If I’m being honest, seeing Bailey in that suit is doing a great job of distracting me from his yelling. I wasn’t expecting to see Bailey so soon after getting back, and I was really hoping to avoid seeing him for the first two weeks of my visit. He’s looking good, much better than the last time I saw him. Healthier, more confident of himself and definitely more mad at me. Bailey’s cheeks are almost as red as his hair, and his eyes are ablaze with anger.

“Bailey, I know you’re upset but can we talk? There’s no excuse for me being gone I know that, but I’m sorry.” I’m a couple seconds from getting on my knees and begging him to forgive my sorry ass.

“You’re still as eloquent as ever, huh Bails?” I can’t help but match his hostile tone. We’ve always fed off each other’s mood and it’s not any different, ever after 5 years of being apart. His glare is cutting through me and I’m pretty sure my cheeks are as red as his now. He’s changed so much, and I have to fight the urge to push back the hair that’s sticking to his sweaty forehead. It looks like he may be running a fever and I’m about to ask again what he’s doing out here but he speaks before I can.

“Still an ass, huh Wes? Glad to know you never change. Not that I know anything about you anymore, since you fell off the face of the earth after leaving me alone to die.” He sounds like he’s on the edge of tears but his eyes are still burning with hostility and mistrust. My heart twinges with guilt and I bite my lip. I put those emotions there, this is all my fault and I know it.

I left my best friend in the hospital on his deathbed and there’s no excuse. We had been fighting for a week about something trivial. I think it was about the guy he had been seeing at the time, Cole maybe? The guy was a total dick and had obviously been using Bailey to make his ex jealous. Bailey didn’t want to hear anything about it and said that Cole loved him so much. It had made me so mad at the time, and still does, to see my best friend dying but pining after a guy who had come to visit him twice since he has been admitted to the hospital.

Bailey was adamant that Cole was just busy with work, and I called him a coward for not wanting to look at the facts. I had said he was in denial about the situation and there was no way Cole was actually with him because he loved Bailey. Of course, there’s no way Bailey was okay with that, and had practically chased me out of his hospital room with my tail between my legs. I had tried calling him later that night but he avoided any contact with me. It was understandable, and I didn’t blame him. Jealousy is never a good motivator and I hadn’t even realized I was jealous until I talked to my mom about it.