Don't Give Up (On Me)

Bullshit.

My Monday was complete and utter chaos. It was the afternoon and I was rushing around with design ideas and other things that I needed to sign off on. What made it worse, was that it was pissing down with rain, and the one day I wanted to come home to John and relax to a dinner I (for once) hadn’t made, he would be at his boxing class. The one day I need him to de-stress me, he was out de-stressing himself. I mean hey, if it meant I wouldn’t get slapped, I was all for it.

Okay not funny. That will never be funny.

My stress and complete lack of patience always gave me a sick sense of humor I loathed. I took a deep breath and pushed my hair off of my face. I don’t get how it could be so hot inside the warehouse when it was a human heat wave inside. I couldn’t wait until we got that fucking heater fixed so it wasn’t set to ‘fucking desert’, as it’d been left on over the weekend. We were all cooking in our winter clothes, so much so, that we’d rolled up our jeans and shed down to old tank tops that never sold out and were kept in storage out back. We were living off of the ice cold health juices upstairs in the fridge, making Caleb run up and down every five minutes for refills. I’m not going to lie, me and the girls may have been getting him to run around and bend over and what not for our own personal gain, but hey, we were working our asses off in here. We deserved a little eye candy every now and then.

“Alright that’s the last of The Maine’s orders!” Jack called out, dropping the last package into the containers that would be taken out to the post office tomorrow morning. “So all we’ve got left is a few Lost Boys orders and we are done with pre-orders!”

“Holy shit, this is a lot harder than it seems.” Caleb said, breathing heavily as he folded and packaged, and folded and packaged.

“That’s the spirit.” Lennon beamed, clapping him on the back. “That’s why you’ll love designing so much more; you get to sit on your ass all day drinking coffee and wearing hipster glasses.”

“His aren’t even prescriptions.” I smirked, knowing fully well about Lennon’s false glasses.

“Unlike yours, you’re blind as a bat.” Lennon retorted.

I shot him a look, becoming defensive over my glasses that I needed every now and then when my sight went fuzzy, usually due to stress. “Shut up,” I threw back childishly, before looking down at my iPad as I leant against the door frame of my office. “Alright just a run through for the rest of the week, Tuesday and Wednesday is focusing on packaging, Lennon, you and me will be working within close proximity in order to run through more designs for Lost Boys, because the one year anniversary is coming up next month, which is when Wanderlust Girls will be released-“

“Pat’s coming in Wednesday afternoon to do some more on that with you,” Lennon spoke up. “Tim sent me an email about it. Tuesday afternoon I have a meeting with him.”

My eyes fell on Tate, who sat behind her laptop with wide eyes. I awkwardly looked away from her and focused my attention back on Lennon. “O-okay…and why do you have a meeting with Tim?”

Lennon shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe it’s my turn to be Queen Bitch, huh?” He smirked jokingly.

I rolled my eyes and flipped him off. “Go back to high school. Is anyone coming in on Thursday? I was thinking about coming in about midday-“

“Oh as if, it’s your birthday on Thursday,” Layla scoffed, “don’t you dare come in on your birthday.”

“It’s not-“

“She’s right Lei,” Tate spoke up. For a second it was like we’d forgotten about the adultery and the lies that she’d committed and had gone back to the whole ‘friends’ thing. “I mean John just got back as well, he’ll want to spend the day with you.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I have so much to do here. I’m nowhere near where I need to be considering the line is coming out next month.”

“It’s one day,” Jack threw in.

I waved them off. “Anyway, on Friday, we’ll have another meeting to regroup before we get the last of the orders out and on their way. We also need to prep for the shoot next week. Layla and Caleb, you’ll be doing that with me.”

“Is Dirk coming in?” Layla asked curiously.

I nodded. “Should be, yeah. Questions?”

I got a chorus of ‘no’s which I was pleased about, and headed back to my office once announcing I was going to get stuck into the designs for the new line. I was going okay so far, but ever since my minor breakdown last week, I was finding it harder and harder to keep focused without feeling the need to burst into tears. God knows how many times Lennon’s walked in on that mess.

“Leighton?”

I looked up from my desk at the sound of her voice. Tate looked timid, and somewhat nervous as she stood in the doorway. “What?” I asked quickly, wanting her out so I could get back onto my work, rather than just wanting her to leave and stop the awkward tension. I never thought someone I loved like a sister could make me feel so uncomfortable.

“I just…when Pat comes in-“

“Can you use the bathroom to hook up? Well it’s none of my business, is it?” I retorted sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes. “Can you be civil with him? Wednesday afternoon I have a doctor’s appointment so Garrett’s picking me up, and I won’t be here when Pat is, and I know you hate the both of us right now
but I really need you not to talk about it with him-“

“Like I’d want to talk about it with him,” I scoffed, turning to my computer to open up the designing program we used for the creation and development of designs. “Please, give me some credit.”

“Leighton just hear me out-“

“I have no desire in doing so,” I shot back coldly, not bothering to look up at her. I couldn’t. “Get back to work.”

“It’s not what it-“

“Yes or no, did you sleep with him more than once?” I asked, my eyes connecting with hers for the first time.

“Leighton-“

“Answer the question.” I said simply.

“Yes, but-“

“Do you have feelings for him?” I asked.

She frowned, as if that was ridiculous. Well excuse me. “Of course not.”

“Are you still sleeping with him?” I pushed.

“No.” She sighed.

“When was the last time?”

“Two nights before he left with the guys.” She mumbled, tears filling her eyes like I was some sort of cruel bitch.

“You disgust me,” I scoffed, “how could you do that-no you know what? I’ve got enough to worry about right now before I even think of thinking about your trouble to keep it in your pants.”

Alright if I was in a more stable frame of mind, I’d admit that that was a bit too harsh. I’d indirectly called her a-

“I don’t deserve this,” she said, shaking her head before leaving. She was right, she didn’t deserve that.

But like I said, my frame of mind was unstable right now so I couldn’t see the point of me going and fixing things right now when I was swamped with design work.

I dropped my head into my hands and sighed in frustration. This was honestly going nowhere and it was becoming even harder for me to concentrate. It didn’t help that the guys had removed their shirts and my office walls were made of glass. I could see Layla looking over at Jack every two minutes, her eyes taking him in before she went back to her book keeping.

And then my eyes wondered over to Caleb. He stood beside Tate in front of our inventory shelves, reaching up onto the top shelf to grab something for her. He looked good from side on. That wasn’t me looking, that was just a…general observation, I mean damn…

My eyes widened as my thoughts began to linger, trailing down his torso. I sat back abruptly as a knock on the door pulled me out of my thoughts. I saw Elijah standing by the door, looking at me with a confused look.

“What?” I mumbled, looking away so he couldn’t see me blushing.

“Okay if you’re done checking out the jail bait, you’ve got a call on line three.” Elijah smirked, following my line of contact before I had the chance to clear my path.

“I was not checking him out,” I hissed as I picked up the phone. “And he’s not jail bait- get out!”

Elijah just laughed before heading back to his desk. I rolled my eyes and pressed the number three on the cradle before placing the phone to my ear.

“Hello? Leighton Johnson of 8123-“

“Hey Leighton it’s Tim,” Tim interrupted.

I rolled my eyes once more. “You know it’s rude to interrupt.” I retorted.

“So, I’ve got a proposition for you, Johnson,” Tim continued, ignoring my last statement.

“Oh really?” I mused, my eyes returning to the design program in front of me to finish up a graphic t-shirt I’d been working on. “Go on, Kirch.”

“Okay, so I’ve been reviewing Lennon’s portfolio, and I think it’s about time he got a promotion.” Tim suggested. I could hear his movements and pictured him sitting back in his office chair, waiting for my response.

“And what is this promotion you’re suggesting?” I asked curiously.

“We give him The Lost Boys.”

My eyes widened. “Seriously?” I should have been more excited about the fact the Lennon was owning his own line, rather than the fact that it meant seeing less of the younger Kirch-

“I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s great as a head of Graphics and Design but I think his talent could be put to better use if he’s put in charge of his own line, y’know? So I mean you’ll need to choose a new head of G&D, out of Elijah or Tate. Pat’s going to get more involved with the band merch rather than the individual lines, you following?”

So he’s still going to be in the warehouse…great.

“Yeah, I’m following,” I nodded, “yeah that sounds like it’s going to work out really well. But are you sure you want me to choose the new head of design?”

“Definitely. You run the merch department, it only makes sense.” Tim responded. “No conflict of interest.”

It was an obvious choice but due to current personal tensions, it’d seem…typical?

“You can do this, right?” Tim asked wearily.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” I nodded (again forgetting he couldn’t see me). “Yeah it’s all good. Is that why you have a meeting with Lennon on Tuesday?” I asked.

“It is, which is also the day you’ll be announcing the new head of D&G, so I’ll come down to the warehouse at maybe two?”

My eyes widened. “I have one day to decide?!” God, why don’t you just give me even more stress, huh?

“I know it’s short notice, but I know you can handle it, Leighton. I wouldn’t give you anything you couldn’t handle-“

“That’s what God does, you loser.” I muttered, moving the phone between my ear and shoulder in order to talk and finish up the design. “Oh and Dirk’s coming in for the photo shoot on Monday, right?”

“He is, and you’ll be shooting in the studio in my building, so for that to happen, you’ll need to get all of the new range in the smaller sizes for the girls and medium for the guys. Supposedly he’s sent you the images that you wanted for the new girls range for the graphic t-shirts. How’s all that going, by the way?” I swear this man only speaks in one breath, yet here I was trying to write it all down so I wouldn’t miss anything.

“Yeah it’s going okay,” I mused, “I mean it’s getting full on with everything else, but I’m doing alright. I’ve got three graphic t-shirts and two tank tops out of the way, so I’m working on the fourth t-shirt and the two dresses. I think one of them will be a maxi dress and the other a skater dress. I was thinking of doing a skirt in the same material as the skater dress as well. What do you think?”

He pondered the thought before giving me his opinion. “I think that’s a good idea. Maybe do a hoodie and two hats as well, because we’re coming into winter and what not.”

“Alright,” I nodded, making a note of that. “Like a beanie in two different color variations?”

“Yeah exactly,” he agreed, “maybe head down to the fabric place tomorrow for the dress and skirt, and thing about how a canvas rucksack would look in that. For the summer in the next season line, y’know?”

“Yeah, and maybe we’ll do a tote bag too.” I murmured, pulling my sketch book across my desk and writing the design notes down. “I’ll put that in for the summer line.”

“Awesome, Leighton. You’re doing really well from what I’m witnessing. I know it’s been hard for you recently, dealing with that jerk face, but I’m really digging these designs that you’ve sent me so far and I spoke with Caleb this morning, he says his intern is going well too. You’re a good boss.” He praised sincerely.

I’m not gonna lie, that felt really good to hear. It didn’t take any of the stress and frustration away, but it’s always good to hear constructive comments like that about your work. “That’s only because you’re a good boss.” I reasoned.

“I’m literally playing Candy Crush right now as we speak.”

***

“Alright make sure you’re all in at eight, because the electrician is coming to fix the heater at seven and there’s no point in coming in so early.” I called as everyone made their way across the parking lot to get to their cars. I watched as Layla and Jack got into his car and made a note of it to ask Layla about that tomorrow. It was so obvious and I don’t know why they didn’t just come out with it already.

They all gave me some form of acknowledgment before heading off, as did I. It was just hitting six thirty, meaning John would have left a little while ago for his class, and would be coming home at seven thirty. I was incredibly tempted to go out and grab take away, but made the extra effort to go home and cook something for the both of us, even if I had to put his in the fridge for when he came home.

Once I finally pulled up in our driveway, I was beyond exhausted. I dragged myself up the stairs and into our bathroom, where I had a quick shower. I threw a pair of sweat pants that belonged to one of us (not sure who specifically) and a black Motley Crue tank top before throwing my hair up into a messy bun.

One of the things I didn’t like about winter was that I couldn’t wear nice pajamas to bed, sets that actually matched were made of silk and lace. I know John appreciated those a lot more than sweats and barely there tank top.

Once I got down to the kitchen, I searched the cupboard for something to make for dinner. I really wasn’t that hungry anymore, simply tired, and decided to make him an easy burrito.

While I waited for him to come home, I sat up on the kitchen bench and thought about Lennon’s promotion and what Tim had said earlier. Who was I going to choose to take over the G&D? While I tried to ponder the possible candidates, I knew in my heart that the best person for the job, was Tate. She got along well with her team, yet she knew how to keep Elijah in line, even with their continuous banter. With Lennon moving up in his promotion, and someone filling his position, we’d need another set of hands to fill Tate’s spot. I made a note to ask Tim tomorrow what was going on with that. Would we be keeping Caleb on for longer? Would he actually get a job here? I knew Tim would definitely consider Caleb for the position on the D&G team, considering he’d praised his portfolio and work ethic earlier.

I could get used to having that boy around.

By the time John got home, it was ten to eight and I was still sitting on the kitchen bench playing around on my laptop, flicking through old photos and checking emails and what not. Really I was just trying to kill time before he got home.

He didn’t acknowledge me until he saw me in the kitchen, a weak smile on his face. He looked absolutely exhausted. He also had a red mark on the side of his chin, which wasn’t there this morning. “Hey Lei,” he greeted, dropping his back pack on the kitchen table before walking into the kitchen and wrapping his arms around me.

“Hey baby,” I murmured, placing my laptop to the side and wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss, making sure to be sensitive to the reddening area. “How was it?”

“Yeah it was good,” he nodded, “Garrett went too, said he could use the release.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

John shrugged as he leaned back to look at me. “He hasn’t been sleeping at home. He’s been staying at
Trey’s. I figured Tate would’ve told you by now.”

I shrugged back. “She’s kind of kept to herself as of recently. I’ll ask her about it tomorrow.”

“Good idea,” John mused.

“So do you feel better after that?” I asked.

He nodded. “Definitely, I feel like I’ve lost a lot of tension. I don’t feel so anxious and frustrated.”

“Well that’s good baby,” I cooed, pressing my lips against his nose. “So you’re going to the next session?”

He shook his head. “It’s on a Thursday night, and that’s your birthday so I’ll give this one a miss before going back next week.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I sighed, pushing his hair off of his face. It was in urgent need of a cut.
“Really, you go-“

“Nope,” he shook his head firmly. “And you’re not going into work either. You’re taking your day off and we’re doing something for your birthday.” He insisted.

“John-“

“What’s that smell? Did you make dinner?”

***

I woke up to lips on the back of my neck, teasing me as they lingered to my shoulder blade, which he’d uncovered with those rough hands, firm from all of that guitar. I slowly opened my eyes to see the clock read five to seven. I should probably get ready to go, knowing due to the state I was in, I’d probably take my sweet ass time to get to work. I went to sleep last night with a head full of shit so waking up this morning wasn’t any brighter.

“Babe I’ve gotta get up,” I murmured, rolling over and cuddling into his warm body. I don’t know when I would wake up and it wouldn’t be warm with sweat and a too-high temperature.

“Mhmm…me too, my appointment is this morning.” He mumbled, wrapping his arms tightly around me.

“Really? Why is that?” I asked curiously.

“Dunno, therapist just said so,” he shrugged through a yawn. “You want me to drive you to work?”

I shrugged and nodded. “Alright, but that means you have to pick me up.”

“Yeah that’s fine, I’m going to Kennedy’s anyway, we’re working on song structures for the new record.”

The new record. I’d completely forgotten about the process that was about to begin.

“I’m gonna start getting a lot busier for this, I’ll let you know now,” he admitted, “but we’re recording in Arizona, so I won’t be flying out to Nashville like last time.”

“Good, the distance was too much back then,” I pouted, kissing him softly, our morning breath cancelling each other out. “I don’t mind too much about the busy schedule, just as long as you come home every night and you’re not tiring yourself out.”

“I’ll be fine babe, I should be worrying about you tiring yourself out. You still look exhausted.” He observed, his eyes scanning my face.

“That’s because I’m not wearing make up-“

“You don’t need make up,” he scoffed, wrapping his arms around my wait while I tried to sit up.

“Babe let me go, I have to get going,” I whined, pushing his arms off of me and climbing out of bed.

“Alright!” He groaned, before climbing out after me. Today was an important day; today was the day I’d be giving Tate a promotion and Tim would be giving Lennon a promotion. Caleb may possibly receiving a permanent position at the warehouse also, which was huge for him too.

The whole week was going to be a busy one, and I was already internally freaking out over it. I ignored my rising heart race as I stepped into our closet and grabbed a pair of black skinny jeans (ripped at the knees of course) and an oversized sweater.

I left the closet and moved to the bathroom to do my hair and make up, John coming in and beginning to take his clothes off for a shower without even asking me to leave first. “Didn’t you shower last night?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I need to shower again,”

“Why?” I asked curiously, my eyes finding those little burns. There was only three, but already there
were three too many.

“Usual medication making me sweat like a pig through the night.” He mumbled, the thought of it setting his mood off. “It’s fucking annoying.”

“Is it because you’re having problems sleeping?” I asked, looking at him over my shoulder whilst I straightened my platinum blonde hair. I’d always wanted to go dark but never really had the guts to make such a drastic change.

“I guess so,” he nodded, turning on the water and stepping in.

I really hoped this mood wouldn’t linger throughout our week.

***

“Why did you buy cupcakes?” Layla asked as we all grouped around the conference table, myself sitting at the head of the table, leaving the seat beside me for Tim.

“We have special announcements, bitches!” Tim called as he walked through the warehouse doors. “I brought donuts because I didn’t think the wicked witch of the west would be kind enough to go get cupcakes.” Tim stated, setting the box beside mine.

“Okay that’s the last time I do anything nice for you guys,” I pouted, taking my seat.

“Oh I never said to stop,” Layla mumbled, her eyes glazing over the cakes.

“Yeah definitely don’t stop,” Elijah nodded, in some sort of sugar-induced trance.

“Okay, let’s get this going,” Tim said, clapping his hands together as everyone took their seats. “We’ve got a few things to go through.”

“Good things,” I assured, unlocking my iPad.

“Alright first things, the most important item on the agenda,” Tim began slowly, “Leighton would you like to do the honors?”

My eyes widened. “No, you do it.”

Tim let out a laugh. “Alright, alright; as an executive decision, we’ve thought a lot about this, and from this point forward, Lennon, you are taking on full responsibility of The Lost Boys.”

Eyes widened and jaws dropped.

Lennon sat there, stunned. He deserved this one hundred percent.

“You put so much work into it already,” I spoke, confirming his silent questions. “Both Tim and myself believe your talent could be put to better use. The whole label is yours.”

“Wow,” he murmured, “thank you so much…I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll do it and we’re all good.” Tim chuckled, leaning across to shake his hand.

“Definitely, I won’t let you guys down. Thank you so much.” Lennon said, nodding his head vigorously.

“The second office that you guys use as a store room will become your office and you guys will move that crap into the actual store room, got it?” Tim added on, surprising us all. “But I’ll come by next week and explain all that then.”

“Wow, thank you guys so much.”

“It really is our pleasure, Len,” I insisted. “You deserve it.”

“So does that mean I won’t be head of D&G?” Lennon asked.

I nodded. “It does, which means I’ve been given the tough decision of choosing who I think will be able to
carry out the position with the most skill and determination.”

“This isn’t going to end well, either way.” Jack laughed, looking between Tate and Elijah.

Tate sat back, looking like she knew the answer; like she knew it wouldn’t be her. She didn’t think I was professional enough to put that aside? Ouch.

“Either way you’ll be working as a team, but ultimately, I know who I’ve chosen was the right decision, because Elijah, Tate knows how to kick your ass into gear and you know it.” I teased.

Elijah let out a laugh, nodding knowingly. “I had a feeling it’d be her. I completely get it Lei. It’s the right decision.”

Tate’s eyes widened, her eyes looking into mine with a much more personal tone. “Really?”

I nodded. “I think you’d be able to handle running the department.”

“Thank you, Lei.” She said softly, nodding gratefully.

“But that isn’t the last of it,” Tim said, turning to Caleb. “I just want to acknowledge the great work you’ve done here man, we really appreciate the hard work and incredible effort you’ve brought to the table. Which is why…we want to offer you a position on the Graphic and Design team.”

This time it was Caleb’s turn to look shocked.

“S-seriously?”

“Hell yeah man, you’ve got some serious skills.” Tim chuckled, “we’ll get you sorted with a key and permanent desk space and you’ll be all set. Just be aware that for the next few weeks you’ll still be Leighton’s bitch.”

“Perfectly alright with me, man.” Caleb laughed, “thank you guys so much.”

The afternoon ended on a high, with Tim letting us go early. I was relieved to be done with work and stayed to talk with the others after Tim headed back to his building down the road. We all mingled in the parking lot for a few minutes, before heading off our separate ways. A big weight felt like it had been lifted from my shoulders and I couldn’t be more pleased. Now all I had to do was get through tomorrow’s awkward visit from Pat and then I could continue on the line. I was determined to get most of it designed and sent over to Tim before the shoot on Monday, which meant extensive work over the weekend, something I was willing to partake in in order to reach my deadline.

When I realized I was coming home early to my boyfriend, I figured my day couldn’t get any better.
I guess I was wrong.

***

The following morning, I woke up on the couch, the result of a bad mood taking up the space of our bed last night. When I got home from work, he was in an extremely bad mood, he says from his therapist. I told him he had to be more open with his therapist but then he went off at me, claiming he had no idea what it was like to tell a stranger all of your problems, and that he was trying. I may have said a few words I know regretted but it by no means was reasonable for him to go and slam the door in my face and lock me out of our bedroom for the night.

I mean really?

So in order to get ready for work, I had to tiptoe through our bedroom (he’d unlocked the door earlier) and get ready, before heading to work in the worst mood I’ve had since he’s been home.

Wow, thanks a lot John.

***

“So basically this will all be put into practice by next week,” I said, as I sat on the front of my desk, looking at Lennon, Tate and Caleb who sat on my couch before me. Elijah stood by the door because I figured he’d need to know about the changes. “Tim’s going to arrange for tradesmen to come in and renovate that office for Len over the weekend, so by Monday we should have it ready and all set to go. You guys think you can hold out till then?” I asked.

They all nodded enthusiastically.

“Awesome, so Caleb we’ll get you situated with a desk with these guys, you’ll have your own cubicle and everything so you can finally set your stuff down, and we’ll get on that today. Tate, you can move into Lennon’s when he moves into his office. You two won’t be starting your positions until Monday, but you can get Caleb filled in on his role and a little more on the team- that’s important, remember you’re working as a team, regardless of your roles okay? I know you already know this stuff but-“

“Chill, Lei,” Lennon chuckled, “we’re going to be fine. You just stay focused on your line, okay? Don’t
worry about us.”

“Yeah, we’ll take good care of Caleb on the team,” Tate added with a smile.

Oh yeah, I know you will.

She caught my look and rolled her eyes at me, looking away.

“I know you guys will be fine, I just feel better once everything is said, makes it more official,” I mused, “anyway, you guys get back to work and we’ll be out of here soon. Pat’s coming by in about twenty minutes to work on some of the merch designs. Mainly The Maine’s new stuff.”

Everyone agreed with what was said and left the room, leaving me to my own peace and serenity-

“I think Garrett’s here, so I’m going to head off now,”

I turned in my chair and nodded at her.

“I’ve emailed you the sales rates for last month, along with the taxing information and new stationary requirements and inventory counts.” She added, trying to get something out of me.

“Okay,” I said simply, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She sighed in frustration. “Talk to me-“

“If it’s not work related, I have no desire to do so,” I said coldly, turning back to my computer.

“God I don’t know why you’re so wrapped up in this, it’s none of your business!” She hissed, crossing her arms.

I raised an eyebrow. “You made it my business when you forgot to lock the damn- no. I’m not doing this right now, I have work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow Tate.” I said firmly.

“You know what? Fine. I didn’t know friends were supposed to turn into bitches and turn against each other. We’re done.” She snapped, heading for the door.

“Now you just have to say the same to the two guys you’re screwing over.” I didn’t even mean for those words to slip from my mouth. I really didn’t.

She stopped at the door for a moment, but kept going, not looking back once.

I was really going crazy. I can’t believe I just said that. And lost a friendship in the running. Fucking fantastic. I could barely hold myself together, I don’t know how I was expecting to hold my relationships together.

I sat there consoling myself and trying to make myself feel like I wasn’t going to break down in five seconds, watching from my office as everyone worked with each other cooperatively as a team. Layla and Jack were filling orders at the back, while Lennon and Elijah were helping Caleb set up his desk, giving him the run down on how the team worked, and what his duties would be. I know they’d start him off simple and easy, before getting more intense and introducing the amount of work we all did. It could be overwhelming for a first timer, which is why it was important to make sure they weren’t drowning.

Funny that, I wasn’t a first timer yet I felt like I’d been drowning for the past eight months.

My blood began to boil when he walked through the warehouse doors. I watched him greet Jack and Layla before making his way over to the boys and introduce himself to Caleb, who seemed happy to meet him. I took a few deep breaths as they began to talk, while I went back to my work. I was almost finished with the last t-shirt and was planning on going to the fabric department on Friday to look for samples for the dresses and skirt. After that, it would be the accessories and I’d be done. I was starting to get a little more positive about my deadline and I-

I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

I tensed and looked up, unamused as he was. “Hi Pat,” I greeted professionally.

“Don’t you hi me,” he scoffed, walking in and crossing his arms over his chest. “Who do you think you are?”

I frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I said, who do you think you are?” He repeated, looking beyond pissed. “you think it’s alright to bully Tate like that? Treat her the way you have been? Yeah, she confides in me, and she tells me how guilty she feels and how shitty you make her feel.”

“And she got her boyfriend to come in here to confront me?” I scoffed, shaking my head at him. “Get out, we’re not talking about this-“

“No!” He hissed, shutting the door behind him and walking closer to my desk. “She doesn’t deserve this-“

“Why are you sleeping with her?” I asked, interrupting and silencing him.

He looked taken back when the words hit the air, but I wasn’t at all faltering. I wanted to understand why this was happening between them. “We’re not doing that anymore. We were, but we stopped that before we left for the trip.”

“So let me rephrase that, why were you sleeping with her?” I asked sarcastically.

“You know what went down with her and Garrett, right?” He asked.

Okay wow I didn’t think he’d actually give me an answer.

“The pregnancy scare, yeah,” I nodded, sitting back.

“He shut her out, made her feel like shit- like how you’re making her feel right now,”

“Get on with it,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at him.

He threw me a look. “She felt like I was the only one that could understand. She spoke to me because she trusted me. She needed someone on her side. She came over to my place a few weeks back and we got drunk and one thing lead to another and it just happened.”

“And what, you get drunk every time you two get together?” I scoffed. “Didn’t you feel guilty?”

“Of course I did, that’s my best friend I’m lying to.” He sighed, leaning against the wall. “But…I’m in
love with her.”

“Oh my god-“

“Shut up,” he snapped, pointing his finger at me. “You don’t get to judge me, I love her, but I’m not telling her because I don’t want to put her through that-“

“You sleeping her is worse than putting her through that!” I threw back.

He looked offended at that and I couldn’t help but think that my wording ability was really falling apart. I guess John’s talent hadn’t rubbed off on me.

“Oh come on, you know it too. What you’ve done is wrong on so many levels.” I muttered. “No matter what’s going on-“

“No, we’re not talking about that,” he said firmly, standing up and dropping his arms. “we’re not talking about the adultery part, we’re-“

“Adultery? Oh please, that’s a little Old Testament don’t you think?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

“We’re talking about the way you’ve been treating her,” he continued. “She called me in tears, screaming at me, telling me how much she regrets me because she’s lost everything with you.”

Shit.

“So you don’t get to sit there with your acid humor and just…make her cry! She’s your best friend! She’s supposed to be your sister! You’re supposed to tell her and help her!” He yelled.

“I called her out on her shit,” I said, trying to keep my voice firm. I’d never seen Pat this angry. He hadn’t
stuttered once which reinforced that. “If I’m her sister, you’re supposed to be her brother-“

“I can’t help my feelings! Alright yeah, what we did was wrong, and she’s probably going to tell Garrett and he’ll probably never speak to me! But I can accept that because I know it was fucking wrong, but that part isn’t any of your business unless she tells you about it-“

“But you’re telling me about it-“

“Fuck, Leighton! You keep bringing it up!” He snapped, causing me to jump a little. “She’s going through a lot of personal shit right now! A lot of shit with Garrett but mostly personal stuff, she’s faced really hard news that she needs to talk to her best friend about! Garrett’s not even sleeping in their place because it’s affecting him to! They’re always fighting and…she needs you! She needs her best fucking friend but your too busy being fucking heartless! How could be so cruel!”

And that was about when I burst into tears.

Yeah, not one of my finer moments.

I dropped my head into my hands and I just started crying. I couldn’t handle his hate and the hurt I caused Tate. Or maybe I was just too fragile to be yelled at right now.

“Oh shit…”

***

PART 2

“Happy birthday dear Leighton, happy birthday too you…”

I was awoken to bony knees on either side of my hips and his frame sitting over my waist, holding a cake above me. I rubbed my eyes open, a smile growing on my lips as I heard his raspy morning voice. When
I looked up at him, his hair was damp and perfectly slicked back, and his legs were cold, meaning he’d just gotten out of the shower. It made me question how long I’d been asleep for. And when I saw how much the sweater he wore slipped off of his left shoulder, it made me question how I hadn’t noticed the weight he’d lost recently. His knees were like daggers at the bottom of his shorts.

“Quick sit up and blow these candles out,” he chuckled, nudging me with said dagger-like-knee.

I tried to move as much as I could underneath him and when I finally sat up, I looked up at him instead of the cake. His eyes were empty but his mouth was smiling. He had stress lines and the scar under his chin, and the scar on his ear and another stupid burn on his ring finger and he was drowning in his clothes and he was so trapped inside of his head and I couldn’t get him out.

And then I burst into tears.

Again.