Chapter 7.

I stare at the already-packed luggage that I took with me when coming to Jim's apartment. It's black and looks even better than it did when I bought it.

That bag is literally everything I'm not.

I came to Jim's house days ago, thinking that everything was going to be fine, Tony would answer his messages as well as come back home.

... But now I know I was stupid.

Peeking through Jim's bedroom door and making sure not to wake him, I quickly tie my hair up in a high ponytail and pack the rest of my things.

I hope I'm doing the right thing leaving the state entirely.

I can't live here anymore. There are too many sad memories and I've begun to wonder if it was really a good idea relocating to Minneapolis.

I know Jim will totally kill me if he wakes up and sees me leaving, so I silently pick up my bag and try to sneak out the house. Emphasis on the 'try'.

Like the clumsy twat that I am, I use my elbow to knock over a vase and it shatters into a million pieces on his marble-tiled floor.

Shit, shit, shit.

As can only be expected, I hear the sound of shuffling feet from the other room and I automatically freeze on the spot.

Should I jump back on the couch and pretend to be asleep, or should I just dart out the door like a crazy lady? My instinct tells me to run out the door but, before I can act on impulse, Jim's bedroom door creaks open, revealing a sleepy-eyed Jim in his sweater shirt and Pajama trousers.

He runs his hands through his always tousled blonde hair before rubbing at his eyes.

"April?"

My hand tightens around my traveler's bag, just like the knot in my stomach, as his gaze falls onto my bag, a frown etched over his face.

"You never saw me here. This is all an illusion." I whisper, losing my head completely, and dash out the door, slamming it behind me a little too loudly.

It's still 6:00 in the morning, so the sky is gloomy and the streets are soulless. It's the perfect hour to escape this city.

I can picture my mom's face, streaked with tears when she sees I'm back home for good, and my dad giving me a bone-crushing hug.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jim's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

I look over my shoulder and fasten my pace. "Leave me alone Jim."

"I said, where do you think you're going?" This time, frustration laces his voice, but I still have no intention of replying.

"April Adeline White!"

My full name rolls out of his mouth angrily, causing me to stop in my tracks. He never calls me by my full name unless he's trying not to lose it, so I turn around slowly to see his deep blue eyes staring me down, his jaw locked tight.

"What does it look like?" I huff irritably. "I'm going back to New Jersey."

"Like hell you are!"

I knew he wasn't going to let me leave. "What's the point of staying here anymore?" I ruffle my hair and place my hands on my waist, "It's over for me. I can't even hold a relationship, let alone a job."

"None of those things were your fault, dumbass. You can't run away because of a failed job and relationship. What are you? A coward?"

"Yes," I answer confidently. "I'm a coward. I run when trouble comes, cry when things don't go my way and, right now, my life is a hot mess. I don't even have a place to stay."

"What are you even talking about? You've been staying in my house!"

"I know, but I won't be staying there any longer. I don't want to feel like a nuisance." There's a slim chance that I will break down in tears, at the moment.

Let him just leave me be, for fuck's sake.

"You and Jacqueline need your personal space and that won't happen if I'm lazing around the house all day. I can't do this anymore, Jim... I'm sorry." I hastily wipe the tear that drops onto my cheek and turn in the opposite direction.

"Take one more step away from here and our friendship is over." Jim says, with an uncharacteristic crack in his voice, and I blink back several more tears as they threaten to fall.

Jim's words are one of the most heartbreaking things I've heard this week. They hurt me even more than Tony's 'No one wants you.'

All of this is too much for me to take. First my job, then my boyfriend... and now my best friend? I can feel the thunderstorm breaking out over my heart, as I remember how far Jim and I have come together. How can I just throw all our history away?

He took me to my first prom. He made me believe I was lovable, even when I felt like shit...

I've come to accept Jim as my once-in-a-lifetime soulmate. He's that one person who's more than a best friend. He's the one person in the world who knows me better than anyone else, the person that makes me a better person.

He inspires me.

And a soulmate is someone who you carry with you forever.

He knew me and accepted me and believed in me before anyone else did. No matter what happens, I will always love him, even if it's in a totally platonic way.

"Don't make this hard for me too,"  Jim says and I hear him take in heavy breaths, as if trying to keep his emotions at bay. "Want a job? Fine. I'll give you one to my Law firm. Need a place to stay? I've inherited a God-damned house. You don't have to go; we need each other."

It's a no-brainer, really. I made my decision years ago. My bag slips off my hands in surrender and hits the floor in a loud thud.

We need each other. And I'm staying.

* * * *

My first day at kindergarten was a disaster.

Being an over-pampered and bratty five-year-old, I kicked and screamed and pinched myself till I bled when I was handed over to our homeroom teacher.

My first day at elementary school was pretty much the same. Garrett (My older brother) had to empty a bucket of water on my bed so I could get on my ass and go to school.

It was also the same when I was leaving for college. I felt sick for a week after relocating to my new dorm, so I've come to understand that I'm not very good at adapting to new places and environments.

"Where does he work again?" I ask Jim, who's beside me, as I stare at the penthouse and chew nervously on my fingernails.

Jim had to practically drag me down here, amidst our bickering and exchanging of swear words. Now - to the real issue at hand - Jim and I are sitting in his car, in front of a white penthouse that I'm pretty sure is made of money.

But It's not the penthouse that's making me tense.

Apparently Jim was right when he said he'd inherited a lot of property, but there was just one huge problem: he'd rented them all out already. He didn't know it but I'd done a little victory dance in my head when he told me all the houses were taken.

He didn't let it end at that, though.

One or two phone calls were made, and before I knew it, he was telling me I'm staying with one of his tenants until I get another job.

I'm not even surprised his tenant consented to me staying with him. I mean, it's Jim. He's a people's person and everyone loves him.

I, on the other hand, am so not okay with this arrangement. How, in the name of God, I'm I supposed to live with a guy I don't even know? He could be a serial killer... or a psychopath... or- or something even worse!

You could say that my life is getting more twisted than a cinnamon roll, right now.

"'Where does he work?'" Jim repeats, shaking his head at me. "That's the fourth time you've asked me that question." He rubs at his temples, obviously getting frustrated with my drama.

"Sorry, I was too busy thinking of ways to escape this car."

"I'm not repeating this again, so listen this time." He sighs and turns to face me. "My tenant here is a doctor and owns a hospital here in town. I know what you're thinking and, no, he's not a serial killer."

"Stop reading my mind you creep." I slap his rock hard arm and regret it almost immediately because of the stinging pain it causes me.

"So are we doing this or not?"

"Can I go with 'not'?"

"April..."

"I mean, what if he hates me? No one likes me."

"Well, in that case, my name should be 'No One'."

I look at his arm and contemplate slapping it again, but I don't really want a fractured wrist so I keep my hands to myself.

"Look, he's a really nice person. If you were able to put up with Tony for three years, you'll be able to cope for just a couple of months... Yeah?"

That's kinda true. No one can be worse than Tony, right?

"Ok, let's do this." I climb out of the car, with my traveler's bag in one hand and a strand of my hair in the other. I wish it would stop falling in my face. 

"Just try not to stammer or bite your fingernails." Jim pops his head through the sunroof, to look at me from the top of his car."You tend to do that a lot when you're tense."

"What are y-you... talking a-about?" I say in my best imitation of a stammer.

He gives me a knowing look.

I sigh. "Okay, fine. I see what you're talking about. Kind of."

At the 'kind of', Jim sighs too, for what is possibly the thousandth time today. Then he gets out of the car and walks to the gold-painted gate, pressing on the doorbell and tucking his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket.

My eyes roam the sight before me. The penthouse has glazed balconies on every floor and facades lined with textured glass louvers. From outside the gate, I can see a huge fountain, with the sculpture in the shape of a man riding a horse. He has a sword in one hand and the other the horse's reins in the other.

I wonder what the inside of the house will look like, if the gate alone is shinier than my future.

"He's here." Jim grins at me as the gate opens slowly.

The man's figure moves into sight and I stare.

When Jim said he was a Doctor, I was kind of expecting someone in their late thirties to walk out. But the sight in front of me literally blesses my eyes.

He also looks kind of familiar. That hair... His jawline... His lips... Wait a minute!

I hurriedly adjust my glasses to see the lips I kissed five days ago turn up in a big smile.

Oh. My God. It's him!