The Bad Ones

Ch. 11: Welcome Home, Welcome Troubles

So, Mar called yesterday. She said things are going well over there and that her mom is amazing. Hearing this made Drey literally shut down for about thirty minutes, locked up in her room. I tried to calm her down, but I got no where until she decided for herself that she was ready to come out. I admit that I'm scared of losing Mar, but I have every ounce of confidence that she'll come back. Besides, school returns in two days, her ass has to come home.

"Hey," Carter greeted me.

I saw sadness in his eyes whenever he looked at me now. It started that day I finally rejected him for good. It broke my heart, but it had to be done, otherwise I'd basically be stringing him along.

"What's up?" I finally smiled back. It was early in the morning and I was sitting on a park bench in the town square, drinking coffee I made at home. I just wanted to get out of the house.

He sat beside me and sighed. "How's Drey?" he asked.

I shrugged, "She's Drey. But... Not the Drey we love. She's the Drey that I first met, before all the fun and bubbliness set in, you know?"

He smirked, "Is 'bubbliness' even a word?"

I rolled my eyes, "In Drey's dictionary? Yes." We sat there in comfortable silence for a moment, then I remembered something. "You know, it's been almost a week, and you still haven't told me what happened between you and Mason at your work."

He averted his eyes from mine, and stared at some kids playing in the playground across the street. "You ever thought of having kids, princess?" he asked loftily.

I was taken aback. "Me? Kids? Since when am I a mother figure? I love kids, but I don't think I'd ever have any of my own."

He nodded slowly, "You think I'd make a good dad if I were to have a kid?"

Before I answered, I eyed him carefully, then smacked his arm. "Did you get some trick pregnant!?" I exclaimed.

He scoffed, "The only girl I can see myself having kids with is-"

When he stopped himself from continuing, I looked away, knowing what he would have said. Again, I saw the sadness in his eyes, and I felt like complete crap. Was it always going to be this way between us now?

"I got to get to work. I'll see you later, princess," he said suddenly, kissing my forehead as usual before walking away.

When he was out of sight, I placed my coffee beside me and put my face in my hands out of frustration. "What the hell happened to my life?" I mumbled into my hands.

"Your life seems alright, if you ask me."

I looked up and saw Lakefield. "Well, I didn't ask you," I replied.

He rolled his eyes with that smirk of his, "What's got you down? Drey, Mar, or Carter?"

Okay, I guess the relationship I had with Lakefield was one where, we were friends, but I would never admit it, and neither would he. It made things easy.

"All three," I responded with a groan. "Why can't I just worry about myself for once?"

He gave me that 'really' look, and laughed. "You're Bailey Harrison. In the short time I've known you, and anyone else who has ever known you, can tell that you give less than a centimeter of a damn about yourself. You care about the people around you and, yes, including me," he winked.

I rolled my eyes but smiled, "Yeah, yeah, I'll still kick your ass any day."

He nodded, "Yeah, but I'm glad I got to find out what's behind all that stoic exterior of yours. Anyway, I got to get to my dad's beach. Want to come? Let loose one last time before the hell that is school starts?"