please please check out the video to the side of Jamie singing and playing guitar. It makes my heart hurt every time I watch it.

When salted tears won't dry

I'll wipe my shirtsleeve under your eyes

Chapter 25 ~ Shirtsleeves

Scar Patterson

"That is like the fourth time that I've blasted your ass off!" Trey exclaimed at the top of his lungs as he nudged me in my shoulder. "How does it feel to be a sore loser, eh?" His lips curled into a teasing grin.

I returned the nudge, but kept a straight while I did so. "Don't get too cocky," I spat. "I promise I'm going to beat you in the next game. Those other times were test runs."

Trey let out a large cackle as he thumbed the buttons on his controller. "Sure, Patterson, sure." He reached for his can of soda, brought it to his lips, and took a sip. Silence settled between us before Trey looked at me with an inquiring glint in his dark eyes. "Scar."

I dug my hand into the bowl of chips beside us. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you," he apologized, "and I know that I'm saying that a lot, but I really do mean it. The team isn't even half as good as we were when you were there. I've been trying to convince Coach to let you back on the team."

I shrugged carelessly. "It's okay. I don't really like football anymore." That was the truth. Jamie gave me the money he had been saving for his own place, and he insisted that I used it for my college tuition. Don't get me wrong, it was a kind gesture but taking money from him felt wrong.

Trey's jaw dropped open. "What do you mean you don't like football anymore?"

I sighed as I set my controller on the floor, knowing this would be a long, tiresome talk. "I just don't."

Trey's dark brows pulled together into one straight line. "Seriously? You were the one who convinced me to drop out of baseball, so we could do football together. And now you're saying you don't like it?"

I thought it over for a moment. "I like football and I know I'm pretty good at it. But maybe I want to do something different with my life, now that I have the chance."

I knew my claims only made Trey more confused. "Scar. Ever since we were little, the dream was always to become first string players at Notre Dame. It was supposed to be me and you, college football, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, but Notre Dame is so far away. If I go, then I'll be leaving Jamie here by himself."

Trey's brows drew closer together as his face morphed into a confused expression. He had completely disregarded his controller and gave me his full attention. "You don't want to do football because of Jamie? What the hell, man?"

I shook my head. "It's not because of Jamie. He supports me in everything I do, so much so that he's practically paying for my tuition. And how will I repay him? By moving more than 30,000 miles away? I'm not going to abandon him like that. That's my decision, not his."

Trey's confused expression remained plastered on his face. "You don't actually think you two are going to be together forever, do you?"

I glanced down at my hands and began to play with my fingers. "I'd like to think so."

He scoffed. "I thought this was, like, a temporary thing."

I didn't know why, but that made me slightly offended. "If this was a temporary thing, then I wouldn't have bothered risking everything for him. I love him, Trey, and I'm not going to spend my life after high school away from him."

He let out an exasperated laugh. "You love him? Dude, you just met him."

I shrugged again. "So?"

Trey's hard gaze remained fixated on me for quite some time before he released a long, heavy sigh and picked up his controller again. "That's stupid," he muttered under his breath. I wasn't sure if he intended me to hear it or not, but I did.

The door swung open and Jamie waltzed in with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. "Sorry to interrupt your bro time," he announced as he walked past us and made his way to my closet. "I just came to get some clothes."

I smiled. "Why don't you join? We got an extra controller."

He walked out of the closet only seconds later, fully dressed. "I'll pass. I'm not really the video game type."

I twisted my face in confusion. "We play video games all the time."

Jamie smiled and motioned toward Trey who was sitting next to me on the floor. "Correction, I'm not the play-video-games-with-Trey type."

Trey narrowed his gaze. "Hey!"

He faked a smile at Trey before kneeling to the floor and planting a quick peck on my cheek. "I have plans for us today."

Suddenly, I didn't feel the urge to play video games anymore. "Yeah?"

He took a quick glance at Trey, who was staring at us with wide eyes, and smiled. "Yeah."

Caressing the sides of my face, Jamie pressed his soft lips against mine, drawing me into a soft kiss. I melted into the taste of his lips almost instantly and slid one hand around Jamie's neck to pull him closer to me. He tasted like maple syrup, which was most likely from the pancakes we had that morning.

Before I knew it, I was lowering myself to the floor with Jamie on top of me, brushing my hair back with one hand and caressing my cheek with the other. His tongue slipped past my teeth and I allowed it to explore my mouth, all while deepening the kiss.

Trey cleared his throat beside me, making me snap back into reality. "Awesome, guys. It's not like I'm here or anything."

Jamie broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily and staring deeply into my eyes with his colorless ones. A small smile curved his mouth as he placed another chaste kiss on my lips and turned his attention to Trey. "Oh, sorry Trey. I didn't see you there."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't."

Jamie returned his attention to me and I found myself getting lost in the mesmerizing color of his eyes. "I'll be downstairs when you're ready." His tongue swept over his bottom lip, only wetting them slightly, but still managing to stir crazy feelings inside me.

Even when he exited the room, my heart was still pounding loudly in my chest. I had completely forgotten that Trey was in the room, patiently waiting for us to continuing playing our game. I picked up the controller, flashed him a quick smile and started the game up again but my mind was too occupied with the thoughts of Jamie to focus on anything.

Trey sighed. "Scar," he said. "Can you at least pretend like you're trying?"

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.

He shook his head in disbelief and placed his controller on the floor again. "You don't want to play, do you? You want to go on your date with Jamie."

Even though that was the truth, it would make me look like a bad friend if I admitted to it. "What are you talking about? It's our bro time right now. Jamie practically lives here, so I can see him whenever I'd like."

"Right." He tore his gaze away from mine and dug his hand into the bowl of chips, stuffing them into his mouth. "I'll just go, since it's obvious that you'd rather spend more time with your boyfriend than with your best friend."

I watched as he stood to his feet and made his way to the door in a sulking manner. I couldn't understand why he was getting so worked up over this? I never complained when he spent more than enough time with his previous girlfriends, and he never complained when I spent more time with Francesca. That was the point of being best friends because there was a mutual understanding between us. Well, up until now.

"What's wrong with you?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

Trey whipped around and stared at me with a look of disbelief, as though it was supposed to know what was wrong with him. "Look, I'm totally fine with you being fruity and everything, but that doesn't mean you can just replace me with him."

I folded my arms against my chest and shot him a deadly glare. "First, don't call me fruity. Second, I'm not replacing you. It may seem like that because Jamie was there for me when my so-called best friend wasn't."

He groaned heavily. "I already told you that I was sorry!"

"And I know you are," I snapped back, "but it doesn't give you any right to give me hell for confiding in Jamie when you weren't there when I needed you most."

Trey's fingers snaked around the doorknob and he threw his head back, laughing hysterically. "You don't understand," he said between closed teeth.

I lifted a questioning brow. "What don't I understand?"

He clamped his lips shut, refusing to say anything more. "Whatever," he spat. "I hope you have fun on your date." He threw open the door and stomped out, allowing a heavy, bitter silence to sweep across the room.

I had no idea what was causing Trey to be so bitter. He claimed it wasn't because I was gay, but that seemed to be the only logical reason for his sudden outbursts. It was obvious he couldn't fully accept me yet, despite his constant reassurance that he did.

Instead of letting Trey's mixed emotions inhibit me from living my life, I quickly got dressed and charged down the stairs to meet Jamie, who was sitting on the couch with his legs casually drawn up on the ottoman and a cigarette hanging out in the corner of his mouth. "Trey ran out of here pretty fast, didn't he?"

I tried to shake off the thoughts of Trey and I possibly moving towards a rocky friendship, and threw my arms around Jamie while climbing on top of him. Instinctively, his hands wrapped around my waist. "It doesn't matter. Today, it's just me and you."

The corner of his lips upturned into a slight smirk. "You're quite the romantic one, aren't you?"

I interlocked my fingers together behind his neck and stared down at him through my lustful gaze. "It depends on what you consider romantic."

"I consider this to be very romantic," he said in a deep, raspy whisper. He leaned in closer to me, brushing his lips tentatively against my own. I began to close the distance between us, but stopped when I heard one of the twins' voice.

"Jamie?" Bryan questioned. As expected, Ryan was attached to his side and they both had equally confused looks on their faces.

Jamie broke away from our eye contact and settled his full attention on the boys. "Hey guys. What's up?"

Bryan lips parted in shock. "Are you gonna kiss your friend?"

I felt the heat rushing to my cheeks as I looked away and retracted my hands from around his neck.

Jamie laughed. "Yes."

Ryan gasped. "But why?"

"Why not?"

Ryan wasn't expecting that question, because he fell silent and started to think about his response.

Bryan chimed in. "But boys are supposed to kiss girls."

I had completely tore myself away from Jamie in an attempt to make this situation less awkward than it already was.

He could have thought of a perfect excuse that would put the twins' questions to rest, but he didn't. "Sometimes, boys kiss other boys."

Ryan's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "But why?"

"Because I like Scar," he pointed out. "When you like someone, it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl or a potato. What matters is that you're comfortable with who you like."

Ryan folded his arms against his chest. "Is that why we moved here? Because he's your girlfriend?"

Jamie let out a small laugh. "Yes, Ryan, he is my girlfriend." He was still trying to contain his laughter as he said it.

I nudged him hard, but it only made him laugh even harder. Even when the twins returned to their room and we were stepping out into the cold air to get into my Jeep, he was still laughing. It got to the point where it irritated the hell out of me.

I started up the car and cleared my throat to get his attention. "For the record, I am not the girl in this relationship."

Jamie's laughter died down for a brief moment. "You're right," he admitted. "You're just more girly than I am." His laughter resumed and soon enough, he was clutching onto his stomach and doubling over.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter and ground my teeth together in irritation as I backed out of the driveway and started on our way to our destination. "I'm not girly," I spat bitterly. "You're the one taking it up the ass, not me."

I glanced at him in the corner of my eye to see that my response didn't do anything to faze him. "Right. Well, the only reason I'm taking it up the ass is because you're too scared to do it. Which, consequently, brings me back to my original point, Scarlet."

I hated that he was right. "I hate you."

Jamie leaned over and placed a soft kiss on my cheek and purred in my ear, "Love you too."

I suppressed a sigh and remained silent for most of the drive. Jamie had supplied me with the address of our supposed destination, and that was probably the most talking we did. I tried to refrain from saying anything else to stop Jamie from taking it and using it against me.

About ten minutes into the drive, I realized we were heading onto a secluded back road that had ventured off the highway. It cut through a forest with tall trees on each side. The road looked very familiar and it didn't take me long to realize where I recognized this road from.

"What are we doing here?" I asked him.

Jamie didn't respond. He kept his lips sewn shut and his eyes glued to the window.

As we drove deeper into the forest, flashbacks flickered through my mind. Suddenly, I wasn't driving anymore. I was seated in the backseat with my seat belt pressed firmly against my chest and my father had taken my place in the driver's seat. He glanced over his shoulder to look at me, his eyes glistening with excitement, like he had no idea what was about to happen.

"We're almost there, Scarlet," he notified me.

But when he returned his attention to the road, a gasp escaped his mouth and the next thing I knew, the car was shredding through the forest and knocking down everything in it's path.

I squeezed my eyes shut and slammed my foot on the brakes, causing Jamie to jerk forward. Once the car to a complete stop, I wiggled out of my seat belt, threw the door open and fell to te ground in sobs.

In the matter of seconds, Jamie was at my side with his hands stroking my back in a soothing manner. He didn't have to ask why I had completely broken down, because he already knew. "It's okay," he told me in a soft voice. "I'm here."

I fell into his embrace and buried my face into his shoulder, using his shirtsleeve as my tissue. "I miss him," I said in between sobs. I couldn't understand how Jamie was so composed when in this very spot, his parents took their last breath. I was an emotional wreck, but Jamie was calm and collected. "Don't you miss your parents?" I asked him as I lifted my eyes to his.

Jamie gazed down at me under his light lashes. "I do."

"Then why don't you ever cry over them?"

His lips twitched into the faintest of smiles as he used his thumbs to wipe away my tears. "Because what good would that do? Crying won't bring them back."

"Yes," I agreed, "but crying allows your body to release all the emotions you have bottled inside. No wonder you're so sexually frustrated. It's because you don't cry."

He raised an eyebrow and raked a hand through his hair. "So, you think the reason why I crave sex is because I don't cry?" I didn't know how he did it, but he was able to make me forget about the reason why I was crying. "I don't understand your logic, but do you want to know what I think?"

"What?"

"Girls are known to be more emotional than boys," he pointed out with a teasing smile.

I shook my head. "Real men cry."

"Real girly men cry," he countered.

I huffed loudly before tearing my gaze away from his and focusing on the tall trees beside us. Jamie responded with a cocky laugh as he tackled me to the ground and began to trail kisses down my neck. "I'm only kidding, Patterson. You take things way too seriously which is starting to make me think that-"

"Shut up," I snapped at him.

He laughed once more and crashed his lips on mine. A month ago, I would be completely repulsed by Jamie's kiss, but now I couldn't get enough.

When we returned home, it was late. I hadn't even realized how long we spent on our little date until the sun had begun to set and we were still in the middle of our long conversation. I truly believed Jamie was the one, even after a month of knowing him. I never connected with anyone on this level before and though it was tragic, maybe our parents died in order for us to fall in love with each other. It was like a blessing in disguise, and Jamie was definitely my blond-haired angel.

"I'll get the shower started for us," Jamie whispered into my ear with a suggestive smile plastered on his face as he handed me his coat.

I returned the smile and watched as he darted upstairs, shaking my head in disbelief. After hanging up our coats, I inched into the kitchen to check if my mother cooked anything. With the twins moving in, it gave her a reason to cook more often after finding out about the conditions they lived under with Janice.

When I spotted the pain of lasagna on the stove, I hastily grabbed a fork and stuffed the pasta into my mouth. I was halfway through forcing another forkful into my mouth when a male voice called my name.

I whipped around almost instantly, causing some of the pasta to fall out of my mouth. "Trey?" I mumbled, completely surprised at his presence in my kitchen. Chewing harshly and swallowing down the lasagna, I raised an inquiring brow directed at him. "What the hell? Didn't you leave?"

He adjusted the baseball cap on his head, but refused to meet my eyes. "Yeah, I did, but I came back. You were already gone, so I thought I'd just wait until you came back. What took you so long, anyway?"

I crossed my arms against my chest. "I don't see how that concerns you."

Trey's mouth fell open and he adjusted his hat again, even though there was nothing wrong with the position of it. "Right, it's none of my business. Sorry."

My brows furrowed. "Stop apologizing, dude. It's fine."

He laughed dryly. "Yeah, sorry, I mean - yeah."

Silence washed over us shortly after and it seemed as though he wasn't going to say anything, so I spoke up. "Uh, so are you going to tell me why you're here, or are you just going to stare at me?"

Trey blinked in astonishment, like he couldn't even remember the reason why he was here.

"Dude," I snapped, growing impatient. Jamie was just upstairs with a hot shower waiting for me and there was no way I was going to miss out on that.

I had no idea what Trey was planning to do until he advanced towards me and kissed me. Somehow, his hands fisted their way into my hair. I could feel pressure of his lips against mine, but I couldn't find the power to do anything about it. I just stood there as stiff as a board.

Seconds later, Trey broke away and stared back at me with bewilderment written all over his face. "I'm s-sorry," he stammered. "I don't k-know why I did t-that."

I wanted to say something, anything, but my mind was just as shocked as my facial expression.