The Broken Promise

Warning: Story Contains topics of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, self harm, suicide, abuse, sexual harm and may be unsuitable for some audiences. This story is an 18+ Story. I will put trigger warnings before each chapter that will be unsuitable for the readers.

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It was a cold night in the middle of December and I had just got off work. I was listening to Chase Atlantic at full volume with my headphones on my head. Work stressed me out as my boss was really getting under my skin. I walked to the bus stop and sat down on the bench and waited for the bus.

I looked at my phone and texted one of my friends to pass the time. I noticed someone sit next to me using my peripheral vision. The person looked familiar to me and I looked up to notice a woman sitting next to me. Her brown hair...her brown eyes, it was undoubtedly...

"Courtney?" I said then turned down my music and took my headphones off.

She looked at me then her eyes widened. She gasped and looked at me as if she had seen a ghost. "Bryson..?"

"You still call me by my middle name huh." I smiled and chuckled softly.

"Of course I know your first name is Hayden, but...Gosh it's been like, I don't know, seven years since we last met." Courtney smiled at me.

"Yeah we haven't seen each other since we graduated together. I kinda moved out of my parents, I'm sure you did as well?" I asked.

"Not...exactly." Courtney looked away and rubbed her arm. I noticed her uncomfortable look when I brought up the topic of her living situation.

"Still live with your dad huh..?" I asked.

"Yeah.." She nodded.

There was a bit of silence for a bit, but I decided to break the silence. "If you want, you can come by my apartment. We can hang out like we used to do."

"Like we used to in like me sneaking out of my house so I could sneak through your window and we make out before your mom came in-"

"Yeah yeah whatever." I laughed softly. "We were dumb rebellious eighteen year olds. It's sad that we broke up though because of our parents and their issues with one another."

"Yeah, but I can't lie...sneaking out just to see you was a wonderful thing." Courtney said with a blush on her face.

The bus came and stopped in front of us. The doors opened and we got up to get on the bus. We took our seats beside one another then began to reminisce about the past. We shared a couple of laughs about the embarrassing moments we had with one another. Most of the memories we recalled was us being dumb teenagers and going to all of the parties we had no business going to.

Our bus ride came to an end and stopped in front of my apartment complex. I got off and Courtney followed behind. We walked to my apartment and I used my key to unlock the door then we walked inside.

"Wow, this is a pretty nice apartment. Living lavishly without me huh?~" Courtney teased and flicked my nose.

I chuckled and closed the door behind me and turned on the lights. I held her shoulders and walked her over to the couch then sat her down. "Want something to drink?"

"Let's see if you can remember my favorite drink~ It's been seven years so I don't blame you if you don't." Courtney said.

"Of course I remember your favorite drink. It's that nasty Rage Strawberry Dragonfruit Soda." I said and chuckled.

"Come on! It isn't THAT bad!" Courtney laughed. "And if it's so nasty, why do I have a feeling it's in your refrigerator?"

I walked into the kitchen and opened my refrigerator then pulled out a bottle of the drink she loved and a bottle of flavored alcohol. "Well...it's because it was also my mom's favorite drink and she sometimes stops by. I remember you and her literally bonding over this drink."

Courtney chuckled and watched me hand her the drink. She grabbed it from my hand then watched as I sat down next to her. "I have a feeling only you hate this delicious drink."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled then grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. I put something on and set the remote down. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much honestly. Just college and back home is all...sadly." Courtney said and took a sip out of her drink.

I looked at her and noticed her sad face. She's hated living with her parents since she was in high school and she still does. I wished there was a way for me to help her, but I couldn't think of anything. I just wrapped my arm around her out of pure instinct and pulled her closer to me. She smiled and leaned against me.

"You would always do this whenever I was sad. I loved it especially when you would do this just because you knew I loved it." Courtney said and closed her eyes.

I looked at Courtney and smiled. "I guess it's just instinct now.."

Courtney looked up at me, smiling. She set her drink down on the table then took my drink out of my hand and set it on the table as well. She pressed her weight against me then kissed my lips. I kissed back and held her. It's been so long since we last kissed, but it was just natural for us. She pushed me down on the couch and sat on top of me then took off her jacket and let her hair down. She leaned down and kissed my lips again, holding onto the arm of the couch.

We made out for a few minutes before she pulled away and placed her hands on my chest, panting. I looked up at her and sat up then she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I missed you so much.." She said and placed her forehead on mine.

"I missed you too.." I said and smiled.

We shared one more kiss then she pulled away and ran her fingers through my hair. She smiled at me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Hey...do you remember that promise you made to me back then?" She asked.

"I dunno, I made a lot of promises to you." I moved my left eyebrow and smiled at her.

She giggled softly. "Yeah but this one was an important one, a promise that...you made to me that could've changed my life."

I looked at her and felt her hands shaking. I looked at her hands then tried my hardest to remember it. "I...I don't know. It's been seven years so it's all a blur pretty much."

She smiled and shook her head. "It's alright if you forgot it. It has been a long time since either of us brought it up." She said disappointedly then her hands went down to my arms. She laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry Coco." I said.

She smiled and blushed softly. "It's okay Haybear...I should be getting home. I know my dad..is probably pissed off that I'm not home so I'll just.."

"You don't have to go," I started.

"It's not like I have a choice." Courtney said then looked up at me. She kissed my cheek then got up. "I love you..."

I watched her as she walked out the door and closed it. I tried my hardest to remember the promise I made her all those years ago. "Think you stupid fucking idiot...what did you promise her that was going to change her life?! What was the promise?!"

An hour went by and I tried to scroll through the archives of our old messages but couldn't find what I promised her through the messages and voice notes we sent each other all the time.

"I said it either in person or on facetime. Either way I can't remember what I said." I said to myself and groaned out of annoyance for myself.

I got a text message from Courtney and looked at it.

Courtney: If you're really wondering what you promised, you promised me that you'd save me from my pathetic life when we graduated. You promised me that when we graduated, we could run away together...to God knows where, but you ended up moving. It set a wrench in our plans and we lost communication for seven years. It's okay though, I still love you. You're the only person I could ever love.

After reading the message, everything clicked to me and I immediately tried to call her. The call went through but there was no answer.

"Hi, it's your favorite girl Courtney~ Sorry I can't answer your call at this moment, but I'll try to get back to you when I can~" Courtney's voicemail said.

"Please Courtney answer me, I'm sorry I forgot..!" I said in a frustrated tone. "I can't let our reunion end like this..!"

I tried to call her again but once again it went to her voicemail. After a few more failed tries, I wanted to take the bus to her house, but the bus doesn't run during these hours anymore. A few minutes go by and I got a call on my phone. I answered it quickly without looking at the caller.

"Courtney!" I said.

"No...it's your mother, Hayden. I need you to look on the news." My mom said.

I grabbed the remote and turned on the news quickly because my mom sounded hurt.

"Breaking News! Another young soul lost due to suicide, and this time it's the Southview University's most promising student, Courtney-Habilee Marshall." The news reporter said.

I dropped my phone and watched the TV screen.

"Her father, Abel Marshall, has been arrested for multiple counts of sexual and physical abuse upon his daughter after police found countless bruises on her back, legs, neck." The news reporter continued.

I teared up and covered my face. "I made a promise to her...an important promise and I couldn't even keep it because I forgot it. I'm so stupid! Why..? Why did I have to forget. I have to fix this, no matter what...I want to fix this but I know I can't anymore.."

"Hayden? Are you there?" My mom asked on the phone.

I looked at my ceiling and spaced out. I lost the one girl that I loved. Even after our lost communication, I never looked at another woman like I looked at her. I never cared about another woman like I cared about her. I never touched another woman like I touched Courtney. All I could do was hate myself for breaking the promise that I made.

I closed my eyes and just decided to wish this was all a terrible dream...a terrible nightmare.

...

My alarm sounded off and I opened my eyes, noticing I was in a bed. The Silk alarm of my iphone was loud in my ear and I rolled over to turn it off. I picked my phone up and looked at the time and date. I sat up quickly and looked at the date and time with widened eyes.

"August...20th, 2030..?! No way...no way this is happening..." I said then got out of bed quickly.

I looked in the mirror and looked at myself surprised. My short black hair, my sky blue eyes...that serious badass, bad boy look on my face. There was no doubt about it...

"I am seven years in the past.." I said to myself. "Wait...that means...Courtney is alive..! I can fix this!"

"Hayden! Hurry up and get ready or else I'm not taking you to school!" My mom called out to me from the stairs.

I heard her voice and nearly broke down into tears. "Yes...I really can fix this and keep my promise. All I have to do is play my cards correctly and relive my eighteen years old life. Courtney...I'll save you this time."