Cherish had never been good at coping. She knew this. It had always been Len who'd held her together. But with Len gone, Cherish turned to the only coping mechanism she knew- denial. It was easy, simply pretend it hadn't happened; pretend he had...
A.N: Yes I know, it's weird that I'm uploading a Christmas chapter now, but oh well. It just worked out that way. This chapter is a bit of fluff, and it may not survive a rewrite if I do one, but it seemed odd to leave their party out. As, always let me know what you think.
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Ian didn't tease them about the fact that they were play fighting in the lunch line, in fact he barely acknowledged it. If they noticed, neither of them had any reaction at all, thankful for the fact that he hadn't made the moment awkward.
"Does either of you know what the hell crawled up Juss' ass?"
Cherish glanced up at Seven from where her head was tucked under his arm; but Ian missed the look they exchanged. Pulling out of Seven's grasp, she pushed him away halfheartedly. She was worried about Juss now.
If Ian was noticing it, then she knew she wasn't just imagining his behaviour. She was sure he'd been missing more than normal and was generally much quieter than she was accustomed to him being. Seven had noticed it too; but he'd been the one to intercept Allie's message asking if Cherish had checked on him.
Yes, he was much quieter than normal. But when he did talk, he joked around and talked about Allie as if they were still together. If that was the word to use for whatever they were. Maybe he didn't want them all to know that he'd been cheated on, again if that were the right word. But Cherish was sure he'd noticed Seven's careful observation of himself. Maybe he didn't want them to know he was broken up over it. Maybe he was trying to be strong.
"Why? What'd he do?" Seven asked.
Ian shrugged, "I don't know, he's just being weird. I was talking to him and he went all broody and took off."
"Well," Cherish said with a light smile, "Seven's acting normal, so someone has to take over being broody."
"So funny!" Seven rolled his eyes as he paid for his lunch.
Ian chuckled, "But seriously..."
"E, if it's something, he'll tell you eventually," Cherish reasoned. "Juss doesn't really seem to be the spilling feelings kind of guy, is he?"
"No," Ian muttered. "But something's bothering him, I know it."
"What's bothering who?" Juss asked when they turned the corner.
Seven languidly flopped down beside Juss, who was on his phone, "Ian thinks you haven't been eating breakfast; really, Juss it's an essential part of your diet as a growing boy!"
Juss rolled his eyes as he chuckled and went back to his conversation, "Apparently Ian thinks I'm cranky, which means I'm not eating enough."
"Or he's not getting any, step it up, Allie!" Ian joked.
Cherish frowned when she heard Allie's laughter, and it could only be Allie's laughter blaring out of Juss' phone. Wasn't Allie supposed to be avoiding him? Seven glanced at Cherish quizzically. So clearly, Juss was in denial. As she frowned at her plate of fries, Juss caught her eye and smiled; okay, he was really in denial.
