Page 11 of Inevitable

His response drew a reluctant chuckle out of me, and I went to hug him tightly.My dad crushed me in his firm, warm grip and kissed the side of my head.The gesture brought tears to my eyes for some reason, and I instantly ached at the thought that they wouldn’t be only twenty minutes up the road anymore.It hadn’t been much of an issue for me the last few months because all I could think about was living near Bash and starting this new adventure with him, but now? The thought slammed into me with the force of a hurricane, and I almost regretted the decision I made to come here.My dad whispered in my ear, “You know we are just three hours away and will come running if you need us.You’re still our favorite son.”

I laughed wetly, “Dad, I’m your only son.”

“It just means less competition for our affection.”

My mom sniffled behind us, and I pulled away from my dad’s embrace to turn to her.“Oh God Mom, please don’t cry.I can take literally anyone else’s tears but yours.It’s like a son’s kryptonite,” I said in an effort to make her smile. It worked, but then she flung herself at me and crushed my waist with her surprisingly strong arms.

“Holy shit lady, when did you start working out?” I choked out.

“Hey, language! You might be twenty years old, but I will still spank you if needed!” Her response made me laugh because that woman hadn’t spanked me a day in my life.I didn’t think she was capable of it.Not that there was ever a need for her to because I was a pretty good kid if I did say so myself.My parents were amazing and I wanted for nothing growing up, so I never went through the typical rebellious stage some of my peers did.

“Whatever you say, lady…I’ll be sure to work on that.” I rolled my eyes playfully, and she smacked me on the shoulder, then gave me one final hug before she went to grab my dad’s hand.

“Please call us if you need anything, honey.Just because you’re a little farther away doesn’t change the fact that we are always here for you for whatever you need,” my mom said earnestly.

“I know, Mom,” I nodded my head.“I promise I won’t be a stranger. I’m all good.”

My parents smiled at me and told me they loved me one more time, and then they were gone. I took a long look around my new apartment and all the breath whooshed out of me at once.I guess this is where my new beginning started.

I just hoped that it would be everything I needed it to be and more.

*****

It took me about an hour to unpack everything for my bathroom, and by that point I was starving and bored as shit. Bash hadn’t answered any of my texts since earlier that morning, and I wondered if he was done with whatever crap he had going on with his parents yet. I texted him to see if he wanted to get some lunch with me, but he left me on read.

Uhh, what the fucknuggets is that about?

Bash was not the kind of person to leave someone on read, least of all me, and I was getting a little worried about it. Even if Bash was at an event or was in a class, he always found a way to text me back. Always.

My spidey senses were tingling and I just had a gut feeling that something was…off. Not the feeling you get when you know deep down someone’s been in a car wreck or was hurt or something, but more like there was some key piece of information missing. Like a glitch in the Matrix was happening, and I was the last to know about it.

In the few minutes it took to overthink and work myself up over it, I decided to just show up at his apartment and see how he was. I mean, I was his best friend and was just checking on him! Yeah, that sounded legit.

Just to be sure he was actually there, I pulled up Snapchat to see where his location had him pegged. If I zoomed in enough, it certainly looked like Bash was at his apartment, or at least was in the close vicinity.

It was hella strange to be within walking distance of him now after spending two years with hundreds of miles between us. Bash lived only three blocks from my place and within ten minutes, I was gliding into his building and taking the elevator to the fourth floor. Son of a bitch was lucky enough to be able to afford a single apartment on the top floor, and it was pretty bougie by college standards.

He had faux granite counter tops in his kitchen and bathroom, and an open concept living room with a little breakfast nook attached that opened up onto his balcony. His bedroom was almost the size of my room back at home with a beautiful bay window, and his living room had a massive TV opposite one of the plushest couches I’d ever napped on.It’s not like I was jealous of his place at all…psh, that’s ridiculous. Okay, moving on now…

As the elevator doors dinged open, I turned to the left and made my way down the dark gray hall with fancy sconces on the wall lighting the way until I made it to the very last unit on the right. Apartment 415.

Call it bestie intuition or my instincts run amok, but I was hit withthe urge to turn back and not knock on his door. What the fuck was that about? Was I really making that big a deal over him not texting me back? What if he was just really busy or had something important to do and he’d text me back later?

Whatever, I was there now and this was happening.

I knocked on the door four times, and waited. No answer. I was about to knock again when the door swung open…only for me to be greeted with bright blue eyes, chestnut brown curls, and a waifish body that didn’t belong to my favorite person.

Why Bastian, how you’ve changed…

“Umm, hi? I’m sorry, I’m looking for Bash,” I awkwardly stuttered.

The girl stared at me with wide eyes and looked me up and down, not in an entirely rude way, but it was enough to put me on guard. “Yeah, he’s here. Who are you?” she chimed with a lyrical voice.

What the hell was going on? Who was this chick?Suddenly not feeling so hungry anymore.

“I’m Micah, his best friend. Who are you?”

“Oh, you’re Micah! I’ve heard so much about you! I’m Ainsley, his girlfriend,” she stated proudly.

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