Travis sat next to Roozhan Fooladi on her bed, legs stretched out, slowly strumming his guitar as his best friend hummed the melody.
This was his happy place, where he felt at ease and able to just be himself without fear of any retribution
He and Roozhan had been friends ever since she moved to the country aged 5, her parents, both doctors had left their native Iran in search of a safer future for their two daughters and Travis thanked his lucky stars every day that she ended up in the house next door to his.
For two years they had spent every spare second playing on bikes and skateboards, every memory he had of their younger years was filled with screams and shouts of delight and happy smiles until that day...
Travus shook the memories from his mind and continued playing his guitar, closing his eyes and letting the music soothe him in the way only it could
"So are you going to tell me about you and Jasons girlfriend?"
Travis' hands stilled at the word 'girlfriend' but then resumed playing as he considered his answer
"She's not his girlfriend" it wasn't much to add to the conversation but it was something
"And judging by all these broken hearted love songs that you're playing she isn't yours either so what's going on?"
"Karen"
"Fuckin Karen!" Roozhan spat his mother's name back at him "I hate that woman"
Travis nodded but didn't proceed with the conversation.
Roozhan hated his mother, she always had and she had every right to but he didn't, no matter how much he should, he just couldn't, so he stayed silent and let his friend vent
"So come on, how has Karen fucked you over this time?"
"Roozhan, she's my mom, I dont like it when you talk about her like this"
"She's a disgrace of a mother and you know it, one of these days you will see it and let me run her over with my wheelchair, if anyone deserves it, it's her. If I'm lucky I might take out that dipshit brother of yours too" It took a second but eventually the two friends began laughing loudly at the thought of Roozhan driving her wheelchair at Travis' mother, leaving her flat on her ass, where the girl knew she belonged to be.
"OK, I will stop beating up on your mom, just tell me how she cockblocked you with the gorgeous blond, because the way she was looking at you the other night I expected her to be 'done' and gone long before now"
Travis stopped playing and placed his guitar on the ground, annoyed at Roozhans words but understanding why she would think that way.
His record with women was 'dubious' to say the least. Since he was a young teenager he had found girls flocking to him and like any young man with more hormones than sense he had taken advantage of it but something about Taylor and that confidence of hers and that mouth, made him want to know her, to explore her, to stay with her for more than just one night and with everything that was going on in his life right now that scared him
"Don't talk about her like that, she's not like the other girls. Jason told my mom that I had been chasing Taylor just to get back at him so my mom laid down some pretty heavy duty threats to keep me away"
"Jason?! That little whiney ass bitch. What's wrong, could he not deal with a bit of competition like any other man? He has to go running to mommy for help, what threats did she make?"
"I don't want to talk about it" Travis crossed his toned and tattooed arms over his chest
"Tough luck, start talking"
