It's Complicated

26 ~ Arrogant and Cocky as Ever

Chapter 26 ~ Arrogant and Cocky as Ever

"So what do you do again Lacey?" I ask as I set the mug in my hand onto the table. We were sitting alone in the kitchen, well actually one of the kitchens I learned, making small talk. After Noah stole a few pieces of food he stalked out as fast as he stalked in, leaving us to talk amongst ourselves.

"Well I'm actually interning for a director in New York right now." She says casually, leaning back into her chair. This caught me by surprise. Lacey was such a naturally beautiful person that I thought for sure modeling was what she was in New York for.  I tried to not show my surprise on my face but apparently I didn't do a very good job.

"You weren't expecting that were you?" She smiled, making eye contact with me, "I actually get that reaction a lot, surprisingly. When I first met Christian I was in London on a trip with my family and he almost ran me over with a car. Quite romantic if I don't say so myself." I let out a small laugh and she continued.

"He was at boarding school then and as arrogant and cocky as ever." Just like his younger brother. "All I remember is crossing the road one moment and the next a very good looking male was staring down at me with a concerned look on his face and that's when I knew. I was going to torture this man as long as he lived and I sure as hell intend on living that wish up."

I hear the door to the kitchen open and I turn my head to see Christian carrying Mason on his back, buzzing like an airplane. The minute Lacey saw them coming in her eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face. Even though he was only gone for a half an hour-ish it still looked like she was falling in love with him all over again.

Once they reach the table he pulled Mason off of him and went to hug Lacey from behind while Mason came running right and me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

"I missed you Halston!" He exclaimed as I swung him back and forth in my arms. "I missed you too monkey."  I beamed back as he grinned at me. He absolutely loved the nickname I came up with earlier this month. Whenever I would go over to Asher's house he would always jump onto me or body slam into me to say hello. 

"Hey do you know where Asher is?" I ask, turning to Christian as he pressed a kiss to the top of Lacey's hairline. " I haven't seen him, sorry Halston," he shrugs and I sigh.

"Okay thanks anyway." I pull myself up from the table and make my way out the door when Mason pulls me to a halt. I turn to face him and he shots me a pouty face.

"Where are you going Hal?" He asks, sticking out his bottom lip and I stifle a laugh at his extra-ness. "I'll be right back monkey, I'm just going to find Ash okay?" He nods sadly as I let go of his hand and walk through the doorway, making my way to the backyard.

I slide the glass door to the patio open and start scanning the grass, looking over the pool that probably freezing, then I see it. The ladder. I walk over to the part of the house that it rests up against and I'm more aware of how cold it is right now. December is always one of the coldest months in the year, yet no snow touched the ground. We'd be lucky if we got a few inches before Christmas. I stop underneath the edge and look up.

"Asher?" I shout upwards, not letting a foot touch that devil utility, too much clumsiness for what it's worth. "Up here!" He responds as he pokes his head out from the top of the roof, looking down at me.

"I've been looking for you, how long have you been up there?" He glances down at me, then slides off the edge of the roof to start his descend down the ladder. "Not long, around a half an hour." He said, jumping off the last step and turning to me. His hair was a humongous curly mess on the top of his head and his nose was a little pink from the fact that it was freezing out and he had no coat or anything on.

"What's wrong Ash?" I ask him, attempting to grab his arm but he yanked it away from me. "Nothing, why are you asking?"

"Because I know something is up, you don't have to hide it from me. I care about you Asher, enough to know when something is bothering you." He sighs as his eyes drift to the ground, letting his hand run down his face. I raise my eyebrows at him and he looks at me. He opens his mouth to say something but we hear a voice from the house.

"Hey you two better get in here before mum comes out here and murders you both!" The familiar voice of Avery Black shouts and we both turn back to her. Her arms are crosses in front of her as she leans against the glass, sliding door. I look at Asher as he passes by me, walking through the door. I stand there for a second stunned and I glance at Avery who gives me a confused look and I shrug.

I walk inside with her and we head to the dining room that Victoria decided we should all eat in. We as in the whole Black family, including Lacey, me and Noah. I slide into my seat across from Asher and beside Lacey and Avery.

The whole dinner I could barely concentrate of the conversation around me, all I could think about was the person right in front of me. The person who basically ignored me since we got here and when I tried to confront him about it, he clammed up on me. Why was he acting like this? Did I do some- My thoughts were interrupted by someone tapping me on the shoulder and I snapped back into reality.

"Um what did you say?" I asked, still trying to get out of my daze. The person who was talking, which I came to realize was Harrison, cleared his throat and asked again. "I asked what your parents do for a living?" I completely froze upon the words coming out of his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Um my Dad's a Lawyer for the state," I try to say calmly, as queasiness blooms in my stomach at the thought of him. Suddenly my appetite is gone.

"College?"

"Harvard."

"Practice?"

"Criminal Defense."

"Sounds promising, your old man sounds pleasing . When do I get to meet him?" I open my mouth to say something but Asher cuts him off.

"Do you ever know when to back off. Can't you tell this is making her uncomfortable?!" He snaps at Harrison, his eyes flashing with the same anger the night at my house. "I'm just trying to get to know her by asking her some simple questions, isn't that appropriate?" He looks at Asher as if he was trying to light a fuse.

"Who wants desert?" I hear Victoria try to change the subject to avoid the fight but it doesn't work. Everyone is more involved in the last course happening right at the dinner table.

" Trying to get to know her? Like hell you are! You're trying to scare her away because she'll never be up to our standards. We're NOT even together so why does it even matter to you? All your doing is trying to make her uncomfortable!" He says, raising his voice a little louder and slightly elevating up from his chair.

"What are you talking about Asher? All I'm doing is trying to concur a little small talk with the lady." Asher looks furiously at him and he fully stands up out of his chair. "Small talk?
More like interrogation!" He slams his hand on the dinner table, making all the dishes clayier, then he turns to me. Oh god, please don't bring me into this Asher. "Do you feel threatened by my father Halston?" I sit there speechless, staring at the two of them looking right back at me.

"You don't have to answer that," I hear Avery whisper in my ear and I realize that this time would be a really good time to get the hell out of here. I really don't want to be caught in the middle of this family drama so I stand up from my seat and grab my bag. "I'm going to leave and let you two figure your feud out." With that I leave the room and and start heading for the door when I realize that I can't exactly leave. I didn't drive here.

"Need a ride?" I hear a voice say from behind me and I spin around to see Noah holding a set of car keys in his hand. I nod, smiling, "That would be much appreciated."

***

Many, many, many paragraphs later I'm finally done with this chapter. I'm not really sure if I'm happy how the dinner scene turned out so I might change it later but for right now that's what I have. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have an amazing day off tomorrow because I know for a fact I will be doing class work the whole day so wish me good luck, bye!