Dreamer - Chapter 37

The ride home had been quiet. Rev had mostly kept his gaze out on the open road. He leaned his right hand against the steering wheel, while his left was held up against the window. The trees whizzed past as if we were racing them towards the house; whoever made it back first, wins. The closer we got towards my home, the fewer cars showed on the road. I'll probably never get used to life in the middle of nowhere; what the hell was my father thinking when he found this place? To break the awkward silence, I just pulled out my phone. Rev said earlier to make this technology-free.. but hey, I make my own choices now.

"Hey"

"Lexie"

"'Sup?"

"You surviving without me?"

"Lexie?"

"Lex"

"Lexx"

"Helloooo"

"I'm sorry I called you Lexie."

"I know it's Lex."

"I know."

"Trust me"

"You ok?"

"Lex.."

"Please answer."

"You with him?"

"Lex"

"Please"

Michael's freaking out. Smiling, I opened up our texts and began to type.

"Sorry. Meant to text back. I miss you so much Mi"

"What are you doing?" Rev peeked over before grabbing the phone from my hand, "We're still in a technology-free zone, Lex."

"Did you already seem to forget what was said back at the hospital?" Not that it would've surprised me if he had.

"This isn't me controlling you." He looked at my phone, "This is just something I'd prefer Miss I miss you so much."

"Stop reading those texts and hand me back my phone." I tried to reach for the phone but he jerked his hand away from my reach.

"Call him."

"Nice try. Ace did that already." I was not about to let someone else call my best friend just to be an asshole to him and hang up.

"I am not Ace." He handed me back my phone, "Just call. Obviously, he misses you. Let him know you aren't dead, Lex. Pretend I'm not even here."

Impossible. I've been pretending like he was never here since the first night I met him; he's still here. I hovered my thumb over the call button, hesitating whether or not I should actually call. Was this a trap? Could this be a set up? Could Rev just be trying to trick me right now? When Ace told me to call, he took over the phone call and tried to scare Michael. My eyes glanced over at Rev quickly who had been sitting up now with his eyes adjusted fully on the road ahead. Surely if he was planning on doing something, he wouldn't be acting so calm.. right? He'd be keeping one eye on me.. on my phone. He wouldn't be trying to give me this privacy.. right?

He caught onto my gaze. "You don't really have to call him. I was just making a suggestion." Rev turned into a driveway, "I'm not Ace, Lex. You wanted control of your own life. If that means you have to make other friends, I will have to accept that."

My house grew bigger as we drove closer, "It's just.. Ace-"

"Forget about Ace. This is your friend we're talking about here. He isn't a part of our circle so why should I give two shits about him? I don't care." He looked over at the house, "Anyways, you're home now so you can also choose to speak with him alone."

"You sure I'll be alone? It feels like anytime I assume I'm alone in this house, you have always appeared out of nowhere.. almost as if just appear out of thin air or something." I jumped out of the truck.

"And, Lex?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not telling him."

Oh. That. I had actually forgotten the moment we shared for a bit.. until now. "Why would I have told him?" I asked him, "He didn't need to know everything that I do in my life."

"I also apologized to your father as well. He seemed to have taken it pretty well.. he even put us on a first name basis."

"That's because he's a nice guy." I responded back, "You feel bad about shooting him yet?"

"We've already been through this, Lex."

"You shot him Rev. Not Ace. Not Mace. Not me. Not Mars. Not anyone from your group. You. You did that, Rev. I will never let that go."

"I apologized."

"Yeah. To my father. You apologized to my father. He's a nice guy. He's a real nice guy, Rev. He'll forgive a mosquito for biting him on the ass. Obviously he'll forgive you. I would've been more shocked if he didn't. But he isn't the one you should be trying to apologize to, Rev. You even said it yourself.. the original target wasn't him when you held up that gun." I slammed the door shut.

"Lex." He rolled down the window, "You know that I'm sorry."

"You should've thought about the outcome while you were standing just inches away from my front door," I told him, "because now you went and pissed off the one person who has mastered how to hold a grunge for way too long of a time."

"Lex."

"Goodbye Rev." I walked up the porch towards the door, hearing the truck begin to start back up behind me. The second I got inside my house, I leaned up against the door and just stood for a moment. My eyes were only able to focus on the spot my father's lifeless body had fallen. No idea when I'll ever get around to clean the spot of blood he left behind; probably should go ahead and do it sometime before he comes back home. I just wish I had one great moment inside this damn house. One. Just one. That's all I ask. Whenever I was convinced that something good was about to happen, something terrible had been waiting for me just around the corner. First, it was Ace. Next, it was my dad. What's next? What could possibly be next up on the list for my fate? A teardrop fell down my cheek, followed by a few more. My thumb hovered back over the call button before I finally pressed down and placed the phone to my ear. There were only a couple rings before I heard the soothing voice on the other end.

"You finally done punishing me?" He questioned. Although we weren't together, I knew he had been smiling.

"I wasn't punishing you."

"Lex," His voiced sounded concerned, "I was worrying my ass off over here."

"I was busy."

"You weren't-"

"No," I lied to him, "I had school. I just decided to go out with a friend afterwards. She's nice.. you'd love her."

"What's this so-called friend's name?"

"Jess." I took a breath, "She was the first person at this new school of mine who was polite to me."

"She isn't about to replace me, is she?"

Never, Michael. "You really think I can get rid of you that easily?"

He laughed.

"I just wanted to call you." I blurted out, "I didn't want you to think I just ignored you on purpose."

"I would never think that." There was a pause. "You just worried me. That was all."

"Worried?" I chuckled, "Michael. Your texts looked as if you thought something horrible happened to me."

"I can't help it. You were hanging out with that guy and-"

"Michael."

"-my best friend left me for another state. Excuse me if I worry a little." He finished.

"I promised you that I would never let anything happen to me. Don't you trust me?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Michael." I sighed out loud, "I promised you, and you know I would never break my promises. I will make sure that nothing ever happens to me so we can reunite once again and catch back up."

He chuckled back into silence. A pause. For once, I actually didn't know what else to say to break it. My mind went blank. The room suddenly fell dark.

"Hello love." He stepped out of the large pickup, leather jacket and all.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I tried to move away but my feet somehow felt glued in place.

He took a step closer to me, "I wanted to see you. Heard you had been missing me."

"Why the hell would I miss you?" I tried to get away from him only to find myself moving closer to him. Our bodies soon had been pressed against each other as his eyes focused on mine.

"You called," He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear, "and left about twenty voicemails on my phone. You sounded drunk. Did you know you tend to make confessions when you get drunk, Lex?"

"I have never been drunk, Rev." I took a step back, breaking our eye contact, "You have the wrong girl."

"No." He pulled me back towards his chest, "It was you. It was definitely you. You underestimate just how close we have gotten these past few days." He pushed my chin up so our eyes would lock gazes once again. All I was able to see was him. His dark brown eyes. His pink, plump lips. "It was your voice," He had been smiling now, "Yours."

Speechless, I couldn't do anything but gaze at him. I suddenly felt as if I was some helpless girl who had been weak in the knees for the man standing right in front of her. My fingers traced the back of his neck, twirling around the ends of his hair.

"Lex?"

"Mmm."

"Lexie?"

✿✿✿

The room came spiraling back as the sound of Michael's voice filled my head. "Michael?"

"You okay? What happened to you, Lex?"

Oh, nothing much. I just imagined a scenario where I was about to make out with one of the men I couldn't possibly stand. "Must have just zoned out for a second." I told him, slapping my hand against my forehead immediately after. Thanks a lot, self. Now he'll worry more.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine." That came out a lot harsher than I expected it to, "I was just-" I paused. What was I doing? I cannot tell Michael about the dream I just had. No. Bad Lex. Bad.

"You just what?" He asked.

"Nothing." I answered quickly, "I think I- I have to go."

"Now?"

"I have lots of homework to do. I'll still text you if I can, Michael."

"Alright." He said back to me, "But don't you dare think I'll let you forget that you chose homework over your best friend."

"Very funny." I chuckled before hanging up the phone. Putting my phone down on the couch, my eyes found it's way back towards the darkened spot laying in front of where our front door was. The exact spot my father once laid helpless across the floor. Oh Rev.. why are you the way that you are?