Dorian DeLoughrey
As soon as he got out, Dorian walked over to his car and leaned against it, with a slight smirk waiting for students to start running out of the building. He shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he did, but it was funny, funny to know he was the reason why that was happening. He watched their angry, even sad faces but the whole time he was actually looking for one. Looking for Jessica, waiting for her but he couldn’t see her anywhere… for a very long time. So he just stood there, with his hands in his pockets, now looking down at the ground as his mind became filled with different thoughts. Why did she want to talk to him? What should he expect? What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to start defending himself right away or let her talk? Would he even need to defend himself? Did she want to apologize? He didn’t really think about that when he agreed to meet her after the show… but he wanted to. He just wanted to talk to her. After ignoring her, calling her out, being a jerk… he just wanted to talk.
From the corner of his eye, he could see someone walking towards him so as soon as he looked up, he saw her approaching him with a soft smile. A smile he didn’t return because he still didn’t know what to expect and he surely didn’t expect her to run to him and jump into his arms. It left him shocked and confused for a second, for a second he didn’t react in any way, he didn’t say anything but when he fully realized what was happening he tightly wrapped his arms around her, letting his eyes close. This didn’t feel like that time at the lake, it felt different, more real but just like then he was expecting this little happiness he was feeling to soon disappear. Waiting for something to happen, for her to say something that would ruin that or for him to react in a way that would ruin that… but it didn’t. “I’m sorry for being an idiot.” Hearing that, he opened his eyes in confusion, letting go of her as she jumped down. Dorian… could never imagine the day he would see her again. A year ago he was sure that would never happen. He was sure he would never get a chance to tell her how much she hurt him, would never hear her saying sorry for being an idiot. But here they were… once again. And he still wasn’t anything, he just looked at her, letting her talk. There wasn’t a single reaction he was giving her, not even a laugh after she mentioned the sprinklers.
“I’m tired of pretending like you don’t mean anything to me because honestly Dorian, you mean so damn much to me. Give me another chance to be your friend? I love you.”
Taking in a deep breath, he tried so hard to hide a pout. That’s all he ever really needed, all he wanted to hear. He spent the last four years convincing himself that’s not how she felt because why didn’t she ever try to reach out? It was as simple as that. But giving her another chance… that wasn’t simple. She can’t just do that. She can’t just apologize expecting everything would be alright, expecting he wouldn’t be mad and hurt anymore because he still was. So much. Even more after she didn’t even give him a chance to explain that Emily situation. But that could go on forever, he could continue to blame her for everything so now he had to decide what he wanted to do about it.
Hearing about the freebies they talked about, he finally smiled softly before taking a step towards her and tightly wrapping his arms around her, once again. “Thank you,” was the only thing he whispered before staying silent for a bit. It could mean anything. Maybe it was thank you for wishing me a happy birthday, thank you for apologizing, for saying all those things, for trying to fix things… and maybe it was all of that. It was all of that. It was hard to push everything aside, to try to forgive her but he didn’t want to continue that. Four years was already very long and he really missed his friend. “I love you too, Jessica,” he quietly continued, letting a soft smile appear on his lips again. “I don’t want you to think for a second that I wouldn’t have done anything if I got your call, that I didn’t care. I would’ve dropped whatever I was doing just to stop you from leaving,” he tightened his grip. “I do mean that. And I’m sorry too… I was just hurt,” he quietly added. “But I really miss you… And gosh, you’re so wet. What happened in there?” Laughing lightly, he let go of her and pulled back, stopping himself from getting all emotional and cute.