demolition lovers // josh dun

|| 23 ||

I've been back home for a few days now. Jenna, Tyler, and Josh are still out, touring the western hemisphere of the world. I would have tagged along after the shows in Korea, but alas, I have a job and two cats at home...and an older brother that "has a place" but still manages to crash on my couch 4/7 days of the week.

Yes, Ben and Mia are still broken up. Unfortunately. They haven't really talked divorce yet since Mia brought it up a couple months ago. But it's hurting both of them. BAD.

Ben doesn't get to see the kids unless Mia needs me to baby sit. Last time she did, which was last night, Ben happened to be staying at a friend's house. You bet my nephew's sad little face when he realized "Daddy wasn't here" broke my heart.

Mia and I planned to go shopping for the baby today. She arranged for Ben to watch the kids, and she would just pick them up on her way home, but Ben isn't here yet. He was supposed to be back an hour ago, and didn't text me back or answer my calls.

I'm getting ready to take them home now, but Ben meets me halfway in the hallway. Elias runs straight into his arms.

"Daddy!" He shoves his whole face into my brother's chest.

"Hey, little guy! Whatcha wanna do today? Go to the park?"

I look at my brother, clearly in disappointment. He has a trinity of "bruises" on his neck. And by bruises, I mean hickeys. Must have been some night at his friend's house.

"I wanna go see mom!" Cecilia whines. She hasn't said many kind words about her dad recently. Which is horrible. No one this young should have to deal with this.

"Be back by 3. Mia's going to take the kids home when we get back." I say, as I walk past him. One day, he's crying about how much he misses his wife. The next? He has THREE hickey's VISIBLY scattered on his neck. One hell of an early mid-life crisis, if you ask me.

---------------------x---------------------

"How about this?" I ask Mia, holding up a cute 'I HAVE THE BEST AUNT EVER' bib.

"You've literally bought the same one...twice...for my other two children." She laughs, but her face quickly turns somber. "Did Ben say anything today? About being late?"

I hate when I become the messenger in relationships. If it's something that they need to work out themselves, I try to keep pretty quiet.

"No...I didn't bother to ask, I just figured traffic was bad. Sorry." I shrug, I didn't necessarily lie, though. He didn't tell me, and I didn't ask. I already knew why he was late.

"Oh...okay." Things are quiet for a few moments before Mia decided to ask, "So, how are things with Josh?"

Oh, man. Don't get me started.

And I do not mean that in a bad way.

We are together. Officially. YES. But, we haven't told A N Y O N E yet. Not Jenna, Tyler, or even Mia. The woman just has a sixth sense. We talked a little bit about who we're going to tell, but decided to keep it private until the both of us knew exactly how we were going to go about it.

As of now, though, between the two of us, we. are. OFFICIAL. I try not to squeal in front of my sister-in law. But she's already caught on.

"That is the cutes-"

"YOU CAN'T TELL ANYONE." She jumps at my outburst. "I mean, we're keeping it under wraps for now."

"Gotcha."

---------------------x---------------------

Mia and I ended up grabbing some lunch before heading back to my place (a little early). I told her I could walk the kids down, but she insisted on coming up to my apartment herself.

Big mistake.

Because you know who's sitting on my couch, right at this moment? The first face that Mia sees when she walks in the door?

Debby Ryan.

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a/n
AAAAAAAA ANOTHER CRAPPY CHAPTER I'M SORRY. I HAVE TO MAKE UP 2 CREDITS SO I'M BACK AT SCHOOL FOR 2 WEEKS. I LOVE GOING THROUGH THE ENTIRE COSMETOLOGY PROGRAM BEFORE DECIDING I DON'T WANNA DO IT
lol