Mockingbird: a Songbird Sequel INCOMPLETE- ON GALATEA 11/10

Three: Colt

"I'll touch her with my twelve-foot pole."

"Jesus, you're as bad at math as you are at bags," Travis shot back. Fuck, the dude was quiet but when he was on, he was ON.

"You know what? I hate all of you. I'm hanging with the girls the rest of this trip."

"Ooh, I heard they have matching hats," Leon jumped in. "I bet you'd look real cute."

"Better than your dumb... face..."

"Slick, Cart. Real slick." I laughed. I delivered a sharp slap to his back and he practically ran away, mumbling under his breath.

We made it into the kitchen and were immediately met by the smell of grilled peppers and onions along with bags upon bags of groceries that Melody and Cora were scurrying to put away.

"Smells fantastic," Travis stated, sidling up to my sister. They'd been dating damn near as long as Lennie and I had at this point now. I knew Travis had a ring tucked away in some safe place, but he insisted he wanted to let Len and I have our spotlight before he popped the question, even though Cora was applying a bit of pressure on that front. He planted a kiss on her cheek. "What'd you get?"

"There was this cute little Mexican place between here and the store. We stopped for a margarita on the way and they had like family platters so, we ordered fajitas and rice and stuff and picked it up on our way back."

"I'm starving," Leon stated, licking his lips like some sort of ravenous beast.

"Same," I agreed, but as I glanced around the kitchen, I spotted everyone but my fiancée. "Where's Len?" The girls both went silent and shared a concerned glance with each other. "Cor. Where's Lennie?"

"She needed a minute. We, um..." Cora paused a moment and sighed. "We ran into Brad and Ellie at the market."

"Brad? Like... her ex Brad?"

Cora nodded. "And the best friend he cheated on her with. It was really weird. He was... drunk and honestly, the girl looked terrified."

My brows furrowed with concern. "I'll be back."

"You want us to wait?" Travis called after me as I took the stairs, two at a time.

"Nah. Go for it."

I made it to our room and found Lennie sitting on the foot of the bed, wringing her hands together. "Baby, what happened?"

She shook her head, the shock of her run-in written on every part of her rigid body. "How the hell is he even here?"

"I don't know. Pretty fuckin' weird," I stated. I knelt and placed my hands on her bouncing knees. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine," she stated, giving her head a wave. "But I don't think Ellie is."

"What do you mean?"

"She looked... fucking terrified," Lennie explained. "And Brad... he was... he was beyond hammered, which isn't surprising. But... when we were together, I paid for rehab and made him clean his shit up but... obviously it didn't stick..."

My eyes narrowed as I tried to deduce exactly what she was trying to say. "He had a drinking problem?"

"Drinking, drugs, anything he could get his hands on," Lennie sighed. "We got into a fight one night and he threw a bottle of Jack in my direction. He missed, but it smashed against the wall, glass fucking everywhere. I called the cops and... he went to jail for a couple days. When he got out, I told him it was rehab, or I was done, and he was gonna be out on the streets."

"Did he... did he hit you?"

"Never," Lennie stated firmly, looking me dead in the eyes. "Not once. He wouldn't be living. But... I have... this yucky feeling that Ellie can't say the same..."

"Baby..."

"Colt, she literally winced when he put his arm around her," Lennie stated. "I know I'm supposed to hate her, but..."

"But I know you. And you couldn't hate anyone if you tried," I said with a smile as I tucked her hair behind her ears. "One of the things I love most about you."

"Well it annoys the hell outta me."

I laughed a bit. "What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know that there's anything I CAN do," Lennie stated. "I slipped her my number. Told her to call me if she needs anything, but... I don't know if she will."

"Sweetie, I know it's hard, but you can't force her to do anything..."

"I know that, I know." Lennie paused and sighed. "I'm fine. It was just... it was super jarring."

"I'm sure it was, sugar," I stated. "What do you need from me?"

She smiled and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to mine. "You just keep being the amazing man you are. That's all I need."

"You got it." I brushed my lips against hers. "You ready to go hang out with our stupid friends?"

"Yeah," Lennie said, softly before nodding. "Yeah, I just needed a minute."

"That's my girl. Let's go." I gave her a quick kiss and pulled her to her feet. "By the way, if I see that dude, I'm knocking his lights out."

"I'll help."

I snickered and kissed her shoulder. "Maybe I'll let you handle it. You got a meaner right hook than I do."

Lennie's smile returned as we headed for the stairs, and she heard our friends all chattering and laughing. Girl with a heart of gold, she was. I just hoped she could let go enough to enjoy the rest of our trip.