Socializing

Chapter 24. An Understanding

I arrived home at around 10 pm and found Ana waiting up for me and of course, she was watching Season 2 of Jessica Jones.

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Okay," I replied recalling the talk I had with Adrian on the drive home.

"Do I get to know the details or is this one of the boyfriend's off topics?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Well, the talk didn't go the way I thought it did," Ana said as I disappeared into the bathroom. I could feel my hands shake from worry. Done with freshening up, I sat on my bed across from Ana and nearly broke into tears.

"Woah," she said coming to my side. "Breathe and tell me what's up."

"I-uh-," I said clearing my throat. "Adrian and I might not work out."

"Okay," Ana said giving me space to finish.

"He simply does not want to drag me into his shitty life," I finished.

"What do you mean by that?"

"He has been depressed since his mother died and he wants to sort that out before we can ever be."

"And in the meantime, what are you going to do?" she asked hopefully.

"Give him the space he needs," I replied.

"You're joking right?" She said stunned. "You need to hold his hand and go through it with him Donna. Don't leave him to deal with it alone. Have an understanding between the two of you and work something out."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning, he's in love with you and that will be the strongest thing he will hold on to. Show him that you want to be part of his life. That he can let go and keep living."