Chapter 108 - 2.29

When we arrived back at the small pier, the sun was beginning to set. I sighed as I trudged back our stuff back onto the land. I went back, grabbed the last beer out of the cooler and popped it open. I chugged it before crushing the can and James threw me the rope. I tied up the boat before throwing my arm around his shoulders as we walked back to the stuff I put down.

"You never told me you had skills."

I chuckled as I enjoyed the slight buzz I had. It was my only reprieve from the pain and anger. "My father had me fishing the minute I could hold a pole and not follow it out of the boat." I smirked, "you weren't bad yourself. You caught the biggest."

"But I caught 1 to your 12, kid." We went back to his house and put the supplies outside his door. He grabbed two beers out of his personal fridge and gave me one, which I quickly opened and slowly began drinking it. We each carried half the fish and went toward the house. "You sure it's okay to go up there? You ready for that?"

I nodded, "I can handle it now." I smiled to him, "thanks for doing all this."

He patted my back, "what're friends for."

"I've been having it pretty hard recently. It's nice to know I still have a friend out there." He nodded before we stopped in front of the house.

"You've been gone for hours," Derrick grumbled as he stood up from the front stairs. "And you come back with another guy, without a shirt, drinking?" I didn't move as I couldn't comprehend all of this. What the hell does he have to do with this?

"We went fishing."

Derrick glared at James, "you need to leave."

I went in front of James, "what's gotten into you, Derrick?"

His hands balled into fists, "you ran off and left us to deal with him!" He hissed, "Jayden and Justin already got into a fight because of you!"

James moved beside me, "Will didn't do shit to you!" He hissed, "standing up for himself is not wrong, it is his right! If you want to be mad, talk to those Alphas!"

"You have nothing to do with this!"

I sighed before looking to James, "wait here. I'll go grab the stuff." I went up the stairs and around Derrick, avoiding his hand as he tried to grab me. "Excuse me."

I heard Derrick following close behind but I ignored him as I went to the kitchen. I began looking through the cabinets and looked up when someone rushed into the kitchen.

"Will," Jayden said in a sigh of relief as his face turned gentle. "You've been gone all day. You had me worried."

I glanced to him before continuing and getting out the plates, cutlery, large pans, and paper towels. "Not now, Jayden. I'm still not ready. I'm just going to be outside with James."

I was startled when he rushed over to me, "you said we could talk when you got back. Well, you're back, so we can talk."

I looked to the ground, "I just got back from a long day. I'm tired and hungry. We're just going to eat our catch."

Jayden smiled, "we can eat something here. You don't have to do all of that." When Jayden tried to touch my arm, I backed up and he froze.

"Stop, now." I hissed and he looked to me with surprise. "What did you do to Justin?"

He seemed surprised, "we talked and I hit him."

"Why?"

"He hurt you! I had to do something about it!"

I smirked, which surprised him and Derick. "Now you get mad at him? What, just because I told you I was mad?" He tried to touch my arm and I smacked his away, "if anyone deserves a hit, it's you! He's an ȧsshole, but you're supposed to be my partner! But...!"

"WILL!" I looked in surprise as James appeared in the doorway, "you're not ready yet. Come on. Nothing is going to get solved by yelling."

Jayden whipped around with anger, "stay out of this! It has nothing to do with you!"

I used the chance and slipper by both Jayden and Derick. I patted James' shoulder before leading him out. I was relieved when I saw Jayden did not follow me, although I was less than thrilled that he sat on the front steps and watched us.

We worked together to build a fire in a small pit James made in the sand. We cooked up all the fish and reminisced about when we worked together as we ate. James leaned back slightly and looked up to the sky.

"You can't see stuff like this at the old place."

I looked up and saw more stars than I had ever seen before, "I can see why you came."

He smirked, "you kidding? I followed a girl and she left one day. Somehow I wandered around and found myself here. The pay, hours, and place are good, so I've stuck around."

I chuckled, "bet you never thought you'd see a street rat here, huh?"

"That's definitely the beer talking."

I laid back in the sand with a sigh, "great nickname, right?" I tossed a piece of bone off my plate and into the fire. "Picked it up as a kid and it stuck."

"Maybe you should come sleep at my place. You never talked about this stuff until you're buzzed."

I laughed, "I've been pregnant for 9 of the past 10 months. I finally got to drink and did it while pissed." I looked to James as I fought tears, "I haven't been near someone that I can freely open up to in over 7 years. I just took the chance, I guess."

He leaned over towards me, "aren't your twin kids a little over 6?" I nodded, "so you left everyone you could trust when you were pregnant?"

I nodded again, "hey at least it stopped me from being an alcoholic."

He sighed, "I don't feel comfortable leaving you with him." His eyes diverted to where Jayden watched us from.

"Don't worry about me. I have a lot he needs on my side and I won't settle anymore." I took a deep breath, "I have given up everything for my kid's happiness. I don't plan to keep them in any bad situation, even if it means leaving him."

"Do you really love him?"

I glanced up to the sky, "I do, but my kids can never be surpassed. I will give up everything for their happiness."

"They won't be happy if you're not happy."

"I know," I drank the last of the final beer. "I always figure something out." I patted his shoulder as I sat up, "I should get back. We have a lot to talk about."

"You should wait until you're sobered up."

I glanced to Jayden, "he's not going to wait that long. This is his first real relationship so he's nervous and panicked." I stood and began putting things together.

"I've got it," James said before ruffling my hair. "Go listen to his groveling."

I sighed before hugging him and looked over to the house. Jayden stood and watched me anxiously as I came over. He rushed to meet me at the base of the stairs and tried to take my hand. I moved my arm away and shook my head, "not yet."

His body tensed as I saw genuine anxiety in his face, "we can talk and work this out."

I looked away, "let's go inside." Jayden followed me as I went to the room and he quickly shut the door. I went over to the bathroom door and looked back to him. "I'm covered in salt water, fish, sunscreen, and sand. I don't want to get the room dirty, so can I shower before we talk?"

Jayden hesitated as he analyzed my face for the right response. "We can't talk now? I want to fix this."

I sighed deeply, "I will make it quick, okay?"

Jayden nodded with a deep frown that I ignored and shut the bathroom door behind me. I went to the shower and quickly washed my body before putting my clothes in the hamper and dried off with a towel. I wrapped it around my waist and came back into the bedroom to see Jayden sitting on the bed. His head hung down as he leaned towards the edge of the bed.. When I shut the door to the bathroom, his gaze shot up and relief filled his face.