The Butterfly Effect

𝖝𝖛 | 𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔬 𝔡𝔲𝔢: 𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔞 𝔮𝔲𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔦𝔠𝔦

"We have to solve whatever's going on here," Zaire loudly spoke. "We have until tomorrow to fix this, or Andrew's doing it his way, and frankly, I don't want to witness his way. So talk."

Nathan, Jordan, and Beth looked up at Kian, Javier, and Zaire's towering figures from the couch with annoyed expressions.

"They're not talking," Javier said quietly.

"I can clearly see that, Javier," Zaire said. "This is what we're going to do. We'll start with Nathan's issue with Jordan, then move on to Nathan's issue with Beth. Understood?"

"Yeah, this is stupid," Nathan grumbled, rising only to be pushed back down by Kian. "You're lucky that scares me."

"So, you two were fine before Tuesday morning because the both of you went to the mall with Layla on Monday night. What happened between that time interval of eight hours?" Kian asked.

"Here's what happened. I was sleeping peacefully in my bed when Jordan barged into my room and demanded I go on a hike with him. I declined, but he started pelting me with water balloons and spraying his gun right into my eye. After that point, I was fully awake with no chance of me going back to sleep."

"Then we drove to Runyon Canyon, and he explained that this hike was for me to 'clear my head,' as if I needed any head-clearing at six in the morning. He then went on to say that the root of my problems is the closure I didn't get with Kelis."

"Of course, another problem pertaining to Kelis." Zaire sighed. "Why can't you stop bringing up Kelis, Jordan?"

"Until Nathan stops being in denial," Jordan answered.

"In what way am I being in denial?" Nathan asked, a sarcastic chuckle coming from him when Jordan failed to respond. "He doesn't even know what he's talking about."

"If she truly doesn't matter, why did you get upset when I mentioned her?" Jordan curiously inquired.

"Do you know how tiring it is when the one thing you want to do is move on, but your friends are constantly bringing your ex up?" Nathan asked, receiving looks of sympathy from everyone. "Everyone is talking about closure but fuck... That relationship took everything out of me. I'm trying my hardest to leave those memories in the past. Especially when they are painful memories I do not wish to relive."

"I am fine," Nathan said. The genuine tone of his voice provides some sort of clarity for his friends. "I'm not angry because you brought up Kelis. I'm angry because every time I take one step forward to move on, you take me three steps back by reminding me. It fucking sucks."

Jordan nodded as he processed the information. "I'm sorry. Not only for pushing you to talk but for ignoring how you've felt all these times when you said not to bring her up. It will not happen again."

Nathan appreciatively smiled and held his hand out for Jordan to dap him up. "Apology accepted, brother."

Jordan took his hand and brought him in for a hug.

"Well, that was nice. I'll see you guys in the studio tomorrow." Nathan quickly slid between Zaire and Kian to escape from the next topic. "I'll be in my room. Don't bother me."

"Nuh-uh," Kian reached forward to grab onto Nathan's wrist. "Sit."

Nathan huffed as he peered up at Kian's tall stature. "Screw you and your godlike features." He grumbled while sitting back down.

Nathan crossed his arms and looked up with an awkward smile. "Welp." He said to ease the tense silence. "This conversation is not nearly as easy to discuss as the last one. I say we take a lunch break and come back."