𓈊 A Poppy By Any Other Name

Act XXXI

"And?"

"I didn't do anything else, I swear," Joel said, though Lizzie didn't believe him, giving him a skeptical glare. "What?"

Looking away and pointing her nose up, Lizzie let out a hmph. "Nothing," she sighed. "But you can have your dinner by yourself. I'm going to eat with Grian in his room."

Joel looked absolutely offended by that. "I'm- You're eating without me?"

"Is that not what I said?"

"Wha- why?"

Shrugging, Lizzie turned away. "You tell me, Sherlock," she huffed.

"Because I told Grian to go to his room?" Joel asked incredulously. Lizzie couldn't see his face, but by the anger in his voice, she could just tell that he was scowling. "That's ridiculous!"

"What's ridiculous is you lying to me," Lizzie retorted, looking over her shoulder at Joel. "I'm your girlfriend, you shouldn't lie to me."

Joel scoffed. "What lie?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "You weren't even here, how would know if I lied or not?"

"Well, you're acting pretty suspicious for one," Lizzie said. "And why would Grian be so terrified if you only told him to go to his bedroom?"

Joel opened his mouth to speak, hesitating before saying anything. "I..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Dammit, I know what I did," he grumbled.

Concern filled Lizzie at Joel's sudden realization, not liking his reaction a single bit. "Joel, what did you do?"

A pathetic, solemn laugh left Joel. "You're going to hate me for it," he warned. He shifted under Lizzie's unimpressed gaze and reached into his pocket to pull out a box, practically slamming it onto the counter. "He probably saw me with these and thought of his parents."

Lizzie gasped. "Joel!" she exclaimed. "I thought you said you stopped smoking!"

"I did," Joel grumbled. "I just... I've been stressed lately, okay? I needed some... relief."

"Relief by hurting your body and scaring the poor little boy you're meant to be taking care of?"

Joel sighed. "I didn't mean to scare him," he murmured. "I didn't think he'd see."

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, you'd better apologize to him, young man," she scolded.

"It wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for you," Joel grumbled.

"I'm sorry?"

"I said, this wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for you," Joel repeated.

Lizzie scoffed. "Because of me?" she asked, shocked. "Am I the one who decided to be a grumpy dick to a poor kid who's trying to adapt to new living conditions? Last time I checked, I have been taking better care of him than you have, Mr. I-Want-To-Adopt-Him-And-Give-Him-A-Safe-Place."

"Yeah? Well, I wouldn't be so goddamn stressed out if you hadn't brought up my dead fucking mom, Liz!" Joel shouted, startling Lizzie.

"I-"

"It took me forever to forget about it and let it go," Joel continued, angry tears in his eyes, "and you just brought her up like it's nothing! You wanna know why I started smoking again? Because you decided it would be a good idea to bring up the fact that I'm more of an orphan case than Grian is!"

Lizzie froze. "I... I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Joel barked out a laugh. "Yeah, you sure look like you're sorry, standing there and telling me to eat by myself because I was showing a little bit of discipline to Grian to breaking a vase," he spat, turning around. He lifted the kettle off the counter and continued to pour water into the half-full mug. "I understand more than anyone else that I need to be gentle with him, but I can't just let everything slide because he had a bad relationship with his parents." He paused and looked over his shoulder at Lizzie, whose eyes were watering. He sighed and turned back to face her, stepping closer in an attempt to hug her. "Liz, I'm s-"