Thirty one

Owen didn't want anything to do with Jake, his heart still yearned for him at times but when he remembered what Jake had done, his feelings turned to anger and sadness. He thought he should have listened to his sister and not fall as hard as he did for Jake but there was no telling his heart the pace at which it should love. He deleted all pics of Jake and blocked his calls as well as blocked his number from reaching him via any social media platform. His friends noticed that he wasn't as cheerful as he used to be, Jake had scarred him and felt like giving up on love.

He was slowly losing interest in stuff so he took a leave from work. He had to concentrate on school. Had exams coming up so he dedicated more time to studying, in as much as he tried to distract himself, his mind often wondered to Jake and how he was doing. He tried to push him out of his mind, wished he could delete him out of his life like he did the pictures but it was not possible. Jake had made a tattoo in his heart...one that would take time to laser out.

After exams, his distraction... the heart ache continued but it didn't hurt as much as it did at first.

"I did pretty well if I could rate myself" Owen assured himself.

Truly he wrote well as he soaked himself in his books and those books at times bridged off thoughts of Jake.

"How was your exam" Kevin asked joining him after he finished his paper. They wrote the same exam but Owen finished first.

"It was okay " Owen replied.

"Mine was crazy...what I didn't read came out after all the time I spent...reading"

"Oh...too bad"

"Should we go have a drink for finishing our exams...next semester we'll be graduating " Kevin cheered with a smile.

"I'm not in the mood" Owen weakly said.

"Is anything up with you...are you going through stuff" Kevin worriedly asked.

"No...I'm fine...I've just been staying up late studying and now I need a nap badly"

"Where is Jake ?"

"Why are you asking about him out of the blue ?" Owen said forcing a chuckle.

"Did you guys break up again ?" Kevin observed. " cause you just finished exams and I think he should be here and you look down".

"Yeah...we did. We broke up for real this time !" He confessed.

"Come here " Kevin hugged him. "It's gonna be fine"

"Of course it is...I'm over him already" Owen sniffed.

"Good to know that" Kevin rubbed his back in comfort and released him.

"I'll be off now...should I drop you home?"

"I'll wait for Gilbert"

"Okay...bye" he got into his car and drove off.

"Where is Owen ?" Stephen asked joining Kevin a while later.

"He left !"

"Oh...I wanted a ride to the library I have my next paper next tomorrow morning " Stephen whined.

"He broke up with Jake again" Kevin revealed.

"Huh...why ? What happened ?"

"He didn't say...he looked sad so I'm sure Jake did something"

"Shit...can't believe he'd do that...I'll go tell him my mind"

"Do you even know his house ?"

"Well I don't" Stephen scratched his head.

"Who do you wanna tell off" Gilbert asked join them and pecking Kevin as he did and giving Stephen a friendly pat.

"How was your paper ?" Kevin asked.

"Uhm...let's just say I did my best" Gilbert replied.

"Okay..." Stephen said.

"Where is Owen ?" Gilbert inquired looking around for him or his car.

"He broke up with Jake !" Kevin broke.

"What did that fucker do this time " Gilbert angrily asked.

"He didn't tell...he was unwilling to share"

"Maybe he hasn't moved on yet" Stephen added.

"Shit! I'd go burst that guys head if I knew his house" Gilbert declared clenching his fist.

"We don't even know what happened " Stephen said.

"Let's go to Owens" Kevin said.

They booked a taxi which drove them to Owens house. They were relieved to see his car parked outside when they got there. They all hustled in to the house and rang the door bell.

"Who's that ?" Owen asked from the other end.

"It's us...your friends" Gilbert replied.

The door cracked open.

" What are you guys doing here " Owen asked forcing a smile on his red face.

"We are here for you man...what happened?" Stephen asked.

*****

The holidays began, so Owen and his sister joined their aunt and family in going to their holiday house at the beach side. The beach house was originally owned by their father but he willed it to his sister. By this time beach front had had frosted over with thin ice around it. A little crack and it would break. He felt he would used this holiday period to heal and collect himself and his thoughts.

He had friends around here that usually came by for holiday period and they did burn fires and hosted mini beer parties and they just talked the night away and shared good laughs. He planned to join them.

They arrived the beach house and Owen joined his aunts husband in offloading the firewoods they had gotten for the furnace. After that he had a long nap.

In the evening, he joined his friends at the burn fire spot. He exchanged pleasantries with the friends he knew and those he didn't know as well.

Owen lived here for Fifteen years before his father moved them to San Francisco.

The party was going well and he was enjoying his beer, the jokes and the tales. He felt good being around these people he wasn't close to. It was all going well and he saw cute guys and girls. One particular guy caught his attention and the guy actually stared at him

Jake! Jake! Another Jake in disguise ! Scammer Jake! Lying Jake. Owen immediately averted his eyes from where the guy was, pleading with his eyes to not wander at the guys direction.

They played the truth and dare game and Owen used the opportunity to excuse himself and left the gathering. This night kept reminding him of the night he met Jake...

He went to the restroom and at the mirror he could see he was wearing the coat Jake had gotten him for his birthday and he ripped it off his body and threw it in the bin there. The cold was too much but he moved out without it.

"Hey are you crazy ?...you'll freeze to death in this weather" Noel said removing his upper coat as he had worn two.

Noel was Owen's first boyfriend, thought he loved him but when they got to college the relationship strained and they broke up. Noel had said he had to focus and being with Owen was a distraction so they went their separate ways.

"...what happened to your coat ?" Noel asked.

"Shit...happened " Owen replied and Noel wore him the coat which Owen submissively let him.

"Let's go sit by the fire" Noel said leading him out.

They walked to where the guys were and the guys scooted over to make space for them. Noel talked about what he'd been up to and Owen paid no attention to as he stared into blank space.

He tapped Owen...no reply...

He turned his face...blank expression

He tilted his own head to the side to watch Owen from the side view ...still blank unblinking expression...

He got closer to his nose and bulged his eyes at Owens face and Owens eye lashes flapped...

Noel kissed his lips....

"Who ooo o...old flames" the guys jeered.

Hearing their jeering must have jolted back Owens senses. He looked around at first then looked at Noel seeing how close his face was to his.

"Did you just kiss me"

"Yeah...thought you had a brain freeze for a second so I gave you emergency CPR...with my lips"

"Noels lips is now a heat warmer guys...line up for a hot kiss from the hot doctor student " they laughed and Owen was just there. Owen took the last swig of his drink and stood up to leave and Noel followed behind him.

"You're here for the holidays ?" Noel asked matching his pace.

"Obviously ...what about you ?" Owen replied.

"Same"

"How is med school"

"All great but really stressful "

"Okay "

"You look sad ...what happened"

"I'm okay !"

"What happened to your coat...please tell me ?"

"We were close in the past Noel...not now...I don't have to tell you shit going on in my life"

"I care about you okay that's why I wanna know...I can't stop thinking about you...I want to take care of you like before"

"So you'll toss me aside again once you eventually graduate..."

"It won't happen again I promise "

"Are you following me cause of your jacket "

"No...why would I do that...can we go back to how we once were"

"We never will...we can't even be friends let's just say hi to each other like matured adults...we can't ever go back to teen life"

"I'm..

"Shut it.." Owen took off the coat and handed it over and draped it in Noels arm. He was already close home so he made a move for it. He slid and fell as he walked in haste and turned back to see Noel smiling...he stood up and shrugged off the ice on him and went home.

"If you were sincere you'd have reached out a long time ago not stumbling into me and spewing crap"

The furnace was lit and burning so Owen sat by it as he got into the house. By now the rest of the house were sleeping as it was really late. He made himself hot chocolate and sat in front of the furnaces finding amusement in how the flames danced.