Found In The Woods

Chapter Forty-Four

I slowly ate my fries after my shift, wondering if I should go to see PJ and Cil again. After all, after a few hours of PJ spamming my phone with texts and calls, all I could send him was "I need some time alone" a little after midnight.

"Yo, kid, what's up?" Epic asked as he sat down across the table. Epic was  work buddy, who was my manager. He was like a really cool older brother: old enough to be your idol, but not too far apart for it to be awkward between you.

"You know about that guy I was hooking up with a while back?" I asked, deciding someone to know.

"Yeah? What, did he move back?"

"Well, he's currently staying with his parents, but... he had my child while away, and I really want to get back with him to fix things and start to help raise my kid," I explained.

"That's good!" Epic smiled. "Right?"

"Well, you see... his best friend has helped him raise our kid because we weren't in contact and he couldn't exactly find a way to get to me and tell me 'also I had your child, so can we cut this time without contact short?', and because of that, the guy has been giving me total shit for leaving in the first place, completely misunderstanding what happened even though we both explained it to him a few times."

"Oooo." Epic nodded. "The friend likes your... baby...momma...? Your babyparent, and is jealous that now, he can't swoop in to save the day."

"I... I don't know about that, but what matters is yesterday, I yelled at him because he made my kid thing I'd abandon him, right? So when I said he better not make me see like a good-for-nothing deadbeat dad, he replied with 'Like your dad?'."

"Oh my god, no!" Epic exclaimed, appalled by the disrespect for my daddy issues.

"Yeah! So, I... blacked out and lifted him by his shirt." I sighed, disappointed in myself. "They were so scared, Epic... my own kid screamed when I got closer to him to try to comfort him... a-and the look in my... b-boyfriend's eyes... t-they were t-terrified of me!"

I started to cry. Epic just stared at me, clearly unsure on what to do.

"Look, I might not know the best... but I think you really need to go and talk to them. Everything has calmed down, and it's best if you at least see them. I mean, you seem to have just left your kid and lover again, so you should go back and make sure there were no misunderstandings, okay?"

I nodded, calming down from my crying. "Sorry..."

"Nah, it's just us. It's okay to cry a little, I won't tell."

I chuckled, wiping my tears.

"Well, I'll let you have your fries. If you need anything else, I will be here. Just take your time, and try to do what our parents taught us."

"Bottle up and mask all emotions until you have a mental breakdown?"

We laughed together, lightening the mood a bit.

"Thanks, dude."

"No problem, bro."