Stepdad

THIRTY-TWO

Colson had spent all morning with his phone glued to his ear, calling Allie over and over in a desperate attempt to get her to answer. He hadn't heard from her since she left, and it was causing a sick feeling to form in the pit of his stomach.

He was pacing back and forth, listening to the ring before the soft sound of her voice filled his ears. "Hey, it's Allie. Leave a message." Colson wanted to throw his phone as hard as he could at the wall but that wouldn't help him if she decided to call him.

"Allie, it's me. This is like the tenth voicemail I have left. Please call me when you get this. I love you." He hung up and tossed his phone onto the couch, his hands pulling at the roots of his hair.

"Did she answer this time?" Rook came walking into the living room, eating a bowl of cereal. Colson was still beyond pissed at him but he wasn't going to lash out on him just yet. Didn't stop him from being sarcastic with him though.

Colson slowly closed his eyes so Rook couldn't see them roll to the back of his head. "Yeah, she did. She forgives me. In fact, she's on her way over right now." Rook didn't know if he should believe that or not, unable to tell if Colson was being serious.

When he watched Colson storm up the stairs, his door slamming shut seconds later, he knew he wasn't being serious. "You could have just said no." He yelled upstairs before he grabbed a bag of weed and his keys, making a beeline for his motorcycle.

He caused this, therefore he at least had to try and fix it. He didn't want to be stuck in the awkward position he was in, he said that before they even got together. He didn't want to have to pick sides.

Allie had just gotten out of the shower, barely having time to put a towel on and grab her toothbrush before she heard someone banging on her front door as if they were the police with a warrant. She held her toothbrush in her mouth as she cracked the door open and peeked around the door and the frame.

"Really? Do you have to knock like that?" She asked him as soon as she saw it was Rook. She took a deep breath, knowing how this conversation was going to go. "You can't come in. I just got out of the shower and I haven't gotten dressed yet.

"As much as the thought of seeing someone who is like my sister naked disgusts me, we need to talk." Rook was all but pushing his way through the door so Allie gave up and just let him in. She did hold her towel tighter just to be safe.

"We don't need to talk about anything. You and I are good." She told him as she went into her bathroom to brush her teeth. Why couldn't Colson just come over here himself, she wondered. Couldn't he see that she didn't want to talk over the phone?

"It's not about us. You know what it's about." Allie spit the toothpaste into the sink before turning to face him.

"And why isn't he here to discuss it with me himself? Why would he think it's a good idea to send you to discuss our relationship?" Rook knew she had a point. Colson should have came over here the first time Allie didn't answer the phone. He shouldn't have even tried to call, really.

"He didn't send me. I came here on my own. Allie, he has been trying to get ahold of you all day. He's been in a fucking mood and he's nothing but sarcastic." Allie shut the bathroom door and began to get dressed into her pajamas. She had no plans for the day.

"He should have never called. If he wanted to talk to me that bad, he would be here instead of you." She opened the door back up once she was dressed and took a quick glance up at him. "I don't wanna talk anymore. I wanna take a nap."

Rook knew he had to go with plan B. He reached into the inside pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out the bag of weed before holding it up and giving it a gentle shake. "Seriously? This is your plan to get me to talk?" Allie had her arms folded against her chest, fed up with this whole situation.

"Hey, if it doesn't work, you'll have the best nap of your life." Allie thought about it real hard. She was strong enough to not talk right? Even high? She was sure she wasn't foolish enough to crack.

"Fine. But I'm not talking to you about it." Rook stepped over to the couch but quickly reminding himself to make sure Ryker wasn't around and just being quiet. "Where's my tiny drummer?" Rook was starting to worry and he wasn't even the parent.

"He's at my moms for the weekend. You're fine." Rook let out a sigh of relief, yet slightly bummed that he didn't get to see him. "I'm okay with you letting him play your drums and you calling him your tiny drummer but if you think for one second that a drum set will be coming into my house...."

Rook was already laughing, knowing where this was going before she even finished. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to take it that far. Trust me." Rook was smiling as he was rolling a blunt, knowing that he had already ordered one.

*******

Allie was ashamed to admit that it only took two blunts to make her crack. She felt weak and disgusted with herself, really believing that she could pull it off. Yet she kept talking as if she couldn't make herself stop. "It's like he doesn't think before he acts. He never stops and thinks, oh maybe I'm doing this wrong."

"He smokes weed, Allie. Like a lot. He isn't sober long enough to think." Allie couldn't remember a time that Colson did anything without smoking. It's like he had to smoke to live.

"Maybe that's the issue then. He needs to slow down and take a look at the real world." Rook got the answer he was looking for. Colson was going to have to take things more seriously and stop depending on bad habits.

"I just hope you're ready for the sober Colson. He has some trouble with his anxiety and his depression. But don't tell him I told you that. He's mad at me enough already." Allie had no idea about that either. Apparently there was a lot that Colson hadn't told her yet.