Fezco // Safe Space (𝔼𝕦𝕡𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕒)

Chapter 21

Sofia's POV

"Did you two break up again?" Aaron asks as Nate walks back toward the chili stand. "No" he responds briefly, walking past him. "Looks like you broke up again" he mentioned. "No, we didn't" he confirmed once more. "If you ask me she's a distraction" Cal says, taking a sip from his chili spoon. "I am literally right here" I remind them, as if they weren't talking about my sister right in front of me. I finish my chili and throw the paper bowl away, eyeing Nate's dad.

"You're a good girl, Sofia. But your sister is trouble. You would know better than anyone else" Cal reminds me. "She wouldn't be trouble if Nate didn't act like such an ass" I mentioned, crossing my arms. "Sofia, do you want a ride home tonight?" Nate asks sarcastically, turning toward me. "You would think Devin would be here for that, but once again, he has proven to me why breaking up with him was the right choice" I raise my eyebrow at him.

"You sound like your sister right now" Cal tells me. "Speak of the devil himself" Nate's mom chimes in, pulling up a chair to sit with us. "Whats up my brotha" he says, greeting Aaron and then Nate, even giving McKay and Cal a handshake before saying a word to me. "My man" Nate says, patting him on the back. Fucking faggot.

"Ugh. I am so out of here" I say, standing up and walking in the opposite direction as soon as I see Devin's face. "Sofia, wait" he says, grabbing my wrist lightly. But if we were behind closed doors, he wouldn't be so gentle, I thought to myself. I stop in my tracks and turn to look at him, crossing my arms.

"Can we talk? Like, somewhere else?" he asks me. I roll my eyes as he pulls me aside, away from Nate's chili fest. "What do you want, Devin?" I ask him seriously. "Look, I know you don't wanna see me right now, you came here to have a good night or whatever... but ignoring me for weeks at a time? That's unacceptable." he says. "Unacceptable? What am I, your daughter?" I ask him sarcastically.

"Sofia, I don't know what's been going on with you or if you've been seeing another guy, but-" "I'M SEEING ANOTHER GUY?" I cut him off defensively. "You're just projecting because you're a cheater. And you'll never stop cheating. Just because you're seeing other girls doesn't mean I'm seeing another guy. Even if I was, it would still be better than being cheated on by you. We are done for real this time, I meant what I said!" I tell him while pointing a finger in his face.

"This is the longest time we've ever been broken up, Sofia. You need to get your shit together so we can fix these problems between us." he says calmly. "Oh for fucks sake Devin, this is no more us. Get that through your thick skull" I tell him. "Whatever you say. That's how you feel right now, but once we talk things out and-" "There is nothing to talk about Devin. You cheated on me AGAIN, and you put your hands on me AGAIN" I say through gritted teeth, crossing my arms. "I know, babe. I understand you're upset with me, but just... look. I brought you something." he tells me, pulling my dolphin necklace that I threw on the ground at the pizza place out of his pocket.

"I didn't come here to ruin your night. I came here to apologize to you and give you some more time to think" he says, handing me the necklace. Despite not wanting him back, I snatch the necklace out of his hand and look at. "Think about what? The girl from the pizza place every time I look at this necklace?" I say bitterly. "No, Sof. So you can think about our relationship, and all the good memories we have. That's what this necklace should make you think of" he reminds me. 

"Oh, you're so sweet. You mean like the time you pushed me up against a wall behind that pizza place?" I say sarcastically. He balls up his fist slightly and I step back. "Whatever Sofia, call me when you're done being a bitch" he tells me and walks off.

"I bet you're going to go see that bitch right now huh! That's why you're not staying at the carnival, right?" I call out to him, walking toward him. He turns back around. "No, Sofia. My fucking mom is in the hospital" he tells me and my face softens a bit. He's probably still lying, though. "Just call me later, okay? I really need to talk to you" he reminds me before walking back to his car. I don't agree or disagree, just swallow a lump in my thoat. Anyway...

I put the dolphin necklace back on and I look around, trying to find Rue when I bump into Fez. "Fez" I greet him, giving him a hug. "Boyfriend ditched you again?" he asks, making me roll my eyes. "Fez, I told you we broke up" I say to him. "Yeah... looked like yall just broke up again." he says. "He was trying to get back together, actually. Didn't end well" I reassure him.

"You sure about that?" he asks, looking down at the necklace I was wearing. I sigh, looking down at the ground. "I'm only wearing this to make things easier at home with my mom. If she sees me wearing it, she'll think that we're back tog-" "I understand your situation Sofia, I told you before. You don't gotta explain this stuff to me" he says, taking the black & mild from behind his ear before sparking it. "I don't want him Fez" I say, looking up at him.

"Good, he looks like a bitch anyway." he says, taking another drag from his cigar. "Come on I haven't seen you all week. You wanna ride the ferris wheel with me?" I ask him. He scratches the back of his neck. "Shit, you know I would but... maybe later, I got Ash workin in the pretzel stand right now. We not really here for fun, just business." he tells me honestly. "I understand... I'm still glad I get to see you." I tell him. "Sofia, I promise we can go on one of the rides later. I'll always make time for you" he says to me, making me blush.

My sister comes over to us. "Hey Sof" Maddy says quickly, turning her attention to Fez. "Fez" she adds, staring at him for a long time and making it obvious what she was here for. "So what you was lookin for?" he asks. "Molly" she says. "Oh, she over there workin at the pretzel stand" he says casually, handing her a golden ticket. "Thank you" she says, facing me. "When you see Nate again, tell him that I told him to go fuck himself" she adds, walking off.

"I'm gonna go look for Rue, I'll catch you later?" I ask and he nods at me, telling me to stay safe and have fun.

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Once I caught up with Rue, Gia and Jules, the 4 of us began walking around aimlessly looking for some stupid ride Jules was desperate to go on. After we went on most of the rides, Gia split up to go talk to one of her friends. She hasn't came back since.

"Lost Gia in the crowd already?" I joke with Rue. Suddenly, they stopped in their tracks and our conversation stops. "Oh my fucking God" Jules announces, catching Rue and my attention. "What?" Rue asks, looking ahead and trying to see who she was staring at. "Thats him" she says vaguely.

"Who?" Rue questioned further. "The guy from the motel" she says, looking directly at... Cal? That can't be right. "Okay, what guy are we looking at, exactly?" Rue asks. "The one in the apron serving the chili. I swear to God" she says, making my jaw drop. "What the fuck" I was the first to react, catching Jules' attention. "No fucking way Jules, do you know who that is?" Rue asks, looking directly at me. 

"Yeah, the guy from the motel" she responds in a dumb tone of voice. "That's Cal Jacobs" Rue explains to her. "Who's Cal Jacobs?" she asks, looking between the two of us. "Nate's fucking dad, Jules" I tell her. "That's Nate's dad??" she asks with wide eyes. "Yes, that's Nate's dad" Rue confirms. "No fucking way" she says. "Yes fucking way. You're full of shit" she tells her. Jules covers her mouth in shame. "No way" she repeats herself. "You're full of shit" Rue says again, not believing her.

"Do you know who he is? he fucking owns half of this town, he built it. All the apartment buildings past Kemper, they're his." Rue explains to Jules. "Guys, I swear to God that's the guy I fucked" she says seriously. "There's no way. Bullshit." Rue says, and I was left in shock. A loss of words. "I'm being a hundred percent serious" she tells her. "You don't believe me?" Jules asks. "No, actually, I don't believe you either" I tell her. "Okay, watch this" she tells us as she walks over to the chili stand.

Rue and I stand by to watch how their encounter goes, and sure enough, he is acting out of character. Even spills the cup of chili. No. Fucking. Way. Fez texted me while Jules was still at the stand. "Hey, Rue, I gotta go. Fez is texting me" I confide in her. "I'll let Jules know. This shits fucking crazy, I can't believe she fucked Nate's dad" she tells me in astonishment. "I know, neither can I. Lemme catch up with you though, I'm supposed to meet up with him now. Be safe" I tell her, disappearing into the crowd to find him. That's enough of a trip for one night, I thought to myself.

I walked past the the Pretzelmania truck to see Ashtray closing up. Once I catch his eye, he calls out to me and says "Fez is waiting for you at the Ferris wheel" I nod at him and make my way to the closest one. Luckily, he was there. Or else I would have had to walk across the entire carnival to find him at the next one. "Fez" I say, running over to him.

"Hey, you enjoying everything?" he asks as if he was an employee. "What do you own this place or something?" I joke with him. "Nah, just wanna make sure you having fun or whatever. I barely got to see you today." he mentions. "Well, I'm here now" I say with a smile on my face. He smiles back and takes my hand, getting in line with me.

Once we're on the ride, he sits back and closes his eyes. "You alright?" I ask him. "Yeah..." he trails off, looking down at the dolphin necklace I was wearing, "I guess" he adds. Is Fez jealous? I thought to myself. "What do you mean you guess?" I ask him curiously, tilting my head at him. "nothing Sofia, I'm just glad you're here, that's all." he lies to me. I take a minute to think about his mannerisms and the way he looked at my necklace in disgust.

I reached my hand up to my collarbone and hold the dolphin part of the necklace between my fingers, looking back over at him. "Fez, does this bother you?" I ask him honestly. He takes a moment to think and hesitates to respond.

"Nah, you know I'm not trippin over a damn necklace... it's just... you know..." he trails off. I wait for him to continue but he doesn't. "No, Fez, I don't know. Tell me."

"I'm just tired of always feelin like I gotta share you with someone else" he mumbles. "Fez, you don't have to share me with anyone." I say, taking his hand in mine, making him look down at our hands together.

"I know I said I'm not worried about a label or anything but like... thinkin about you with another person kinds fucks with me." he explains. "Fez, look at me" I tell him, making him focus his attention back to my face.

"I only want you. Nobody else." I reassure him, realizing only moments later the depth of the words that just came out of my mouth. Throughout all of our conversations, our jokes, sarcasm, flirting, I had never once said something like that to Fez before during my entire time of knowing him. Until now. 

He didn't respond to that, he just stared at me with a look I've never seen on his face before. Only moment later, he leaned in and kissed me passionately, cupping my cheek in his hand while we were at the top of the ferris wheel. The fireworks went off at the same time and it felt like my own customized Disney movie. Better than all the other ones I had ever seen. 

As we reached the bottom, he let go of me and pulled away from my lips slowly, leaving me stuck in the moment and still overwhelmed with butterflies. "Fez..." I trailed off. "Let me take you home. It'll give us more time together" he says. "Yeah, okay. I'd like that. Let me just text my sister's boyfriend real quick." I pull out my phone, finally texting Nate.

me: got a ride

Nate: let me know if anything changes

me: Maddy said to go fuck yourself

Nate: I'm sure she did

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𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣