Vol. 1: Thirty-One

+ LOVING ELIJAH MCCAY +

VOL. 1: CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

I'm surrounded by Elijah's family, or his favorite three people in the world, as he put it. We've sat ourselves in an empty booth near the front of the restaurant, as more and more people find their ways out of the restaurant. I've noticed that the lights have dimmed, as the sun sets soundly.

There's a completely finished bowl, of a dish I still hadn't gotten the name of, right in front of me. It was one of the best dishes anyone had ever made for me. It was nothing like I'd ever eaten before, and that fact was quite refreshing.

I had a used napkin in my free hand, the other holding my freshly squeezed lemonade, as I poured the remaining contents down my drying throat. I wiped my lips with the napkin, eyes finally glancing up, and finding Elijah's.

He sat directly in front of me in the booth, distracted by the plate of food before him. And considering the fact that he was practically speaking at a million miles a minute.

I'm not sure how it happened--but after a few hours of sitting and talking, it wasn't hard to return back to the way things were. We spoke freely and openly, smiling at one another whenever we each other's gazes.

As he stabbed at the pork on his plate with his fork, he wiped at his lips with the back of his hand, a soft laugh escaping parted lips. We'd spent our time together laughing, talking, and exchanging embarrassing stories.

And it didn't help Elijah's stories stay at bay, with his siblings and father at the exact same booth. His father sat beside him, as Corey sat beside me. Cameron had taken it in his own accord to pull a vacant chair to the end of the table.

They all had plates before them, too. And I would be lying if I didn't say that things weren't getting a little cramped. Almost twice now, I'd been too close to sipping from Corey's diet soda--only to realize that it wasn't my iced lemonade.

She merely chuckled, and said that it was alright, right after I'd began my incessant apologizing.

Elijah's father, who had eventually introduced himself as Robbie, was in the middle of telling one of Elijah's many childhood war stories. He had one of the most genuine smiles I'd ever seen, while he talked about his son. Which made sense, because it seemed as though in their eyes, Elijah was the absolute best.

Which I tried my best to internally argue with. Gosh, I tried so hard.

Robbie lifted a hand, and settled it onto his oldest son's head, ruffling his tight curls. "And that is the story of how Eli here, puked while in the middle of a rollercoaster." He laughed broadly.

Cameron nodded along, poking his fork into his pork happily. "Oh, my gosh, I remember that. By the time we got off, both Corey and I had his fucking puke in our hair."

Elijah reached over, and pushed at Cameron's forehead, causing the younger boy to suck at his teeth in an agitated way. Elijah merely shook his head with a knowing smile in his face. "You loved it."

"How could anyone love that--"

Corey called to their attention, as I watched curiously. I ran a steady hand through my hair, leaning my chin onto the palm of my hand. It seemed as though the three of them couldn't go longer than fifteen miniutes without an argument brewing.

It seemed stressful and a bit too high-strung for me. But I guess that's just me being an only child. I never had to compete for my parents' affection, or for a toy. So, I couldn't imagine having to go head-to-head with two different people just to get what I wanted.

I laughed at the mere thought.

Robbie seemed to lose interest rather quickly, sliding out of the booth, and busying himself in the back lounge, once more. But just as he was about to walk through the double doors--he turned, and gave me a kind, sincere smile.

I was glad that Elijah's father seemed to like me. Even if he wasn't much of a talker. And I could only assume why Elijah wasn't, either.

"So, Gage," Corey began, leaning onto her palm, mirroring my position to give me her undivided attention. "You don't talk much. "

Cameron rolled eyes, swallowing the last bits of his food. "Maybe he just doesn't wanna talk to you. Isn't that right, Gage?"

Shaking my head quickly, I sent Elijah a torn sort of look. "No, no, It's just been a long day." That was my absolute go-to excuse whenever asked a question that I'm uncomfortable with.

"Well then," she sat up straighter, green eyes brightening. "I guess we'll be seeing you a lot more often, right?" Corey asked, raising an eyebrow toward me. I didn't understand her question, while her sending me a confused look, turned into me sending Elijah one.

He shrugged, his full lips spreading into a wide grin. His teeth were a pulsing white, and I couldn't but blush.

Our smallest of moments was interrupted by my confusion settling back in. "What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't you guys friends?" There was that word. Friends. It felt as though I couldn't get away from it. Like everyone surrounding us, wanted to know if Elijah and I were friends.

My throat went dry, as I brought my hands out from my inside of my sweatshirts pocket, to fiddle with one another. Elijah's gaze found my bouncing fingers, clearing his throat to try and get Corey's attention.

I felt a bit awkward, because there she was, staring, simply awaiting patiently for an answer. But I didn't have an answer, and by the looks of Elijah's expression, neither did he.

A shaky breath left my lips, as I looked over to Corey, who had her chin sitting in the palm of her hand, and her full of head of curls getting in the way of her direct line of sight. Which was currently focused on me.

"I, uh—" my words didn't form the way I had expected them to. In my head, I would be honest, and tell her that I wasn't sure. But now, after this entire evening of spending time with Elijah and his family—I couldn't help the words that came out of mouth. "Yeah, we're friends."

Elijah's eyebrows raised high on his forehead, as his fork was gently being set down on his plate, as though he was giving me his undivided attention.

My intentions had been to carry-on a conversation with Corey, but whenever Elijah stopped what he was doing, and simply looked at me, I found it nearly impossible to do. Corey said something that I didn't quite catch, and she seemed to have noticed this.

She says my name a bit louder, curious eyes watching us in apprehension. "So?"

My expression drowns in guilt and confusion. Confusion because I hadn't been paying attention to a word she was saying, and guilt for the exact same reason. "I-I'm sorry, I was spaced out. What did you say?"

Elijah's father seems rather uninterested in our conversation, and stands from his side of the booth, carrying his plate and glass of water in hand. I didn't know if he liked me at all, since he'd barely said two words to me.

But to be fair, he didn't seem like much of a talker, anyway. Just as he's walking away, he turns, and sends me a kind smile. I return it without a moments hesitation.

She laughs softly, leaning back so that her back was now. Her father patted her back softly as he walked away, Cameron following closely behind him. "I said, where do you go to school?"

"Oh, I go to Wayland. I'm a junior." Corey nods in understanding, and a split second later, a wave of questions begin to roll in.

She looked to be my age, or a little younger—so why wasn't she going to Wayland? Because if she had been—I'm pretty sure I would've seen her one way or another. "What about you?"

Elijah snorts lowly and I brace myself. Corey smiles once more, pining back a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm a first year at Chicago State. And Cameron is a first year Penn State. He's here visiting for the week."

I hadn't expected her to be in college, seeing as her face was so seemingly young. Younger than mine, even. But what I really wasn't expecting was for she and Cameron to be twins. But it did make sense, whenever the two of them stood beside each other.

It was almost as if they carried the same face, just one more feminine and the other more masculine.

Elijah didn't seem to invested in us getting to know each other, reaching over and giving her a gentle, playful shove at her forehead. It was something that both he and Cameron did a lot to her.

"Alright, enough talking. Corey, go make your own friends." Corey scoffs at her older brothers words, swatting away his hand that was attached to forehead.

She looks over to me with a small smile, "it was nice meeting you, Gage. Sorry you have to be all alone with this ape." Her words are short, as she shoots out of her seat, careful not to give Elijah any opportunity to retaliate.

But I don't mine being alone with Elijah. And I think that, that's my problem—I don't mind at all.

Elijah is now staring at me, again. And my heartbeat doesn't bother slowing down one bit.

"I'm sorry."

His words are quiet, solemn. But his tone is low, and I wonder if he's rehearsed our upcoming conversation in his head. If he's replayed his apology over and over again. Because I think that if he has, it'll be easier to forget about everything.

Or maybe, it wouldn't.

When I don't say anything, he continues on. "I'm so sorry for what happened at the fair. I'm trying to put how sorry I actually am into words, but I don't know, I guess I've been struggling. That's why I brought you here. I wanted to show you how sorry I was. Because I could see that you didn't believe me."

I nod, not bothering to deny the fact that I didn't think he was sorry. That was sort of why I was trying to ignore the situation, because I didn't trust that he was actually apologetic.

Because how could someone be so apologetic, after saying such things? But after such a wonderful day, with Elijah and his family, with Elijah bringing me to such a wholesome and heartwarming place. A place that meant so much to him.

So much to his mother.

"I didn't believe you," he nods once more, not trying at all to defend his actions of himself in any way. "But I think that I do now."

It seems as though he can't help but smile at my words. And in response, neither can I. "That's good, really fucking good. Because Gage, you are very quickly becoming one of my good friends. And I really, really don't like losing friends. Especially at my own stupid expense."

I laugh lightly, my hand hesitantly reaching over and gently tapping his. The ring on my middle finger is cold, and it seems to startle him a bit.

My actions are purely platonic, and I knew that he could tell because of the way his fingers lightly traced mine. "I know, I don't like losing friends, either."

A/N - This entire chapter has been redone, as the first draft of it, was somehow deleted :( but I hope you guys still like it!