Icy - John Mulaney x OC

14 - I Remember Why I Didn't Want To Go Back To Texas

The next morning we had a free day in Texas, so I decided I should probably see my family. Laura and John decided to go sightseeing while I did that, and they were going to meet up with me for lunch. We weren't sure where we were gonna go though.

I said goodbye to them and got on a bus so that I could get to my parent's house. I would've taken the rental, but I  figured it would be better for John and Laura to use it.

I stopped to compose myself for a second before knocking on the door. I hadn't seen these people in years, and  hadn't left on good terms. This ought to be good. The door opened almost immediately, and I was enveloped in a huge hug. I was not sure at all what was happening until the offending party had pulled away. 

"Mom, hey," I said, scratching the back of my head awkwardly. 

"Charles! Honey how are you? Come in, come in!" My mom said, hurrying to open the door wider so I could get through.

I stepped through hesitantly. My father walked into the entryway from upstairs, tying his tie. "James." he said, looking at me quickly. "You cut your hair for the wedding. It looks good."

I smiled tightly at him. "Actually, it's Charlie."

My dad raised his eyebrows, doing a double take. "Oh! Charlie! Uh... How are you?"

"I'm fine." I said. "Just here for the wedding."

My mom ushered my father and I into the living room before bustling off to the kitchen for cookies or something.

It was very quiet before my father spoke up. "So, have you seen Jamie yet?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he got us from the airport."

"Us...?"

"Me, Laura, and my boyfriend John."

"Oh, Laura! I've always liked her."

"Yeah, we're still roommates back in New York."

There was a small pause before he spoke again. "How is New York?"

"Oh, you know," I said. "busy."

"You have a good job?"

"Yeah, I work at Microsoft."

"That's good."

Another wave of silence. My mom walked in, with a try full of lemonade and biscuits. Weird choice, but okay. She handed me a glass and a plate full of the stuff which I took, mumbling my thanks. Then she sat down next to my dad.

"So!" She said. "Jamie told me you've brought a boy home!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't going to, but James told me to, and I figured he wouldn't get another chance to see you guys."

My dad raised an eyebrow. "Why weren't you going to bring him? Planning on breaking it off or something?"

"No! No. We just haven't been going out for a really long time, I thought it might be too soon."

"Well, don't mind that!" Said my mother. "I can't wait to meet him! Tell us about him!"

"Oh, um." I stuttered out before quickly composing myself. "His name is John. He's a comedian, and we met through Laura. He's very tall, and very sweet. He's also... kind of famous?"

My mom smiled. "He's famous?" She asked.

"Yeah, he has three Netflix specials, he was on SNL, and he writes and also voice acts."

She raised her eyebrows. "Wow." She said. "How did you..."

"We met through Laura." I repeated.

"Wow. And you're dating now?" My dad asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, good for you honey! I'm sure he's great. He'll be at the wedding, right?" My mom said, clasping her hands together.

"As I said before, yes. He will be there and you will meet him."

"I can't wait!"

We switched topics. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. Very awkward. None of us were fully sure what to do. 

As I walked from my childhood home tot he bus stop, I texted John.

To John: I'm done. Want to meet up?

As I sat on the bench, my phone buzzed with a reply. I checked it.

From John: Yeah, we're hungry too.

From John: Want to meet at McDonald's?

To John: Which one?

From John: The one on Ophelia Street.

To John: Yeah okay. I'll be there in 15.

From John: 😚

To John: Cute.

I put my phone back in my pocket as I got onto the bus. If I remembered the layout of the town correctly, Ophelia Street was north of where I was now.

15 minutes later, I was nowhere near Ophelia Street. But I was pretty sure I knew where I was. Just a couple streets over, I'd be there.

10 minutes later I still wasn't there, and I was very lost. Turns out, even though it was a small town, I did not know my way around.

From John: Hey are you okay?

From John: It's been awhile.

To John: I am very lost. Please help me.

From John: Oh my god

From John: Where are you??

I looked around me. Fuck if I knew where I was. I kept walking until I found a street sign.

To John: Corner of West and Drew. It's next to the 'Cameron Church of God'

From John: Okay we're coming to get you.

I sat in front of the church and waited, scrolling through Instagram. I wasn't sure what it was, maybe something having to do with the fact that I was in Texas, and I had just seen my family, but I found James's Instagram and unblocked him. I scrolled through his page. a few months down, I found a photo of him and myself.

I clicked on it. It was posted on our birthday. The picture was of us on our first day of college. The caption read, 'I miss you bro! Happy birthday to us both!" I clicked away quickly and shut off my phone. I didn't want to see this stuff. I was mad. I was mad at him. A small part of me asked myself, 'if you're so mad, why are you at his wedding,' but another, more overwhelming part said. 'because i'm mad at him shut up.' I didn't have time to unpack that, though, because out rental car drove up and John got out.

'Christ, Charlie! It's freezing out here!" He said, leading me back to the car. 

I hadn't realized how cold I actually was until I got into the warm car. I shivered and leaned into John, who was sitting in the seat next to me. He put his arm around me. "How long were you waiting?"

I shrugged. "I don't know." I said. "Long enough that I stalked my brother's Instagram."

Laura hit the brakes. I almost hit the seat in front of me, but stopped myself with my feet. We made eye contact through the rear view mirror. Laura looked sheepish. "Sorry," She said. "Overreaction."

I nodded. "Yeah, maybe." I said sarcastically.

"What did you see?" She asked. 

Was it as big a deal as we were making it? Probably not. But it was a big deal to us. He was really  a bitch to me when Laura and I had first found out about the cheating. Like he was really, really nasty. We had blocked him on everything. I mean, I guess I should have expected one of us to do it when I had agreed to come to the wedding?  But still, it was new.

"Nothing much." I said. "He still posts about me sometimes. That's weird. I never really thought he would do stuff like that, I guess. It's whatever. I'm not gonna look too much into it, I don't care."

Laura nodded and kept going.

I got my phone out of my pocket and started playing a game. John squeezed my shoulder, also on his phone. I smiled at him, and kept playing on my phone. The car was silent. That was perfectly fine.