𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴-𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘴

seventeen

Life had a way of kicking James ass, over the entire course of the summer he's been utterly alone and miserable. His entire personality changed within a matter of weeks and his old habits resurfaced far more than he'd enjoy. The alcohol didn't soothe away the ache he felt or make him feel numb anymore, but the drugs did. He felt intoxicated every time he let it rip through his veins, his soul would seize to exist and he'd feel like himself again.

The habit turned more and more deadly as the weeks passed and before he knew it summer was over. Returning back to Moordale would be a nightmare but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, so he forced himself out of bed for once.

Standing over the stove wasn't so bad, aside from the heat that made his hair frizz like crazy. "Alright, we've got poorly made eggs and toast for breakfast" he looked up at his son as the little boy handed the man a cup of coffee. James took it and smiled "and of course coffee, you know, the first day back for the new term means we can get ice cream after school".

Andrew smirked "only if I get sprinkles" he grabbed the piece of toast off the plate leaving the eggs behind and James understood why, they looked burnt. "Of course you can get sprinkles, just don't use all of them this time, that was a mess to clean up".

Andrew chuckled as he ran towards the front door grabbing his backpack "is Maeve taking us again? Are you two together or something? She's been over every single day for dinner and she takes us for ice cream, is she the new Ruby?". James winced at the mention of Ruby as he walked towards the door and grabbed his shoes "Maeve's just a friend if you're so curious, she knows I've had a pretty rough summer so she's been helping me out of my shell. She isn't the new Ruby".

Andrew sighs deeply "Ruby was nice, but now we hate her because she doesn't value relationships and she's a bitch". James eyes widened "woah! Where did you even hear that from, literally never say that again". James walked outside pushing the trailer door shut as Andrew giggled "Maeve told me".

Almost as if on cue Maeve walked towards the duo and James looked at her "you've got my kid over here calling Ruby a bitch, you're a real trouble maker". Maeve smirked as she gave Andrew a high five "oh god! You're turning my son into a monster".

They all laughed as James climbed into the driver's seat of his car "At least buckle up you two, can't have you flying out the car while I'm driving".

—

James drove down the road after dropping Andrew off at his school, Maeve sat beside him in the passenger seat fixing her hair that was slightly off to the side in the front. "You've told him about us right?" James hold on the steering wheel increased slightly as he turned down the road towards Moordale. "Well, I sorta told him we were friends, it's just I don't think he's really ready for me to actually be with someone else. He keeps talking about Ruby".

He sighed and Maeve chuckled slightly "well she is a bitch, and you haven't got to tell Andrew anything yet, we're still figuring it out as it goes". He smiled slightly "yeah that's true, since Andrew's off at school suppose that means we can enjoy the silence".

"When's the last time you've seen Otis? Eric mentioned to me a few weeks ago that you saw him at the store and it was extremely awkward". James groaned "gosh that was the worst day of my life, I ran into the shelf like an idiot because I didn't want him to see me, then of course he saw me after I hit the shelf and I looked like an absolute fool leaving".

Maeve smiled "at least you didn't beat him up like the last time" James winced "yeah, save to say that issue is handled, I see his face and I don't wanna punch him anymore, I just avoid him if anything really".