The Good Ones Go

Travis is still standing in his kitchen flipping through take out menus trying to decide what Chelsea would want for lunch. After she left he has to admit that he was upset. She'd always go running after Colson, wouldn't she? He's watched Chelsea turn Adam's life upside down like Colson had done to her. Maybe they're perfect for each other. He shakes his head at himself, upset for even thinking it. Chelsea is nothing like Colson, and everything she'd done to Adam has been because of him. He always got in the way. Travis used to think that Colson was toxic, but now he thinks maybe he's toxic.

He has to fight to reason with himself. Whatever fantasy he is creating in his head of him and Chelsea in a happily ever after will never happen, and it's time to move on already. She's right. They shouldn't be sleeping next to each other half naked. They shouldn't have this sexual tension built up between them. It's time to stop doing the little things. Stop making her tea, stop buying her food, stop picking her up from work. He's being pathetic. He puts the menus back in the drawer. Maybe he'll go out tonight.

His doorbell breaks him out of his thoughts, and he's surprised when he hears it ring. He looks up for a second wondering how Chelsea went and came so fast, but then he realizes that Chelsea has a key and whoever's out there is not Chelsea. He makes a note to ask her for it back as his feet shuffle toward the front door. When he opens it Adam is the last person he expects to see standing in front of his threshold. Travis stares as if he'd seen a ghost. This can't be good.

"Hey, can I come in?" his friend asks with his arms crossed over his chest to keep from shivering. He's wearing a lavender button down, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair dark grey slacks, and Travis is sure he's coming from work. He must have left early.

Travis' suspicions are right. Adam did leave early. It's only 11, but Adam couldn't stop imagining Travis' lips on his wife's. The image is haunting, and the only way to rid himself of it is to face his fears head on. It wasn't Travis' fault anyway.

Travis feels the cool October breeze from outside and opens the door some more just wide enough for Adam to squeeze his muscled six-foot-four frame through it. He watches his friend pull his Saint Laurent dress shoes off in the foyer before he leads him into the vacant house.

"Want something to drink?" Travis asks as they make their way to the living room.

Adam shakes his head no. He hears the heat in the house kick on and is glad for it as he rubs his arms while making himself comfortable on the upholstered sofa. His eyes float across the first level wondering where it happened before Travis pulls him back to reality.

"I didn't think you'd be coming around here anymore," Travis admits as he takes a seat on the large grey ottoman opposite Adam. His elbows rest on his thighs as his hands come together allowing his fingers to fidget nervously. His eyes waste no time scanning Adam's reaction, watching him lean back and kick his foot up to his knee.

"Yea. Trust me, it took some time for me to come around," Adam admits that he's been thinking about it.

"Well, it's good to see you. I'm glad you decided not to let this come between us," Travis admits as he nods at Adam's words.

"Chelsea's been giving me a run for my money lately," Adam chuckles nervously. "People always say marriage is hard, but I didn't expect for us to do a complete 180, you know?" he confesses as his hand reaches to run across his tired face. This has taken a toll on him.

"I'm sorry, man. I can give you guys some space. London Fashion Week is coming up in a couple months, and I turned it down, but I can fly out for a meeting to get out of your hair for a while," Travis suggests. Admittedly, he turned it down so he could stay close to Chelsea. She's going through this tempestuous time, and he wanted to be there for her, but lately he's been adding to it, and maybe it's best to give her a break.

"I wish she had some girlfriends, but you know her history with those," Adam sighs thinking back to Jessica. "I can't ask you to leave - she needs you, and I'm trying to respect that. That's why I'm here," Adam tells him hesitantly.

"Like I said, I didn't think you'd show up anymore. I feel like an asshole," Travis admits biting his lip. He's surprised that Adam is handling this so well.

"Yea, but I figured I had to at least come tell you that I'm not mad at you for Chelsea's mistake," the man offers a small smile as he stares across at Travis.

Travis smiles back happy that he hasn't lost a friend. "I really didn't mean to kiss her man. We were just talking, and she was so upset. There were a lot of emotions I guess, and we just misdirected them. I swear it just came out of nowhere," he rambles nervously.

"Wait, she told me she kissed you," Adam says feeling his blood boil instantly at Travis' words. He had come here under the pretense that the incident was Chelsea's fault because that's what she told him. He'd wanted Travis to know that he isn't upset with him. He wanted to commend him for his tremendous self control over the years, but this changes things.

"Well, that's not entirely wrong, but I initiated it," he admits licking his lips and reaching up to tinker nervously with his nose ring. He didn't know she lied about it to Adam, and now he wishes he hadn't said anything at all. He couldn't even bring himself to say it out loud to Chelsea, why had he said it out loud to Adam? No wonder the man was so cool about it. He probably thought Travis had some divine will power, but turns out he's wrong.

Adam looks down at his feet shaking his head. He lets his eyes trail over the wiener dogs on his socks for a moment before scoffing at Travis' words. "You never made a move while she was with that asshole, yet the second we get married you can't keep your hands to yourself," Adam chuckles bitterly, and Travis suddenly feels cold from the ice in his voice.

Adam is right. Travis looks across the room to the kitchen in attempt to keep his eyes shielded from Adam. He respected Chelsea's relationship with Colson, but he couldn’t bring himself to give Adam that same respect? He's a shit friend. Travis sits up straight and crosses his arms for warmth before returning his gaze to the furious man in his company.

"You know I trusted you man. I'm not saying it was easy to, but I thought you proved yourself so many times. I thought you cared about her, but I guess you just cared about getting in her pants again," this time his words are like a raging fire, and Travis feels more guilty than he ever has. The wave of heat that over comes him forces him to stand as if the ottoman he was previously sitting on is lava. His tattooed hand reaches up to rub his head before he speaks.

"Adam, it's not like that man. I don't know what happened. It was an accident, I swear. We were both a little on edge, and I guess I just wanted to get my mind off things. I made a mistake, but I already promised her that it won't happen again," Travis' voice is honest and sincere. When Adam says nothing he continues, "if you really wanna say fuck this friendship then fine, but you're my bro, and I don't want this to go south because of a girl." He fidgets in his stance and cracks his fingers nervously as he waits for Adam's response.

"Chelsea's not just a girl, man. She's my fucking wife," Adam spits back angrily. "And I really don't wanna hang around to be your best man when you marry her," he says sarcastically. If words could kill, Travis would be taking his last breath.

"It's really not like that, man. I love Chelsea, but I would never get in the way of you two," he tries to defend. He doesn’t know what to say except that he's sorry. He fucked up. He should fly out to London.

"You already have," Adam lets out a small laugh.

"I didn't mean to, and I told you it'll never happen again," Travis admits, but the sadness in his voice betrays him.

Adam looks up at him. Travis is nervous under his gaze, but he tries to stay still. Adam's green eyes scan over him like a predator, and Travis suddenly feels like he's going to pass out.

"I knew it," Adam shakes his head as he looks at his friend.

"Knew what?" Travis raises his eyebrows and licks his lips again. He wishes the heater would turn off because this room suddenly feels too fucking hot.

"If she told you she wanted you, you'd jump at the chance without any consideration," Adam accuses him clenching his fists unconsciously.

Travis doesn't really know what to say. He's right, he probably would. It's not fair of him - he knows that. He struggles to control himself around Chelsea enough, and if she told him she wants to give him a shot while sober, well, it'd be hard to resist her.

Adam purses his lips. "I think we're done here, man. I'll show myself out," he says as he gets up from the couch and makes his way toward the foyer.

"Adam," Travis calls after him moving away from the ottoman to get a full view of his friend. When the man turns around Travis gives him a weak smile and says, "I'm sorry, man." He really is.

Adam nods saying, "me too," before turning back and making his way out of the house. He's not really surprised to see Chelsea pull into the driveway as he walks down the steps and toward his blue Civic.

Adam stops to wait for her. She seems angry as she get out of her VW and slams the door shut. "Chels, can we talk?" he asks her wearily. His conversation with Travis has put things into some perspective, and if she wants some time apart he's willing to give it to her. If he's going to lose her then trying to suffocate her will do no good anyway.

"Now's really not the time, Adam," she says over the beep of her car alarm.

"It's never the time with you," he's curt even though he's trying to understand.

"Yea, well I just found out that Colson called me the night of our graduation, and our fucking friend deleted any evidence of it on my phone," Chelsea accuses. He can see the fire burning in her eyes as she talks, and she doesn't seem to care about why he's there. Her tunnel vision is turned on, and he's worried that the wrath she'll unleash is more than Travis can handle.

Adam squints his eyes trying to think back to that night. They were supposed to go to a party, but they stayed in, and Travis did have her purse and her phone. Why would he do that though? "Huh," Adam says with a smile on his face. Maybe Travis cares more about Adam than he lets on.

"It's not a fucking joke, Adam," Chelsea is pissed, and she walks away toward the door jingling her keys in the lock.

"I know it's not, but is it such a terrible thing that our friend tried to keep that asshole from crawling his way back into our relationship?" Adam asks her. He knows she's mad that Travis lied, but it wasn't to hurt her - it was to protect her, to protect both of them.

"He had no right," Chelsea turns to yell back.

"You're right," Adam agrees, "but look at how little time it took for him to split us up after years of being together. How long do you think it would've taken after two weeks?" Adam feels bad for walking out on Travis now. He'd come back and fix things he promises himself.

Chelsea ignores Adam's comment and lets herself into the two story abode slamming the door shut to let Travis knows she's there.

"Chels," he sighs in relief to see her as he steps past the couch. When his eyes land on her he forgets the promises he made to himself earlier about moving on. She's almost running toward him, and he opens his arms expecting a hug but is shocked when she shoves him back. He falls over onto the couch and looks up at her in disbelief, "what the fuck, Chelsea?" The words leave him in a breathless sigh as he tries to collect his thoughts.

"You had no right to delete that voicemail, Mills!" she yells at him staring him down. She's more angry than he's ever seen her, and he knows he's in trouble.

"What?" he manages to sigh out trying to sit up as he speaks.

"Don't fucking play dumb. Colson told me he called me graduation night, and you had my fucking phone because I forgot it in the car. There was no voicemail when you gave it back to me. I know you deleted it," she yells and pushes him back down as he tries to stand up.

Travis sighs realizing he's in deep shit. "Look, I'm sorry, Chelsea. You were finally moving on, and I didn't want him getting in the way," he admits trying to reach up and grab her hands without any luck.

"How could you hide this from me for so long?" She can't believe him. She takes a step back not wanting him to touch her.

"I didn't mean to lie to you, Chels, I just didn’t want you to get hurt," he says taking the chance to stand up into the space she's created between them.

"You had no right. I mean you called me crazy! You said I was seeing things! You let me believe it all this time," she accuses feeling the tears inch their way down her face.

"Chelsea, baby, I thought I was doing the right thing. I was only trying to protect you," he pleads with her as he takes a step forward and scoops her into his arms.

She fights against him saying, "no. You don't get to call me that! You don't get to act like I shouldn't be mad about this." She's trying to shove him off, but his long arms are wrapped too tightly around her small body.

"I'm sorry, Chelsea, I'm so sorry," he tells her resting his chin on the top of her head. She sobs into his chest, and he can feel her tears drenching his shirt already. He squeezes his eyes shut upset that he's hurt her.

"It's not fair, Mills. You know I needed it. You know how I felt about him. You know I wanted him there despite everything, and you took that away from me," he can barely decipher her words as she cries into him trying to fight his grasp again.

Travis gives up and finally lets her go. She takes a few steps back and wipes away her tears while staring up at the man she thought was her best friend. The look on her face makes his heart sink. "Babe," he starts, reaching out for her, but she shakes her head and takes another step back. Travis sighs before saying, "I did it because I love you, Chelsea. You finally saw your self worth. You finally ended it. I couldn't let him come back and keep hurting you. Please, Chelsea." He's trying to get her to understand. He's desperate. She's slipping from between his fingers, and it scares the hell out of him.

"No, no no," she shakes her head trying to make her way out of the living room and toward the front door. "You don't get to say sorry and fix this. You fucked up so badly, Mills. I can't even begin to explain how I feel right now. Out of all the people, I never expected you to let me down like this," she rambles frantically reaching for the door knob.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, Chelsea," Travis yells after her. He's been chasing her too often lately, and he's getting tired of pulling her back from the ledge every time. Before she can get in her car his hand is on her wrist spinning her back around to face him.

"I fucking love you, okay?" he tells her, and her heart flutters as she watches him say it. For a moment she thinks he's not serious, but the look on his face tells her he means it, and not in a brother/sister/best friend kind of way either. She feels her breath catch in her throat, and her heart skips a beat again. Her mouth is suddenly so dry, and she's at a loss for words.

"I can't do this right now," she turns around and gets in her car peeling away so fast she thinks she'll crash into something.

"This isn't happening," she says out loud to herself. She never expected Travis to feel this way. How long has he been keeping these feelings from her? How long did she spend wanting him? She waited for him to save her from Richard for so long, and every time he did it was in the most platonic way possible. Even when they started sleeping together he made no attempt to let her know it was more. All this time has passed, and he's here now confessing this to her? Shattering her whole life before her eyes?

Chelsea steps on the breaks and pulls over on the side of the road. She can't be driving like this - she's being too reckless. Her phone vibrates from the cup holder, but she lets it keep buzzing. She lets out a deep sigh, and the tears come with it. Reaching into her purse she pulls a cigarette to her lips and lights it with a shaky sigh. If she thought things were complicated before, what the hell are they now?