Back to Square One
A Dolciani
“What the hell?” I mumbled as I rubbed my head because of my hangover.
“What the hell happened last night? Why are you on my bed? Why are you shirtless?” she asked me.
“I have no fucking clue! I’m as confused as you are!” I moaned and collapsed back on the ground gripping my head.
“Okay, I have clothes on. I still have everything on. Okay. Nothing happened,” she kept repeating as she paced the room.
“Will you fucking stop! My head hurts!” I almost cried as I plopped myself back on the bed and covered half my body with the sheets.
“Put some clothes on!” she ordered.
“I have my jeans on, and you love my abs,” I moaned. “Give me 10 more minutes and you can continue your rant,” I told her.
The door flew open but I didn’t bother looking up.
“What the hell Hazelyn!” Oh its Tristan. “Why are you- Holy fuck! Who the fuck is that?!” he yelled.
“Tristan relax. It’s Ryan,” Hazelyn sighed.
“Why are you in your underwear? Why is he naked? Did you-,” he paused. “Fuck.”
“Not what you think,” Hazelyn spoke.
“What am I supposed to think when I go to check on my sister and see her half naked and her ex fiancé naked on her bed?!” he asked hysterically.
“We were drinking last night and-.”
“Drunken sex? You think that would make me feel better?!”
“Tristan, relax. I’m not naked!” I sighed as I got up and stretched.
“Don’t be so calm you bastard!” he snapped at me.
“Relax bro. I definitely did not touch your sister,” I said rolling my eyes and looked for the rest of my clothes that were on her computer chair.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hazelyn glared at me with her arms crossed.
I just shrugged. “I can get laid anytime I want and I’d definitely take any of them over you,” I told her as I slipped my shirt on and looked at her from head to toe. I wanted to bite back my words because damn she was hot. She looked really well with her clothes on, and even better with half of them off.
“Oh hell no. Get out,” she growled at me. “And don’t be too confident Dolciani. Because you are not going to be able to get any of this even if you tried,” she hissed before pushing her brother and I out the door.
Tristan and I walked down the stairs and towards our cars. He shook his head at me. “That was a low blow bro,” he sighed with a hand on my shoulder. “Get home. Your mom’s in town.”
Okay. Maybe I went overboard.
“Tristan said you were at Hazelyn’s,” Kyle said to me first thing when I walked into the house.
“Was,” I mumbled as I stumbled up the stairs.
“Ryan Jerome Dolciani. Where the hell have you been?” my mom spat as she emerged from the kitchen.
I waved at her, dismissing her question as I continued stumbling up the stairs.
“Why did you not show up at the date yesterday?!” she shouted at me and when I refused to turn around, I heard her heels following after me. I groaned as I plopped myself back on my bed. “Don’t you walk away from me when I’m talking at you,” she snapped once she stepped into my room. “You’re not a teenager anymore Jerome, you have duties to fulfill,” she said her voice softer.
“Mom, it is no duty of mine to meet up with a random chick with intention of getting married,” I snapped at her as I sat up and glared
She sighed and sat down at the edge of my bed. She looked down at her hands and began to speak in a motherly tone. “I know Jay. But as a mother, it hurts me to see you like this. You were so happy with Hazelyn, and I know that if we don’t do anything to stop it, you’re going to keep on wallowing yourself in self pity.”
“Mom, you don’t know what happened!”
“Then tell me,” she said. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Exactly,” she said shaking her head. “Jay, your friends nor I know about the truth. Hell, I don’t know what the hell happened, but I respected your privacy. But now that it’s evident on how much of a mess you are, I think it’s time. Time to tell us the truth, to tell her the truth. Don’t you think that Hazelyn at least deserves the truth?”
“She won’t listen to me,” I finally broke the barriers and buried my face into my hands. “She wont’ believe me.”
She shook her head at me. “If anything, Hazelyn has no reason not to believe you. Not once have you lied to her, and even that she admits. So if you can get her to listen to you, then maybe you’ll get closure.”
“I can’t mom. It’s too hard.”
“That’s exactly what you need, closure. It doesn’t mean that you’ll get back together, but at least you’ll have that understanding of what happened,” she said smiling at me and hugging me lovingly. “You’re friends. That’s the first step.”
“Thanks,” I sighed as I told her. She pulled away and kissed my forehead. I felt like such a kid. A twenty-four year old man getting a forehead kiss from his mom. How sad.
“Well, you should get showered. You stink of alcohol and sweat,” she rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, and the sluts have to stop Jay.”
“I wasn’t with a slut last night,” I told her rolling my eyes.
“Right,” she smirked at me. “Explain the hickey son,” she said as she pointed at my shoulder and walked out of my room.
What the hell happened last night?!
“Jay?” I heard a faint knock on my door as I got out of the bathroom.
“Come in,” I mumbled and a few seconds later, my door opened revealing 4 guys. Kyle, Jack, Luke and Scotty. “What’s up?” I asked nonchalantly as I slipped on a shirt.
“Have you talked to her?” Kyle asked with a giddy voice. I shook my head and they all groaned.
“What?” I frowned.
“Your mom just set you up with another date before she left,” Scotty informed me.
“What?” I groaned. “But we had a mother-son talk! She’s supposed to understand!”
“What? You acted like a pussy to your mother?” Kyle scoffed and smirked. I smacked him upside of his head and glared.
“Wait, so your mom doesn’t know about Hazelyn?” Luke asked.
“No,” I confirmed.
“Why don’t you tell her?” Jack asked as if I was dumb.
“I just told her stuff today, she’s not going to believe anything right now. Give it a few days,” I sighed.
“Yeah, and Laura knows that whatever happens, Hazelyn and Ryan would get in trouble for each other and they’d get the hint of the whole pretending thing,” Kyle said.
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she knows that she and I are friends again. And as teenagers we’ve always been troublemakers,” I said smiling at the thought.
“So, you think she’d suspect something?” Luke asked.
I huffed. “No Luke, I don’t think so. I know so,” I frowned. He nodded thoughtfully as if it was a hard concept to grasp.
“Hey, mom was looking for you, where were you?” my sister asked as she walked into the room. “Whoa, what’s with the slumber party?” she chuckled as she jumped on my bed next to me.
“Get off,” I mumbled.
“No, really where were you?” she raised a knowing eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?” I played innocent.
“You were out again, weren’t you?” she sighed.
“We’re gonna go,” Kyle spoke up dragging the other guys with him who were protesting.
“Jerome, this isn’t doing any good to get Hazelyn back,” she sighed at me.
“Damn it Steph. I don’t want her back!” I lied as I growled at her standing up from the bed. “If it’s too much work to get her back, then maybe I don’t want her back!”
“What? So you’re just gonna give up now?” she snapped at me.
“Give up now?! You mean my 3 years waiting was nothing?” I scoffed.
“Did you do shit in that three years? I don’t fucking think so!”
“A year and a fucking half I waited and looked for her. Maybe if you guys told me something I could’ve done something!" I slumped my shoulder as I sighed. “I didn’t know what to do Steph,” I told her. “I still don’t know what to do,” I sighed as I sat back down on my bed and buried my face into my hands.
“Ryan Jerome Dolciani, you are my brother and you are a Dolciani. We don’t give up easily,” she said in a commanding tone, standing in front of me. “We work for what we want until we get it.”
“But this isn’t something-,” she cut me off before I could finish that sentence.
“And we work hard for it. Especially if it’s not just a want. Especially if it’s a need,” she told me with a soft smile. “You told Tristan before that to be able to understand how it feels to not have Hazelyn is like Tristan not having me and vise versa. I don’t know what I would do without Tristan either, and for sure I’d be lost. Just like you are. But right now, most of us are in our right minds, except for the both of you of course and we’re going to get her back. We’re going to make her understand, get it?” she asked me.
I smiled at my sister as I stood up and threw my arms around her. “Got it,” I smiled hugging her tighter. “You’re the best sister ever.”
She pushed me away slightly. “Get off me freak. We’re still siblings. We can’t be too nice to each other,” she smirked at me. She started walking to my door but before she closed it, she called out to me. “Oh, and the first step would probably letting her know the truth!"
“What the hell happened last night? Why are you on my bed? Why are you shirtless?” she asked me.
“I have no fucking clue! I’m as confused as you are!” I moaned and collapsed back on the ground gripping my head.
“Okay, I have clothes on. I still have everything on. Okay. Nothing happened,” she kept repeating as she paced the room.
“Will you fucking stop! My head hurts!” I almost cried as I plopped myself back on the bed and covered half my body with the sheets.
“Put some clothes on!” she ordered.
“I have my jeans on, and you love my abs,” I moaned. “Give me 10 more minutes and you can continue your rant,” I told her.
The door flew open but I didn’t bother looking up.
“What the hell Hazelyn!” Oh its Tristan. “Why are you- Holy fuck! Who the fuck is that?!” he yelled.
“Tristan relax. It’s Ryan,” Hazelyn sighed.
“Why are you in your underwear? Why is he naked? Did you-,” he paused. “Fuck.”
“Not what you think,” Hazelyn spoke.
“What am I supposed to think when I go to check on my sister and see her half naked and her ex fiancé naked on her bed?!” he asked hysterically.
“We were drinking last night and-.”
“Drunken sex? You think that would make me feel better?!”
“Tristan, relax. I’m not naked!” I sighed as I got up and stretched.
“Don’t be so calm you bastard!” he snapped at me.
“Relax bro. I definitely did not touch your sister,” I said rolling my eyes and looked for the rest of my clothes that were on her computer chair.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hazelyn glared at me with her arms crossed.
I just shrugged. “I can get laid anytime I want and I’d definitely take any of them over you,” I told her as I slipped my shirt on and looked at her from head to toe. I wanted to bite back my words because damn she was hot. She looked really well with her clothes on, and even better with half of them off.
“Oh hell no. Get out,” she growled at me. “And don’t be too confident Dolciani. Because you are not going to be able to get any of this even if you tried,” she hissed before pushing her brother and I out the door.
Tristan and I walked down the stairs and towards our cars. He shook his head at me. “That was a low blow bro,” he sighed with a hand on my shoulder. “Get home. Your mom’s in town.”
Okay. Maybe I went overboard.
~/~/~/~/~
“Tristan said you were at Hazelyn’s,” Kyle said to me first thing when I walked into the house.
“Was,” I mumbled as I stumbled up the stairs.
“Ryan Jerome Dolciani. Where the hell have you been?” my mom spat as she emerged from the kitchen.
I waved at her, dismissing her question as I continued stumbling up the stairs.
“Why did you not show up at the date yesterday?!” she shouted at me and when I refused to turn around, I heard her heels following after me. I groaned as I plopped myself back on my bed. “Don’t you walk away from me when I’m talking at you,” she snapped once she stepped into my room. “You’re not a teenager anymore Jerome, you have duties to fulfill,” she said her voice softer.
“Mom, it is no duty of mine to meet up with a random chick with intention of getting married,” I snapped at her as I sat up and glared
She sighed and sat down at the edge of my bed. She looked down at her hands and began to speak in a motherly tone. “I know Jay. But as a mother, it hurts me to see you like this. You were so happy with Hazelyn, and I know that if we don’t do anything to stop it, you’re going to keep on wallowing yourself in self pity.”
“Mom, you don’t know what happened!”
“Then tell me,” she said. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “Exactly,” she said shaking her head. “Jay, your friends nor I know about the truth. Hell, I don’t know what the hell happened, but I respected your privacy. But now that it’s evident on how much of a mess you are, I think it’s time. Time to tell us the truth, to tell her the truth. Don’t you think that Hazelyn at least deserves the truth?”
“She won’t listen to me,” I finally broke the barriers and buried my face into my hands. “She wont’ believe me.”
She shook her head at me. “If anything, Hazelyn has no reason not to believe you. Not once have you lied to her, and even that she admits. So if you can get her to listen to you, then maybe you’ll get closure.”
“I can’t mom. It’s too hard.”
“That’s exactly what you need, closure. It doesn’t mean that you’ll get back together, but at least you’ll have that understanding of what happened,” she said smiling at me and hugging me lovingly. “You’re friends. That’s the first step.”
“Thanks,” I sighed as I told her. She pulled away and kissed my forehead. I felt like such a kid. A twenty-four year old man getting a forehead kiss from his mom. How sad.
“Well, you should get showered. You stink of alcohol and sweat,” she rolled her eyes at me. “Oh, and the sluts have to stop Jay.”
“I wasn’t with a slut last night,” I told her rolling my eyes.
“Right,” she smirked at me. “Explain the hickey son,” she said as she pointed at my shoulder and walked out of my room.
What the hell happened last night?!
“Jay?” I heard a faint knock on my door as I got out of the bathroom.
“Come in,” I mumbled and a few seconds later, my door opened revealing 4 guys. Kyle, Jack, Luke and Scotty. “What’s up?” I asked nonchalantly as I slipped on a shirt.
“Have you talked to her?” Kyle asked with a giddy voice. I shook my head and they all groaned.
“What?” I frowned.
“Your mom just set you up with another date before she left,” Scotty informed me.
“What?” I groaned. “But we had a mother-son talk! She’s supposed to understand!”
“What? You acted like a pussy to your mother?” Kyle scoffed and smirked. I smacked him upside of his head and glared.
“Wait, so your mom doesn’t know about Hazelyn?” Luke asked.
“No,” I confirmed.
“Why don’t you tell her?” Jack asked as if I was dumb.
“I just told her stuff today, she’s not going to believe anything right now. Give it a few days,” I sighed.
“Yeah, and Laura knows that whatever happens, Hazelyn and Ryan would get in trouble for each other and they’d get the hint of the whole pretending thing,” Kyle said.
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she knows that she and I are friends again. And as teenagers we’ve always been troublemakers,” I said smiling at the thought.
“So, you think she’d suspect something?” Luke asked.
I huffed. “No Luke, I don’t think so. I know so,” I frowned. He nodded thoughtfully as if it was a hard concept to grasp.
“Hey, mom was looking for you, where were you?” my sister asked as she walked into the room. “Whoa, what’s with the slumber party?” she chuckled as she jumped on my bed next to me.
“Get off,” I mumbled.
“No, really where were you?” she raised a knowing eyebrow.
“What are you talking about?” I played innocent.
“You were out again, weren’t you?” she sighed.
“We’re gonna go,” Kyle spoke up dragging the other guys with him who were protesting.
“Jerome, this isn’t doing any good to get Hazelyn back,” she sighed at me.
“Damn it Steph. I don’t want her back!” I lied as I growled at her standing up from the bed. “If it’s too much work to get her back, then maybe I don’t want her back!”
“What? So you’re just gonna give up now?” she snapped at me.
“Give up now?! You mean my 3 years waiting was nothing?” I scoffed.
“Did you do shit in that three years? I don’t fucking think so!”
“A year and a fucking half I waited and looked for her. Maybe if you guys told me something I could’ve done something!" I slumped my shoulder as I sighed. “I didn’t know what to do Steph,” I told her. “I still don’t know what to do,” I sighed as I sat back down on my bed and buried my face into my hands.
“Ryan Jerome Dolciani, you are my brother and you are a Dolciani. We don’t give up easily,” she said in a commanding tone, standing in front of me. “We work for what we want until we get it.”
“But this isn’t something-,” she cut me off before I could finish that sentence.
“And we work hard for it. Especially if it’s not just a want. Especially if it’s a need,” she told me with a soft smile. “You told Tristan before that to be able to understand how it feels to not have Hazelyn is like Tristan not having me and vise versa. I don’t know what I would do without Tristan either, and for sure I’d be lost. Just like you are. But right now, most of us are in our right minds, except for the both of you of course and we’re going to get her back. We’re going to make her understand, get it?” she asked me.
I smiled at my sister as I stood up and threw my arms around her. “Got it,” I smiled hugging her tighter. “You’re the best sister ever.”
She pushed me away slightly. “Get off me freak. We’re still siblings. We can’t be too nice to each other,” she smirked at me. She started walking to my door but before she closed it, she called out to me. “Oh, and the first step would probably letting her know the truth!"