Unforgettable ~ A Jared Leto/MARS Fanfiction

7-Jared

If I were to look at a calendar and pinpoint a date when things started to fall apart, it would have to be that day...the day Shelby was bullied and subsequently suspended for defending her family, and Lanie proposing that she take the situation into her own hands instead of leaving me to work out my self-induced mess.

It's a downward spiral;  a turning point. It's a foreshadowing of things to come.

I'm sure Lanie felt it too, but we don't discuss it—the shift, I mean—and that's probably the first mistake. Clearly the events that follow indicate as much. Probably a lot could be averted if people weren't so afraid of every uncomfortable emotion, so terrified of honest communication.

Shelby gets through her suspension and returns to school without further incident the following week, as does Tyrell. During that time, Shelby and I have a conversation that leaves me with an even further sense of guilt and despondency, one where I'm forced to explain why things are the way they are and why Katia Valkov is a presence in my life at all.

Of course I don't tell her everything. Shelby is a remarkably astute kid for her age, open-minded and aware, but I can't bring myself to explain what it is Katia and Ivan have over me. Instead, I lay it out simply, as that Katia needs to be seen with me to help her career, and I owe her a favor. "You know she's not my girlfriend," I tell Shelby. "I'm an actor, and this is an act. It's no different than any other role I've taken."

"But it's hurting Mom." Shelby's dark brown eyes meet mine, a hint of accusation and resentment in them that stabs into me like a dull knife and twists painfully in my gut. "I don't understand why you keep doing it, knowing that it hurts her."

How to even respond to that? I rub my beard and nod. "Your mom knows the truth. You know the truth. And it's only for a little while longer." But even to me the words as I speak them sound lame and insufficient.

Thanksgiving arrives soon after, and as far as the meal itself goes, it's a resounding success. Between my mom, Tomo, and Lanie, they put out a multiple-course vegan spread that even Shelby agrees is out of this world. Jimmy and Tyrell join us, though they're about as far from vegan as you can imagine, and they agree. Jimmy even says he barely misses the turkey, complimenting Lanie on the seitan "turkey" she managed to come up with after much trial and error.

Over dessert and out of nowhere Shannon drops a bombshell, informing us he's moving to Seattle very soon. Like, the first of December soon.

The table falls silent as everyone turns to look at my brother. My fork, stabbed into a generous chunk of pumpkin pie, pauses halfway to my mouth. "What?" I utter.

"Are you serious?" Tomo exclaims. "Shannon, I...Seattle?"

Shannon fidgets under so many stares. "Ash and I have been talking," he mutters, glancing at his pretty blonde girlfriend seated to his left. She studiously avoids meeting our eyes, but she takes Shannon's hand in hers. "We want to get a place together. I put a bid on a house a couple of weeks ago and it was accepted last Monday. The place is gorgeous, with the most incredible view from the living room. We'll close probably right after the New Year, and until then I'll stay at Ash's."

"Well..." our Mother looks first to me, and then back at Shannon. "That's wonderful, Shannon, but I don't understand. You've never said anything before about moving to Seattle, and you must have been planning this for some time."

Shannon shrugs as he meets our mother's eyes. "Yeah. I just didn't see the point in bringing it up until it was a for-sure thing. Once Black Fuel took hold in Seattle, I knew it was a go."