The Difference Between Getting and Needing

f o r t y

"You mean to tell me you two have been back together since my wedding? And I've been paying your rent this whole fucking time?" She snarled every word, the allegation stinging like a kick to the shin. Gasps erupted from our table and I felt myself sinking further and further into my chair. I sensed my mother's judgemental gaze, my dad's disapproval, and both of my brothers' gaping at me in a combination of wonder and admiration. Sutton didn't dare stop there. She was standing now, with her fists braced on the tabletop and red-hot fury blazing in her eyes. "Was the number you gave me even right or have I been shelling out eight hundred dollars a month for nothing? How long did you expect me to keep doing that? Until I was broke?"

Well, you almost made me go broke from your wedding, so yeah basically.

Alright, so maybe I gave Sutton an inaccurate number. It should have covered my half of the rent for mine and Gus' apartment if we split it evenly, but Gus had never asked me for that much for as long as we'd been living together. Thanks to Sutton for the last three months, I'd been giving my actual half of rent money to Gus and the remainder to Collin as a thank you for letting me live with him without a dollar leaving my bank account.

Now, the jig was up. I wanted to remind her that it was because she swapped me for Valerie as her Maid of Honor that this loan bullshit even happened in the first place, but my vocal cords weren't working. Neither was my brain, obviously. My nonresponse encouraged my sister to keep going.

"I knew you would do something like this! I knew it because you can't stand it when I have the spotlight. You just had to one-up me somehow but of course, it had to be a secret so that way when you finally told us all it would be an even bigger deal. Leaving my wedding to go get married on your own? That's not a mistake, Bayla, that's fucking betrayal. You know what you did wrong and you just sat by for weeks without owning up to it. That's inexcusable. That's–"

"Valerie and I slept together on the night of your wedding and we've been sleeping together for nine months," Duncan blurted in one lengthy, guilt-ridden breath.

And that was the one thing that could have shut my sister up.

Her mouth was still hanging open as her tirade stopped short at my eldest brother's confession. There was a low whistle, probably from Gus. A hushed "whoa". More gasps. A dense cloud of pressure settled among us, so thick that I thought I blacked out. Then Asher piped up.

"I'm the one who drank all the airplane bottles from the mini-fridge in mine and Duncan's hotel room, not him," he cried out as if this was a burden he'd been holding since he was born. "I'm the reason the room service bill was so high."

My mom, who personified not only disappointment but sheer resign at all of the scandals that just surfaced, threw her hands up in surrender. "I don't know whose kids these are because they are not mine," she retorted.

"That was a lot of bombshells," Koa mumbled, followed by a weary sigh and a shake of his head.

Gus' hand was still on my thigh, though it felt limp and lifeless now. Sutton was paralyzed into the open-mouthed state she had been since Duncan revealed his relations with the snake. My brothers were staring down at their laps in shame. My grandparents hadn't said a single word and were merely innocent bystanders watching a firestorm pass them by. My dad had his lips pinched tight as if he were trying not to laugh. Or cry, I couldn't really tell.

She may have been momentarily stunned into a stupor, but Sutton was a tenacious person. It was what made her Sutton, and she was hell-bent on reaming all of us out.

"As I was saying..." she said rather calmly, but I picked up on the tremor in her voice. Her gaze went right to me again. "I can't believe you would do that to me. On my wedding day. The happiest day of my life. You backstabbing, two-faced, phony bit–"

"Sutton, please sit down. We're in public," Koa told her quietly, gently tugging on her arm to persuade her. If anything, it fanned the flames.

"I don't care!" Now she was glaring at Duncan, who cautiously picked his head up with his face twisted in agony. "And I can't believe you would do this to me! You could have any fucking girl on this planet, Duncan, and you couldn't keep it in your pants for my best friend? Talk about disgusting. I can't even look at you. Asher," she barked out his name and our youngest brother winced on command. She let out a defeated exhale. "Your news is least surprising because being with this family would drive anybody to drink."

Her shoulders were heaving when the curtain closed on her public roasting. A medley of emotions skewed her delicate features – a perplexed crease between her threaded eyebrows, a despondent fog over her glimmering blue eyes, a space of uncertainty separating her glossy lips.

I thought that was the end until she said under her breath to no one in particular, "If you'll excuse me, I need some air."

"Come on, don't do that," Koa tried again and reached for her hand, but she dodged his grasp as she stepped around her chair.

"Stop," she threatened with a firm glance that he obliged. "And don't follow me."

Apparently, my brain got a signal then and it compelled me to say something. The sound was so faint, so pitiful that I didn't even recognize it as my own voice.

"Sutton please, I didn't mean for this to happen," I croaked.

"Don't fucking talk to me. You are not my sister right now," she spat back with an accusatory finger aimed at me.

We stared at each other for another beat, but we both knew there was nothing else to say. With that, she spun on her heel and stalked away from the table. Cyclone Sutton had passed. A literal whirlwind that obliterated the rest of us into pieces. The storm itself was invisible, but the damage it left behind was permanent.

Seconds later, a waiter appeared in her place, rolling a cartful of cake at his side as he cheerfully offered, "Anyone care for dessert?"

I couldn't hold it together any longer. Before anyone could answer him, I bolted to the bathroom and let myself dry-heave in a stall until it was time to leave.

〰️〰️〰️

A/N - as sir elton john once said... the bitch is BACK!!! wow guys, is it weird that i missed sutton?? we haven't seen her since the wedding and it was time for her to resurface. we can always rely on her whacky ass to provide us with some drama that's for sure!!!

this was a BEEFY chapter you guys... i said lots of tea was going to be spilled... was this what y'all were expecting? i've had this chapter in my brain for months and i have been so excited to write it!!! i mean did we really think this whole thing would go over smoothly??? NAH. it was bound to happen accidentally at a messy good ole barclay fam reunion. give me any and all your thoughts because i am DYING to know what you guys are thinking! what do you think is gonna happen next?!? is sutton ever gonna forgive bayla??? will gus and bayla tell gus' parents and if so how are they gonna react to the news?? will my kids ever live to see their honeymoon/an actual wedding?!!? only time will tell...

i just wanna say that i took a trip down memory lane today and saw that the first day i published this story on here was november 1, 2018.... anybody know where the fuck the time went?!?! i can't even believe this story has been a part of my life for this long. maybe that's why i'm so attached to it. seeing that got me very emo and i just wanna say a big phat THANK YOU. whether you've been here from the beginning or just joined, it means the world to me. i'm truly grateful for y'all. i love ya LOTS!!!

xoxo, sabbbycat