinking, I was just so mad and I wanted to have fun with Zane, now it’s all blown up in my face. Brandon is looking at me like he one hundred percent knows what’s going on, and basically, we’re fucked. Me and Zane have been rumbled and now everything is going to come out. If my family was already mad at me for having a supposed breakdown, then this is going to send me over the edge. They’ll kill me.

  “Brandon,” I say in the calmest tone of voice that I can manage. “Please, let’s just talk about this.”

  “Talk about what?” he screams, not even caring if Mom hears or not. “How you’ve randomly just fucked my friend because you’re going through some sort of quarter life crisis and you’re angry at Mom?”

  Oh fuck. My eyes fall to the ground. This is so much more than that. How can I tell him?

  “Mate, please let’s just go somewhere and talk about this calmly…” Zane tries his hardest, but it’s no good.

  “I am not your fucking mate,” Brandon spits back. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been your mate. I mean, isn’t it guy code that sisters are off limits? I’m sure that exes are supposed to be as well, but that’s another rule that’s never really been adhered to. But this is my sister, this is Leah, the person I care about, the one who I warned you off not so long ago. I just can not believe this, it’s utterly fucking mental.”

  “Why did you warn Zane off me?” I demand angrily. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

  I fold my arms across my chest and give Brandon a defiant look. Yes, I might be in the wrong here in some ways, but it isn’t like me and Zane have just had sex. There’s something between us, something real.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you, but Zane won’t commit. He doesn’t know how.”

  “Woah, Brandon, I do know how to commit. You can’t say that about me, you don’t know anymore.”

  “And I’m also old enough to make my own decisions. Didn’t you say that yourself down stairs?”

  Brandon is seething. He looks like he’s about to punch someone which is a nightmare. I need to get them all out of my bedroom quickly before things get insane. I’m already surprised that Mom hasn’t come over yet.

  “So, this isn’t just a one time thing then?” Brandon screams. “It’s been going on for a while.”

  A hand snakes over his shoulder, one that I’m sure belongs to Jenny who’s usually his calming influence, but he shakes her off not wanting any of it. This fury won’t be tamed which is a nightmare for me.

  “Yes, Brandon,” I insist quietly. “It’s been going on for a while but it isn’t just a sex thing. There’s something going on between me and Zane. There’s real feelings between us. If you’ll just take a moment to listen to us…”

  “Feelings,” Brandon scoffs. “Fucking hell, Leah, how thick are you? Feelings. Zane doesn’t do feelings. He just fucks around for fun. What the hell is wrong with you?” His eyes widen as a shock hits him. “Oh my God, is this why you broke up with Patrick? Please tell me you didn’t do it for Zane.”

  I part my lips wanting to argue, because it wasn’t just because of that… but the words don’t come. I can’t lie, if Zane hadn’t come back here, me and Patrick would still be together, but I would also still be at my job. Just because he sparked the changes, doesn’t mean I broke up directly with Patrick for Zane.

  “Oh, fucking hell, what is going on, Leah? When the hell did you lose your head? I wasn’t worried about you before, I assumed that you were just going through some stuff, but now I’m really freaked out.”

  I roll my eyes and throw my hands in the air in frustration. “Brandon, I don’t want to be a bitch but this isn’t really any of your business. What I do, who I date, it’s up to me. I’m twenty one now, I’m old enough to make my own decisions in life, and that includes who I date. Right now, I want to be with Zane.”

  Zane smiles at me as I make something of a sweeping declaration of my feelings for him. I hope that he understands that I can’t say too much because I don’t want to wind Brandon up further, but I do have strong feelings for him. I know for a fact that it could turn into even more if we have enough time.

  I reach out and grab onto Zane’s hand to show a united front. I hope that with Jenny by his side, Brandon will calm down once he realizes that this is serious. This is more than he assumes it to be.

  “Oh, hell no,” Brandon yells the second Zane’s skin brushes against mine. His entire face turns a shade of purple, “There’s no way I’m going to stand for this. You cannot act this way, either of you, you’re fucking done.”

  It’s almost as if a red mist descends in front of his eyes as Brandon rolls up the sleeves to his shirt. He looks like he’s gearing up for a fight, which is crazy. I haven’t ever seen him fight before, even when we were younger. We can’t have pushed him this far, he cannot seriously be this against us together. I always knew that my brother wouldn’t like it, and I’ll admit the way he found out isn’t ideal, but surely, he’ll listen to reason.

  “Brandon, wait, no.” I press my hands into his chest, trying my hardest to stop him. “Don’t do this. Please, let’s just go down stairs and talk about this properly. Don’t do something that you’ll end up regretting.”

  Brandon looks at me for a moment, and for a split second I think I might have got through to him. But then he swings his fist back and he flies past me at a million miles an hour. Everything’s a blur, I barely even know what’s even happening anymore. Not until I hear a scream coming out of Jenny’s mouth, telling me that something terrible has gone on. I snap out of my stupor and turn to face the mess behind me.

  “Oh my God.” I clap my hands to my mouth as blood spurts out of Zane’s nose. “Brandon!”

  “Brandon, mate, just stop it. Neither of us want to fight.” Zane tries to be kind, despite the fact that he’s been hit in the face. “Let’s just leave it for now and talk about it later, okay? We need to calm down.”

  Zane tries to push past my brother to get out before things get worse, but Brandon’s on fire now. He shoves Zane violently until he crashes into my desk, knocking everything on it to the floor. One of my photo frames smashes loudly as it hits the ground. Thank God all of my college work is at Zane’s house or I’d be mad.

  “Fuck you, Zane,” Brandon growls. “I don’t ever want to speak to you again.”

  I don’t know what happens next, I can barely see it. Fists fly in every single direction as Brandon lashes out and Zane does what he can to defend himself. I keep trying to get in the middle of them to separate them, but I’m pushed to the side every single time. They’re determined not to let me stop this.

  “Just get out of my room,” I eventually yell. “Stop fucking fighting.”

  I know now that Mom can definitely hear this. There’s no way that she doesn’t know there’s a fight going on down the hallway from where she is. The fact that she isn’t in here tells me that she doesn’t care. She’s so mad at me and she hates Zane so much that she’s willing to let this just play out. That makes me so furious I could scream. I need to get out of this house even more so than before. I truly hate it here.

  Zane tries to escape. I don’t
think he really wants to fight, even though he’s had some truly terrible things said to him tonight, but Brandon follows him. They fight through the hallway, they lash out down the stairs, and I can even hear things crashing about as they stagger towards the front door.

  “Stop it,” I scream over and over again. “Why won’t you just stop it?”

  Jenny holds onto me, she prevents me from going downstairs and getting in the middle of it again, and I sob into her chest. This day has gone so far downhill that I don’t know what to do with myself. I already knew that all my life choices weren’t going to be very popular, but I had no idea they would cause this reaction. The blood spots all over my bedroom carpet will always remind me that I’ll never be accepted.

  “I’ve never seen Brandon like this,” I weep against her. “It’s so horrible.”

  “I know, I know,” Jenny reassures me as best she can, rubbing her arms comfortingly up and down my arms. “But he cares about you so much. This is all because he cares about you.”

  I don’t want to hear that, I know that much. I’m aware that my brother’s intentions are good but that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. I just wish that none of this had happened. It’s all my fault, I’m the one who lost control. I’m the one who pounced on Zane and encouraged him to have sex with me. If I hadn’t, if I’d just behaved while we were inside my home then none of this would have happened.

  “We need to stop them fighting,” I insist. “We can’t let this carry on. Someone will call the cops in a moment then we’ll all be in major trouble. We have to stop them before they hurt themselves.”

  Jenny reluctantly follows me down the stairs. I can tell that she’s scared too, but she’s trying to keep her distance because she doesn’t want to end up in trouble. She’s seen me getting thrown to one side more than once so she wisely knows that there isn’t anything that she can really do. But I’m still determined.

  As soon as my foot reaches the bottom step, I hear Zane’s bike roaring to life. I race to the door, staring hopelessly after him as he races away. I’m glad that he doesn’t look too hurt, but I can’t believe he’s leaving me.

  “And don’t you ever come back!” Brandon yells, with blood splattered down his torn shirt. “I don’t ever want to see your face again. I know lawyers, don’t you forget that.”

  A hot tear leaks out of my eye as hopelessness encases me. This is horrible, I never wanted to create any of this. I just wanted to be happy, I don’t know why that’s too much to ask. It isn’t fair.

  “And you,” Brandon growls as he sees me. “You aren’t ever going to spend time with that idiot again, Leah. You can do much better than him.”

  “Brandon, you don’t understand,” I wail, still needing to make my point. “I want him.”

  He looms over me, and for one second, I fear that he might be about to take his temper out on me too. “No, Leah, you don’t want him. He’s horrible. No good for you. If you are going to insist on being with him and making all these terrible life choices then you need to go. You need to get out of here. Me and Mom cannot be a part of it any longer, it just isn’t right.”

  I watch hopelessly as he goes inside, leaving me with nothing but heart ache. He’s right, I suppose, I can’t expect to live around my family if they don’t like what I’m doing. I was going anyway, but now I really have to leave. It kills me, but I can’t stick around any longer. It’s time to make my life my own.

  Chapter Twenty Eight – Zane

  I pace up and down my apartment furiously, anger racing through my veins. I cannot believe that just happened, I’m absolutely stunned to the core. I knew Brandon wasn’t going to like me and Leah but to say all those awful things about me was too damn much. I even let him do it, I didn’t complain despite everything, I let him say it and it still resulted in a fight. I’m angry and I’m hurt. I didn’t want to ever lose him.

  Knock, knock.

  My eyes snap up as I hear a soft knocking at my apartment door. My immediate thought is that it’s Brandon come to apologize, but then I remember the sheer fury in his gaze as he physically attacked me and I know that it won’t be. I really don’t think that we’ll ever be friends again. It’s gone too far now. Even when we used to argue occasionally in high school it never got violent. I don’t think there’s any turning back.

  I swing open the door to see Leah standing in front of me, giving me sad, wide eyes. “I hope it’s okay that I’m here,” she questions me. “I don’t want to impose, I just want to see how you are.”

  I sigh loudly, hating that it’s come to this. “I’m okay, just a bit gutted to be honest.”

  She leans up onto her tiptoes and wipes some of the blood away from my nose. “You don’t look okay.”

  As I step aside for her to come in, I notice that she’s got a large bag with her. “Are you here to stay?”

  She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. I don’t want to come here if I’m not welcome.”

  “So, things didn’t go any better with your brother then? I thought that you would make up.”

  “No, he really is pissed off.” Her eyes flicker towards the ground, sadness crosses her expression. “And after you left, Mom got involved as well. She finally came out of her room to yell at me. She told me that if I wanted to throw my life away then I needed to leave. She’s very angry at me right now.”

  I reach out and wrap my arms around her. However hard this is for me, it’s worse for her. She’s losing the only family that she has over me and it sucks. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” I murmur, hating myself for pushing away the one really good thing that I have in my life. I don’t want to lose Leah, but I don’t want to make her life hard either. “Maybe we should separate while everyone calms down. Maybe…” I close my eyes, trying to stop the sadness from overwhelming me. “Maybe we shouldn’t be together at all.”

  Leah shoves me roughly, forcing me off of her. “Are you actually kidding me?” she snaps. “Please tell me you’re joking! You aren’t going to throw us away when things are so damn good between us.”

  “I don’t want to… I just want to make it easier. I don’t want you to lose everyone.”

  “So, you would rather let other people dictate us? That’s what you’re saying. You’d rather listen to Brandon and my mother and split up because they aren’t happy? Yet, you’re happy to defy your parents to do what you want with your life.” She cocks her head in my direction. “Is that because you aren’t happy with me?”

  “Oh no, it isn’t that at all! I’m really happy with you.” I hold out my hands to her but she refuses to take them so eventually I let them drop. “I just want it to be pleasant all round. I don’t want everyone to hate us.”

  “Zane, I don’t think you get it,” she sounds angry now. I feel terrible because I don’t want to hurt her. I’m just going round and round in circles trying to do the right thing. “I love you. I want only you.”

  Love… that word blows me away. I haven’t ever heard it before and I’ve never said it either. I wouldn’t until I know for certain that it’s the truth, but as I think about it the more I realize that I feel the same way.

  “I don’t expect you to say it back,” she snaps as I’m silent for far too long. “I just want you to know how I feel. I want you to understand why I’m so serious about this and why I’m digging my heels in.”

  She stands in front of me looking vulnerable, and I can hardly blame her. She’s just lay her heart on the line and I haven’t given anything back. Mostly because I’m too stunned for words. But now I need to man up and speak. I can’t lock my emotions down, I can’t be a closed box, I need to finally let it free.

  “I love you too,” I insist. “I do, I really do. I think that I’ve loved you for years, actually. I just haven’t understood it enough to vocalize it,. It’s something that I should have said so much sooner.”

  As we look at one another, I realize the truth of that. I should have. It shouldn’t have taken this horrible situation for
me to reveal my feelings. I’m gutted that the first time we’re saying the ‘L’ word is during all of this, when I have blood on my face because I’ve been fighting with her brother. This is all so wrong.

  “I should have too,” Leah whispers. “I’ve been holding back for far too long, I’m sorry.”

  I take a step, closing the gap between us and I hold her to my chest again. She rests her head against where my heart is, probably listening to how it’s pounding like crazy. This has officially been the craziest, up and down day that I’ve ever had. It started out so normally and it’s ended up with everyone knowing about us and us sharing our feelings of love. My head and heart are spinning like crazy, I barely even know what I’m doing anymore.

  “So, where do we go from here?” I ask Leah quietly. “If we’re in love and everyone knows, what do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmurs back. “But can I stay here, just for tonight? I don’t want to go back.”

  “Leah, you can move in here, that offer still stands. I want you with me all the time.”

  She pulls back to look at me. “Are you sure? I’m not going to push myself on you.”

  “Leah,” I chuckle. “I love you. It’s only ever going to be you. You want to just stay here for a while until you find your own place, that’s fine, but if you want to move in and never leave, I’m cool with that too.”

  She giggles weakly, still looking incredibly sad. “You’re awesome, do you know that?”

  “Why don’t you go and take a bath, make yourself comfortable, and I’ll make us some dinner. I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is eat some crappy food and sit in tonight. Yeah?”

  She nods happily, agreeing with me. “Thank you so much. I do want a bath, thank you, that means a lot.”

  As I move into the kitchen and I pull some food out of the fridge to cook, I realize that this doesn’t have to be all bad. I mean, it isn’t great now, things are all over the place, but that can’t last. Brandon and his mom can’t stay mad at Leah forever, they’ll have to make up. Especially if they see how serious we are. Once me and Leah prove our love to the rest of the world they’ll have to start accepting us. To be honest, I’m pretty sure that the problem is me and my reputation from all those years ago. I guess only time will show that I’m not who I used to be. I suppose because Brandon was always there before, he saw me at my worst. Now I need to show him who I can be at my best. I truly do love Leah, and all I want to do is make her happy. I would do anything for her, I would literally give her anything, and I just want Brandon to see that. One day he will. It might take some time, but he will. I’ll make sure that a long as Leah wants me, I’m going to be the best man for him.