𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚊𝚍 𝙱𝚘𝚢 (𝚋𝚡𝚋)

15.

Jaxon smiles at the cashier as he hands her a twenty-dollar bill. "Keep the change, love." He grabs the two drinks off the counter and walks them over to the table.

Chantel smiles as Jaxon sets the drink in front of her. "You didn't have to pay for my drink and food."

Jaxon nods. "I know I wanted to," Jaxon shrugs his shoulders. "I just feel kind of bad."

"Why?"

"Gavin is...Staying with Shawn and I," Jaxon takes a sip from his drink. "I would've talked to you about it but-."

"No...No, it's totally fine. I'm glad he's somewhere safe and not at some random hotel or something." Chantel picks at her muffin and sighs.

"How are you doing? With everything going on? I mean...Have you spoken to Gavin since you asked for space?"

"Uh...He called last night to say good night. Told me he loves me." Chantel shakes her head. "I just feel numb, I think. I mean...He lied to me. I just wish he would've told me he was talking to her."

"I get that. I think it's really fucked up."

"What about you? I mean, I understand any topic surrounding Mia is kind of sensitive and...You and Gav are friends."

"I'm fine, Chantel. This isn't about me." Jaxon reaches out and grabs Chantel's hand. "I'm here for you forever."

Chantel smiles and looks down at Jaxon's hand. "Why can't we all be like you and Shawn? Just happy and always grossly in love."

"Trust me, we aren't always like that. It just takes time and effort. It took us a long time to get where we are."

"I know." Chantel takes her hand back and sighs again. She sits back against the chair, "God, I know I should be pissed at him but I'm not. I'm just so fucking hurt. But, I'm not ready to give up on him. I just need my space."

***
Gavin lets his head fall back on the couch. "God, it's just hard to not care about other people."

"But Mia?" Shawn looks up from his iPad where he was designing a new tattoo for a client.

"Yeah," Gavin lets his hand fall into the bowl of popcorn, eating a handful. "Maybe I am like my dad."

"Shut the fuck up," Shawn rolls his eyes. "Stop saying shit like that. You made a mistake, you're facing the consequences and you're gonna fix it."

Gavin rolls his eyes back at Shawn. He shoves more popcorn into his mouth. "I'm miserable."

"So. Figure out a way to fix it. Stop moping around and maybe...Talk to her, I don't know?"

"She wanted space. I'm giving her space."

"And how much space is too much space?" Shawn crosses his arms. "Don't be stupid man, you can talk to her even if she wants space."

Jaxon walks into the house, holding a few grocery bags in his hands. "Hi, love. Can you help me?"

Shawn glances at Gavin before getting up. He grabs all of the bags from Jaxon. "Why the mid-month grocery shop?"

"I'm feeding three now. And Gavin keeps eating all of my fruit snacks."

"Which you aren't supposed to have 'cause of your braces."

Jaxon rolls his eyes. "I get them taken off in three months I literally do not care."

Gavin joins them in the kitchen. He sets his bowl of popcorn on the table. "Why do you still have braces? It's been like 6 years."

"Oh, I had them for like two years...Then I needed them removed 'cause of something...Then I got them back in and...It was this whole process."

"Yeah, but look at his pearly whites now." Shawn smiles and grabs Jaxon's face with both his hands. He leans down and kisses him a few times.

Jaxon pulls away with a smile on his face. Shawn smiles back and Gavin sighs and sits back in his seat.

Jaxon glances at Gavin and pulls away from Shawn's embrace. He turns to look at Gavin. "Oh, I talked to Chantel today."

"And?"

"She's okay, I think. I mean...Considering. And she does miss you but-."

"She still wants her space," Gavin nods his head. "Got it. I gotta get to work."

**
Jaxon was sitting in Shawn's lap, holding a pair of tweezers while he plucked Shawn's eyebrows. "Gav is so mopey I can't deal."

Shawn shrugs his shoulders. "That's just how he is."

"I can't even really feel bad for him, though. Chantel is really upset about this whole thing."

"Did you get a chance to read the messages?"

Jaxon looks down to meet Shawn's eyes. "Mhm."

"Well, what did she say?"

Jaxon gets off of Shawn's lap, setting the tweezers down on the bedside table. "Nothing much."

Shawn furrows his eyebrows and crosses his arms. "Yeah, right. Why are you acting so jumpy?"

"What? I'm not."

"What aren't you telling me?" Shawn stands from the bed and walks over to stand directly in front of Jaxon.

"I just...You're gonna get mad at me."

"Promise I won't."

Jaxon hesitates before speaking. "I just...Kind of feel bad for Mia."

Shawn shakes his head and laughs sarcastically. "Are you fucking kidding me Jaxon?"

"I knew you'd get mad." Jaxon crosses his arms.

"I'm not mad. But why the fuck are you feeling sorry for her after the shit she did? She could've killed you!" Shawn yells.

"She's not the one who put the drugs in my cup!" Jaxon yells back.

"And yet she let you drink it!"

Gavin had walked back into their apartment at this time. But, since they were in their bedroom they didn't know he was home from work.

"If you would've read those messages you would understand! Her abortion wasn't easy and Aaliyah treated her like crap! Maybe she didn't have a way out!"

"No! No, she could've talked to us! Talked to you! You guys have known each other your entire life! There's no fucking excuse!"

"You wouldn't get it! Neither of us could ever get what it's like to go through something like that!"

Shawn shakes his head and turns around. He runs his fingers through his hair a few times. Jaxon sighs and steps forward, grabbing Shawn's bicep to turn him back around.

"I'm not saying I forgive her...O-or I wanna be her bestest friend again. I'm just saying that...Maybe this whole "hating her" thing can be over with. I'm tired of hating her."

Shawn shakes his head again. "She hurt you."

"I know. She hurt me. Meaning I'm the one in charge of how I feel. You can't change that, Shawn."

**