CHAPTER 98: HIS PROMISE

Chapter NINETY EIGHT

**OLIVER WEST**

"Of course," I called, sitting up quickly.

She entered carrying a tray with what looked like grilled chicken sandwiches and fresh fruit—definitely more lunch than the light snack I’d been expecting.

"I thought you might be hungry, you barely ate any breakfast" She said, setting the tray on Kieran’s desk.

"Thank you, that’s really thoughtful." I accepted the sandwich gratefully, suddenly realizing I was actually quite hungry.

Mrs. Morrison sat in Kieran’s desk chair, but she seemed restless, like she couldn’t quite get comfortable. She kept glancing around the room, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her blouse.

"Mrs. Morrison? Is everything okay?"

She looked at me for a long moment, seeming to wrestle with something internal.

Finally, she stood up and walked over to Kieran’s closet.

"Actually, there is something..." She opened the closet door and began searching through the upper shelves. "I was hoping... would it be alright if I asked you for a favor?"

My heart rate picked up. The way she said it so hesitantly made me nervous.

What could I possibly help her with?

"Of course, what do you need?" I said anyway.

She pulled down a medium-sized box from the top shelf, handling it like it contained something fragile. The cardboard was old and slightly worn, with no labels or markings on the outside.

"I found this when I was cleaning Kieran’s room a few weeks ago," she said, sitting back down and placing the box on her lap. "I think... I think you should see what’s inside."

She held the box out to me with trembling hands.

I set my sandwich aside and accepted the box, surprised by its weight. It wasn’t heavy, exactly, but it felt significant somehow. Like it contained more than just objects.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up at her.

I supposed that since she’d brought the box from Kieran’s shelf, whatever it was inside the box must surely belong to Kieran.

"Just... open it," she said softly.

The box wasn’t locked or taped shut. I lifted the lid carefully, and my breath caught in my throat.

Inside were things I recognized. Things I thought had been lost forever.

My drawing of Kieran that I’d made for Kieran when we were children. It was crayon on construction paper, absolutely terrible by any artistic standard, but I remembered being so proud of it. I’d spent hours on his eyes alone.

My old toy car, the red one with the broken wheel that Kieran had promised to fix for me. The wheel was still missing.

I recognized the silver necklace because I had the same pair, I blinked as a thought suddenly hit me. My own pair of the necklace had been inside a drawer in my room, but Kieran had been the one who helped me pack.

Did he put it among my things?

There was a photo of the three of us—me, Kieran, and Ginny, we were at some party.

We were all covered in chocolate cake and grinning at the camera.

My throat closed up completely. Tears blurred my vision as I picked up each item with shaking fingers.

He’d kept them. All these years, through all the hate and anger and pain, he’d kept every single thing.

"I don’t understand. He said... he said my drawing was ugly. He told me that he looked like a deformed frog." I wiped the corner of my eyes as I stared at the most recent drawing.

This one hadn’t been long ago. It was the same one I had made during art class.

The one I had ripped and thrown in the crash can, the torn picture which Kieran had found and had been furious about.

Here it was, perfectly glued together amongst the numerous things we’d shared as kids.

Mrs. Morrison’s smile was sad and knowing. "He kept it all."

"Why?" I whispered, but it was more to myself than to Kieran’s mom. Maybe Kieran’s feelings hadn’t spontaneously changed like I had thought.

What if he had liked me all along? Before Ginny’s death and everything, Kieran might have liked me more than as friends.

"Because despite everything that happened, despite all the anger and pain, his feelings for you never changed, he just... didn’t know how to handle them." Kieran’s Mom spoke quietly in the gentle silence between us.

I set the box carefully on the bed beside me, wiping my face with the sleeve of my cloth.

I stared at her once again, but this time, it was with confusion, why did she show me all this?

"Mrs. Morrison, what favor did you want to ask me?"

A second passed by slowly, her expression grew serious, and she took a shaky breath even as I waited.

My nerves were tingling in a way that I knew something was wrong.

"It’s about Kieran’s father."

My stomach dropped at the pain that flooded her eyes

"Is he okay?" I asked, staring at her trembling fingers.

"No. He’s very ill, Oliver. He has been for a long time." The word came out as barely a whisper and I inhaled sharply.

My heart felt as though it was sinking "Does Kieran know?"

She shook her head quickly. "I can’t tell him. We... we’ve never been good parents to Kieran. We failed him when he needed us most, especially after Ginny..." Her voice broke and she exhaled, the grief in her eyes was intense now.

"But he has a right to know, you can’t keep such an important thing from him" I said, but she shook her head sadly.

"His father is dying, Oliver." The words hit me like a physical blow as Mrs. Morrison gave up all attempts to control herself, she was sobbing quietly now.

"The doctors say he has maybe a few months left. And Kieran... he’s never forgiven us. He barely speaks to us. If I tell him now, if his father dies..." She covered her face with her hands.

I sat in stunned silence, trying to process what she was telling me.

"I need to ask you something, and I know it’s not fair," She continued. "But you’re the only person who can reach him. The only person he truly cares about."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked, if it was something that was going to help Kieran, I would do it without hesitation.

"Promise me you’ll stay with him." Her eyes were desperate, pleading as she suddenly grabbed my hands with her shaky ones.

"Promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t leave him alone. He’s going to need someone, and you’re the only one he’ll let close enough to help."

I stared at her, my mind reeling. Stay with Kieran? Always?

The weight of what she was asking hit me fully. She wasn’t just asking me to be his friend or his boyfriend. She was asking me to be his lifeline.

"I..." I started, then stopped.

Looking down at the box of treasures Kieran had kept all these years, thinking about the boy who’d saved my life even when he thought he hated me, I realized I already knew my answer.

"I promise," I whispered.

Mrs. Morrison’s face crumpled with relief, and she squeezed my hands even more firmly.

"Thank you, thank you so much." She breathed.