Laughter [Garrett Watts x OFC]

[Sit Down and Shut Up]

Garrett
I was completely caught off guard at seeing Elle. I hadn't planned on seeing her so soon, let alone seeing her when I was with Aaron. My heart sank when I saw the look on her face, and again when I went outside and saw her crying. My instinct was to wrap my arms around her and try to make her pain go away, but I knew that wasn't an option. Not when I was out with someone else.

"Everything okay," Aaron asked when I went back inside the shop. My sullen mood was apparently obvious.

"Yeah, it's all good," I said, faking a smile.

"Who was that? She seemed nice."

"That was Elle. We kind of had a thing awhile back."

"Oh," he said, looking a bit shocked. "That explains why she didn't hang around."

"Yeah. We didn't exactly end things in the best way. Well, I didn't end things in the best way."

"What happened," he asked. Part of me wanted to sugarcoat the whole situation, but the other part didn't want to have secrets if I was going to be serious with Aaron. I decided to tell him the truth.

Aaron listened to me patiently as I told the story of me and Elle. I told him about how she was the first woman I'd dated as an adult, about how we fell fast and hard, and about how I'd ghosted her when she moved away. I even told him about how she showed up on my doorstep out of the blue.

"That's a lot to take in," he said when I'd finished.

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her sooner. I wasn't expecting her to move back."

"Please answer me honestly when I ask this," he began, looking serious. "Do you still have feelings for her? Am I just a rebound?"

"You're not a rebound at all! She and I have been over for a year."

"That doesn't answer the other part of my question, though."

"I'll be honest with you because I really do like you and I respect you. I do still have feelings for her, but I have feelings for you, too," I told him. He nodded but didn't say anything right away. He looked like he was thinking.

"Thank you for being honest," he finally said. "I've been where you are and I know it isn't easy."

"I'm so sorry if it upsets you. Like I said, I didn't know she'd be coming back. I'd assumed that chapter of my life was over. And then I met you and you're everything I've been missing."

"I appreciate that, but I think you need to figure out if you've been missing it from her. I don't want you to be with me out of obligation. I want to know that if you're with me, I'm your first choice. I can't be with you if I'm worried you're secretly thinking about her."

"Aaron - "

"It's okay, Garrett, really. Like I said, I know what it's like. Take some time to figure out what you want to do." He kissed me on the cheek before walking away and leaving me standing alone in the thrift store.

I rubbed my eyes, feeling frustrated. I'd managed to screw up my relationships with both people I cared about and was left alone because of it. Not knowing what else to do, I got in my car and drove to Andrew's house.

"Andrew, I did it again," I whined as I let myself into his house. I walked into his living room and stopped dead in my tracks.

"Garrett, what are you doing here," he asked, looking shocked. He was sitting on the couch with Elle, who looked like she'd been crying more.

"I didn't realize you'd be here, Elle. I'm sorry for interrupting. I'll leave." I quickly turned around.

"Garrett, wait," Andrew called behind me, getting up from the couch and grabbing me by the arm, pulling me back into the living room. "As much as I love the two of you, I'm tired of being the middleman. We're going to all sit together and talk this out," he said, guiding me over to the loveseat.