Poison

Chapter 39

"Andy, I am not your personal therapist! And you brought a friend this time!" Zane exclaims leaning over the counter staring at Matt and I.

"I'll get you ice cream." I say with a nervous smile.

"That won't cut it anymore babe." Zane says seriously grabbing his magazine.

"Two! Two tubs!" I say making him freeze. I can see the mental battle he is having as his eye twitches and his fist curls. His eyes constantly dart between the freezer and us.

"God damn it!" He shouts making me fist pump triumphantly, "this is blackmail or some form of torture!" He proclaims as I quickly get his first tub of vanilla for him. When I return he snatches it with a grunt before digging in, I motion Matt to climb over the counter with me.
He follows silently before propping down in the chair next to me, he had heavy bags under his eyes and looked dead, if I'm being honest. I skipped school to help him through this whole situation with Chase. Helping him somehow turned to going to Zane, he seemed capable of fixing stuff without even trying.

"So what can I do for you today?" Zane asks a lot more welcoming than he did with his annoyed tone earlier.

"My friend, Matt, needs your expertise." I say motioning to a worn out Matt.

"Short version, my boyfriend left me a few months back without reason or explanation. He just disappeared, he showed up suddenly asking to talk. I ignored him and then he came to my house and outed me to my dad who hates gays and I haven't gone home since."

"This is way above my pay grade." Zane mutters licking the plastic spoon.

"I think he should just go talk it out with his dad, but he doesn't want to." I say softly.

"He's right not to. We all know how homophobic pricks are, if your dad is one chances are he won't want to talk it out. If you're lucky, he'd accept you and all that rainbow goodness. Pun not intended but I'm pleased so we're going to work with it." He says chuckling and for the first time since I've been with Matt he actually smiled a little.

"So don't talk to my dad?" He asks fiddling with his fingers.

"I think you should go straight up to him and tell him to taste the rainbow or fuck off." Zane says with amused eyes and excitement that was oddly contagious.

"And if they kick me out? What would I do?" Matt asks making Zane beam.

"You come work with me dumbass. You can stay with me until you get back on your feet." He says way too kindly.

"Zane what's your play here?" I ask narrowing my eyes at the demon in disguise.

"What?! I'm being nice."

"Exactly. You're an asshole. You crush children's sand castles for your own amusement. You wouldn't even talk to us without being bribed. So what angle are you playing at?" I ask again.

"None! I'm not a complete dick you know. If you don't want my help then fine." He says with a slight pout which he masks with annoyance.

"I'm fine with it." Matt pipes in making me frown. "Would your boss be okay with hiring me though?"

"Boss?" He asks in surprise looking at both of us. "Guys. I own the shop."

"Shut up!" I say in disbelief.

"Why do you think I'm always here dimwit?" He says chuckling.

"I don't know! I thought you were a college dropout who worked here!" I reply guiltily while Matt snickers quietly.

"That's real nice babe." He says sarcastically, "and I thought we were friends."

"I'm sorry." I say apologetically.