DISCLAIMER: this chapter uses the word "faggot", which is a word I loathe. Please do not think I condone the use of this word as a homophobic slur against gay people or even as a joke. However, it's relevant to the conversation and that is why it is being used. It is only used one time.

For a brief moment that morning, Bradley had the glorious chance to forget that he had to leave France. It was right when he woke up, turned over to look at his stunning view of the city that he fell in love with, and yawned. For that second, all he knew was that this was the closest he had been to happy in a long while. But, when he sat up it dawned on him that his mother booked him a ticket home.

Now, Bradley's standing in the airport in Detroit, Michigan with a flurry of people buzzing around him like flies. With a backpack slung on one shoulder, Bradley sighs and looks for the driver with a sign that says "Johnson".

After a few moments of searching, Bradley finds the driver who recognizes him. They exchange smiles before they go to luggage claim. They have to fight for a spot. Eventually, Bradley's six suitcases come around, and they snatch each and every one of them.

Bradley follows his driver and another man he doesn't recognize, both of them carrying three of his bags. They lead him to the sleek black car in the parking lot. The driver packs up Bradley's bags in the trunk before starting off on the three hour drive to Bradley's hometown.

Looking out the window, Bradley shoots his mother a quick text about getting to the airport, and then his father about coming home. He's not really sure where his father is anymore. He stopped keeping tabs on him the minute he left for France. It was mutual, Graham stopped calling too.

In France, Bradley managed to forget all his responsibilities besides school where he was constantly being emailed about assignments. But, he forgot about Corrie, Leo, Hannah, and every one else. He focused on himself, on finding the best dieting pills. He focused on his writing for a little bit. He focused on getting his mother to somehow love him by doing choreography.

"Mr. Johnson," the driver makes eye contact with Bradley in the review mirror, "we will be arriving at your house in one hour."

"Thank you," Bradley gives him a toothless smile. He looks down at his agile fingers. They've gotten so skinny that his rings slip off of them. The same can go for his body. His old clothes don't fit right anymore, so much that even his mother took notice and offered to go clothes shopping with him in Paris during her off day. That was one of the best days he's ever had with her since he was a child.

After awhile, he bites his lip thinking about who he's going to go see first.

On one hand, he basically abandoned Corrie, who didn't get so much as a goodbye note. Bradley feels bad, but he doesn't know if he feels bad enough to somehow muster up the courage to see Corrie. At that point, Bradley didn't know how to be Corrie's friend, not anymore.

On the other, Bradley rejected Leo and then split. Nobody got their goodbye, but Leo got his fuck you much more upfront than anyone else.

Everyone else was left to wonder what the hell happened to Bradley Johnson. When his Instagram feed was wiped clean, Devon texted him. Bradley didn't respond. When his all his Snapchat streaks were lost, Hannah called him. And when everything else was deleted, he didn't get any calls or texts or emails.

The most surprising thing had to be that no one really gave a shit what happened to him. Some people called once or twice, but after that they gave up. Maybe they thought he was taking a social media cleanse, or some shit like that. Him not showing up should've set bright red alarms off in their heads, like it did the teachers. Bradley just felt like maybe they should've given more craps. But, how the fuck would they give a shit about him if he didn't give a shit about them?

When Bradley's car reaches the familiar outskirts of town, he feels the need to start to gather his things up. He knows he still has thirty to forty more minutes left, but this part of him wants to collect all his stuff to be prepared for when they stop.

He gazes out the window watching everything pass by in a blur. He starts to get a headache from watching everything pass so quick, but he forces himself to continue to look at it. He plays a couple of games on his phone, but nothing really does it for him.

It's an odd feeling, going to a place you call home but it doesn't feel like it. The thought is really just empty and meaningless. He feels like the place is foreign.

Eventually, they pull into Bradley's driveway. The driver helps take Bradley's things inside his empty home. Figures, Graham isn't here. Bradley tips the driver well before watching his car drive away until it's eventually a spec in the distance.

Bradley takes a look around the house to see if anything has changed since he left. Nothing has, it's all as he left it. Almost like no one had been home since.

It wouldn't be a shock to Bradley if that were the case. If Graham felt no obligation to come home every once in a goddamn while, then he wouldn't. Bradley being out of the country gave Graham more freedom to do--or fuck--whoever.

Bradley sits on the leather couch he still despises and turns on the TV. It's still on the Food Network Channel, just like he left it weeks ago.

Shaking his head, Bradley checks his the time on his phone. He sighs heavily before biting his lip. Jet lag is going to make life miserable for at least a couple of days.

•••

"I'm here for Corrie Hughes," Bradley confirms with a slight head nod. The lady at the front desk gives him a closed mouth smile before typing a few things up. Bradley's sure that she can see the jet lag on his face. He couldn't sleep at all, so he decided to suck it up and just see Corrie even in misery.

"Name please."

"Bradley Johnson." Feeling slightly concerned by the change, Bradley asks, "no one asked me that last time."

"Ahh, yes," the nurse ignores his comment, "you are one of two non-immediate family members allowed to visit. Since no one filled you in, I will read off the directions given by the doctors and Mr. Hughes. 'Visitations are to be supervised by a nurse in the common room and cannot exceed one hour. Only people on the list of visitors will be allowed in.'" The nurse shrugs her shoulders.

"Why?" Bradley rubs his temples. "What the hell happened?"

"The guard will search you and then escort you to the common room." Her eyes gaze up to the security guard who gives Bradley the cold face.

Bradley decides that resistance is useless so he spreads his arms and legs for the pat down. It goes very smooth, especially since Bradley didn't have anything on him. The guard grunts to signal that Bradley's clean.

"Follow me." The guards heavy footsteps are followed by Bradley's silent ones. He puts his hands behind his backs, one hand grasping the other wrist. "Here."

Bradley stands in the doorway of the common room. The guard leaves, allowing Bradley to search for Corrie alone. He finds Corrie sitting in the far back corner of the room in a overly large sweatshirt and sweatpants. Corrie's staring at the wall as the nurse beside him attempts to talk to him.

For a second, Bradley doesn't want to walk in the room. He wants to turn around and return to his car so he doesn't have to face the very person he left behind when he shouldn't have. That part of him is weak.

Bradley steps into the room and tries to steady his breathing. He needs to seem calm, cool, and collected. Inside, he's feeling panicked and nervous.

It's bittersweet, almost. At one point in his life, Bradley knew Corrie like the back of his hand. He knew every inch of Corrie's mind inside out. And now, he doesn't know how to act around Corrie. He doesn't know what to say.

Someone who once held all his secrets, is now like a stranger.

"Hey," Bradley says in a hopefully cool toned voice, touching Corrie's shoulder.

Corrie looks over his shoulder and up at Bradley. "Hi." He turns back to the wall.

The nurse offers Bradley her chair which is catty-corner to Corrie's. Bradley thanks her before taking her seat. She walks off to grab another chair.

"I missed you." Bradley blurts out, breaking the silent tension that filled the air.

Corrie's eyebrows raise. "Is that so? Because it's kind of hard to believe since you just left. No explanation. No note. No text. Nothing. Nada, zip, zero."

"I know." Biting his lip, Bradley stares at the carpeted floor intently. "I'm sorry."

"I don't think you are," Corrie looks up from the wall to Bradley's face. "Because if you were sorry the first thing you would've said is, 'I have an explanation. I have a good reason.' But, instead it was, 'I miss you'. That's a fucking slap in the face because you know damn good and well that I deserve an explanation."

Stubbornly, Bradley sasses, "maybe I was getting to that part and you just cut me off."

Corrie rolls his eyes. "That was your chance to say 'I have an explanation', but it was just a dumbass comment to save your pride instead."

In a timid voice, Bradley replies, "I can't give you an explanation. Not one you'd want to hear."

"I'm so fucking sick of people deciding what I want and don't want to hear!" Corrie stands up abruptly, knocking his chair over backwards in the process. "I'm not a fucking baby. I'm not a weak duckling. I've lived worse. I've heard worse. My own mother told me I was going to rot in hell because I'm a faggot for Gods fucking sake. I think I can handle whatever the fuck you're going to tell me about why you ran away."

Bradley can see Corrie shaking in anger, or maybe something else he doesn't know about. He missed so much. He just left. That's on him.

The previous nurse comes over to the two of them. "Corrie, you know if you can't calm down Bradley's going to have to leave." She takes his hand and rubs it gently, coaxing him to sit back down. Corrie gives in, slumping into his chair.

To change the subject, Bradley asks, "what have you been up to lately?"

"Devon and I broke up a week ago," he mentions dryly, voice void of emotion. "I had a mental breakdown afterwards. Consequently, rules have changed, and nobody trusts me anymore."

"I trust you," Bradley tries to console him but it's useless.

"Then why the fuck won't you tell me why you disappeared from this god awful place?"

__________

☒ - unedited

What are your thoughts on Bradley being almost happy in Paris? What does Paris have that Michigan doesn't? And why was Bradley so able to leave his friends behind. Finally, are Bradley and Corrie going to be able to fix their friendship? Will it ever go back to the way it was?

Please tell me if you see any mistakes, I'm the queen of typos.

QUESTION TIME:

1. do people change? if so, do they usually change for better or for worse? if not, why?

2. who is your favorite character? why?

3. which character do you think deserves better? why do they deserve it more than the the other character?

4. if you could give one piece of advice to either boy, what would it be?

5. if only one character could get a happy ending, who would you want to receive it? why? what would their happy ending looking like in your mind?

6. what ship are you rooting for most—cevon or bradleo? or bradley and corrie's friendship, or maybe even more than a friendship? is the latter even possible?

7. are bradley and corrie toxic for each other? if so, why? if not, why?

8. who in your opinion has changed the most? if any of them have changed in your mind.

9. is there a clear villain in this story? or are the villains the main characters themselves...only we're looking through their eyes so we don't view them as villains? if there is a villain, why do you believe they are? if not, why?

10. what is your favorite quote from this book, if you have one? if so, why? what does it mean to you? how do you interpret it?

11. if you had to write a summary for this book, what would it be?

12. if you could be a therapist to either one of these characters, who's therapist would you be? why?

13. which chapter is your favorite chapter? which one made you feel the most feels? why?

14. if you could choose an ending for this book, what would it be? how would it look? who would be endgame?

15. finally, why are you still reading this book? what has made you stick around for so long? was it the characters? was it the plot? the writing? the author itself?

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1) So ya girl just got first place in Teen Fiction for The Mystical Awards July 2017 edition and I'm LIVING!!!!1!1 Shoutout to the judges for actually liking my books :,)

2) Please don't forget to vote for Baby Fat in the thefictionawards under "Best Diverse Book"!! (Major shoutout to @Samantha0552 who's been a champ at voting!!)

Chapter Dedication: @AnaClaraPaulino for being so passionate about Cevon because me too. That's my ship right there.

Read, vote, comment, and please share!

Next update: when i write it lol

Teaser: Bradley visits Devon to talk about the break up between Cevon...Devon might reveal more than he should.

Quick notes:
[ 1 ] predictions, thoughts?
[ 2 ] PM me if you need anything at all. Writing advice, advice advice, a review of my book, you want a review, you need to rant, you wanna talk about stuff. Just hit me up.
[ 3 ] twenty votes & ten comments?
[ 4 ] i love you and i'll see you soon. ♡♡