Several hours before
Vee
Sam just pulled into the parking lot of Jesse and my apartment complex to drop me off. I knew he could tell there was a lot on my mind and that I was worried because he ended up taking the long way over while talking about random things, so I didn't get lost in my thoughts. He may be a dumb flirt most of the time, but he has always been a good friend, especially at the times when you need one.
"You want me to come in and talk to him with you?" Sam put his car in park, looking over at me.
I unbuckled the seatbelt, shaking my head. "No, that's okay. If you came up with me, then he would probably be more defensive. You know how to push people's buttons a little too well," I gave him a small smile.
"Hey, in this case, he kind of deserves it," He raised his brows. "I mean, he pulled a shit move last night, and it wasn't just about not being there with all of us, but he also disrespected you. He let down everyone that he cares about," A soft scoff escaped his lips. "Or so we thought at least."
His words made a stinging pain in my heart as I knitted my brows. "He does care...but he was too selfish and blind to realize how big of a deal that was. I'll make sure he knows just how bad he fucked up."
"You sure you don't want me to help with that?"
"I'm sure. Now go home and get some rest. It was a long-ass night," I told him. He didn't answer me but stared over with a serious expression and hint of concern. "I can handle it. Don't worry, okay?"
He nodded. "Fine, but soon he is going to have to face the whole group, and when that time comes, no one is going to hold back."
A frown formed on my face. "I know," My voice came out quiet as I opened the door, sliding out.
"Hey," Sam spoke up while I turned to him in the doorway. "Jesse's dumbass decisions are his and only his. You proved to be a better friend, showing up when you could have stayed with him and done the same. Don't think mending shit between all of us is on you, okay? We'll get it sorted one way or another."
The corner of my lips softly curved up before I squinted my eyes. "Woah, serious Sam is new. Who are you, and what have you done with goofy-ass Sam?"
He chuckled. "Shut up and go kick your boyfriend's ass for me."
"I will only do one of those things," I shot him a sarcastic smile.
"Well, I know you won't ever stop talking, so..." He joked.
I rolled my eyes. "Ha-ha. Goodbye, Sam."
"Call if you need back up," Were the last words he shouted before I shut the door.
My mouth formed into a smile as Sam gave me a wave and drove off. Once he was gone, my stomach twisted into what felt like a pretzel, not knowing what I was about to walk into. I was hoping for a spotless apartment, but my doubts were loud and clear in my head.
I walked over to the stairs, making my way up towards our front door, and slowly unlocked it. When I went inside, my hope had disappeared as I saw Jesse passed out on the couch surrounded by plastic cups and beer cans. Our entire living room was trashed.
The blood in my veins began to boil as I slammed the door shut, and he jolted awake. "What the-" He yelled, focusing his eyes on me. "Jesus, you scared the hell out of me."
"What the fuck is this, Jesse?" I asked angrily, pointing around at our disaster of an apartment.
He slowly sat up, looking like shit. "Babe, relax. I was in the middle of cleaning up," He grabbed a trash bag from the floor, holding it up. "I just had a hell of a headache and needed to lay down for a minute."
I scoffed. "Yeah, well, it's about to get worse."
His brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Are you serious? Jesse, you chose to get drunk off your ass while your best fucking friends were at the hospital, hoping that Scar was going to be okay. Everyone was there but YOU. And now, on top of that, you let people destroy our shit," I spotted our lamp that stood in the corner, nearly bent in half. "Unbelievable."
He let out a frustrated sigh. "Stop talking so loud. Can we do this later? I'm not in the mood for a fight right now."
"No, we're doing this now because you're acting like an idiot. What's gotten into you lately?"
Jesse shot his head up at my words. "Don't start talking bullshit like that. You know how much the first win of the season meant to the team, and we all deserved to celebrate that. I was just trying to help make the night not become a total downer."
"Your friends would have liked to celebrate too, but are they even your friends if you put a party above them? The other guys have places to stay, right? Any one of them could have had it there instead of here."
"Vee, stop," He shook his head. "Grant Hollister and the others weren't going to let me say no without pulling some stupid shit on the field if I did. They're relentless, and the seniors on the team. It'd be hell if I just told them to fuck off. I want to stay on their good side."
I crossed my arms. "Doing that was like a big ass "fuck you" to everyone else. Can't you see that you just showed to the only real ones in your life that your image was more important than them...the ones you should have been there for without another thought?" My heart pounded against my chest. "Ryder and Nix needed you, and where were you? Getting wasted with some assholes on the team that could give two shits about anything that doesn't involve them. It doesn't surprise me that the conceited Grant Hollister and his buddies wouldn't bat an eye at someone in need, but you? I can't even look at you right now without wanting to pull my hair out. It's pathetic that you won't even admit or understand what you did was wrong."
"That isn't true. I wanted to be there for them, but the others have connections that could take me to the big leagues if I stay on their good sides. I'm thinking about my future...our future. Besides, Scar is fine now, right? It wasn't that big of a deal?"
My mouth fell open at his words. "What the fuck, Jesse. Are you hearing yourself speak? I swear to God you drowned any sliver of empathy away in alcohol last night."
He rolled his eyes, leaning back into the couch in agitation. "I didn't mean it like that. It must have been scary for her, Ryder, and Nix, but she was able to leave rather soon, so it must be better than everyone thought."
A short laugh came out of me. "Yeah, she only had a seizure that could have done horrible damage to her brain and walked out with the news that she could have them for the rest of her life, but yeah...no big deal," My words were laced with sarcasm, glaring at him before I stormed into the kitchen.
He stood up and followed me. "What does all that mean?"
I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, looking back at him. "She has epilepsy."
"Oh, don't they have medicine for that or something?"
My brows knitted together. "Yes, but it's not guaranteed that it will actually help all the time, Jesse. It's still serious and something that affects not only her but Ryder and Nix. If you saw them last night, you would realize how messed up not being there really was. They're hurt by it, and honestly, I am too. It was like a stab to the back and the heart," He was about to open his dumb mouth when I started to talk again. "I know you have always had that dream of making it to the majors, but you have to think if that dream means more than the family of friends your lucky to be in. Is the game or being on certain people's good sides more important than us?"
His jaw tightened, cocking his head to the side. "Quit saying shit like that. Baseball is my fucking life, Vee. You know that, and I love them, but I won't let anything get between my dream of being on the field doing what I love for the rest of my life."
"Even when it means you lose everything around you?" My heart dropped, feeling like I already knew the answer to it.
My eyes stared back into his. I wanted to see regret or sadness in them, but I only saw fire and annoyance. "You have to make sacrifices in life to get to the top. That's how it works."
"What am I? A sacrifice? I'd rather stay at the bottom if I were only going to get to the top and find myself alone," I spat, taking a drink of my water.
His face twisted in anger. "No, don't be ridiculous. That wasn't what I meant."
"Then what was?"
"There is no fucking winning with you right now. I'm tired of fighting about this."
"Same," I gave him a flat smile. "I'm going to take a shower. Maybe while I'm gone, you'll find the last few brain cells you lost last night and clean up."
I pushed past him as he spoke up. "And you should try to find some understanding."
I looked back over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes at him. "I don't have any left for you right now, and neither do your friends Jesse... hell, if they even are your friends still because from the outside looking in, it doesn't look like it at all," The words flew out of my mouth as I walked away towards our bedroom, hearing a loud slam against the counter which was probably from his fist. Deep down, I hope that it fucking hurt as bad as I felt inside.
When I got to our room, I was thrown off by how clean and put-together it was compared to the rest of the apartment. That shouldn't be that much of a shock, but it tended to always be a little messy, and the bed was never made. I would throw the blanket back up to the top and call it good until bed. But this? This made me feel weird for some reason. It may be a small detail, but sometimes you get feelings that you can't shake off, and I was having one of them right now. But the last thing I wanted to do was come off even crazier, so I did my best to ignore it and went to take a shower. I think I'm just being sensitive and trying to find things to argue more about because I'm still pissed. I need to cool off and collect my thoughts.
Once I finished my shower, the exhaustion I felt hit me like a truck which worked out because I ended climbing into bed and taking the longest nap. No more arguments or dumb conversations with Jesse that only fueled the fire that seemed like it would never die down for a while. I slept the day away, hoping to wake up to a boyfriend that found the heart I fell in love with again. I only just realized today that it had been a while since I was with that same guy, and I would do anything to get him back.
~~
My eyes flickered open when I heard the sound of the front door close. I noticed that the room was starting to get dark, so I slowly sat up in bed, stretching. "Damn, I was knocked out," I mumbled to myself, reaching for my phone to see it was already dinner time and then something else caught my eye. It was an odd message from a girl that used to have a thing with Kole.
Hey, this is Kara. I know this is out of the blue, but are you and Jesse still together?
My brows knitted together, rereading the message. Kara and I met around the time Jesse and I started to date, actually. We became fast friends for a short while before she and Kole parted ways but lost contact after that. Why does she want to know about our relationship? I quickly texted back.
Hi...um, yes, we are still together. Why do you ask?
There goes that odd feeling again in my stomach. I put the phone down beside me, trying to focus on anything but the reply. Dinner...what do I want for...
*Ding*
My phone lit up.
*Ding*
I quickly grabbed it as soon as it went off a second time.
That's what I thought, but I had to make sure before I said something...
At that text, my heart began to race, fearing the next one.
My friend was at some party last night, and she was tagged in a bunch of pictures. I recognized that it was the baseball crowd pretty quickly as I was scrolling through them. There were a ton, but I saw two that made me double-check if I was seeing things right. It's in the background, so it wasn't the focus of the shot, but it's pretty clear who is who.
I felt my hands start to shake, trying to type back a reply until two pictures popped up right on my screen before I was finished. My finger tapped the first one, seeing girls smiling together, and then I saw it. Jesse and that girl Amber sitting cozy beside each other in the back, talking. His hand was on her thigh as she looked like she was laughing. That was when my stomach flew up to my throat. I was almost afraid to scroll to the other one, but I found the courage and quickly regretted it because my heart completely shattered within seconds. There was my boyfriend with his tongue down that bitch's throat. No excuse in the world could explain what I was seeing. My entire body went numb.
*Ding*
I'm so sorry. I don't know if you have already seen them or what, but I felt like if you hadn't that you deserved to know. My friend said she saw them a few times throughout the night, thinking they were together.
Tears formed in my eyes as my lip quivered.
Thanks for telling me.
I didn't know what else to say other than that.
I'm sorry, Vee.
Thousands of thoughts rushed through my mind as tears fell onto the blanket I was under, soaking it. The sound of plates clanking together got my attention as I looked up at our bedroom door. It was that moment when every emotion hit me at the same time while I jumped out of bed and flew out of the room.
"You're finally up," Jesse spoke with his back turned to me as he was putting food on two plates. "I went out to pick up your favorite burritos," He grabbed one of the brown paper bags, flipping around to hold it up as I stood there at the end of the hallway.
"Did you sleep with her?"
His eyes widened, furrowing his brows. "Who? What are you talking about?"
"Don't play stupid with me, Jesse. I saw the fucking pictures."
"Pictures?" He asked nervously, looking for a way out already, I was sure.
I clicked on the photo before going over and shoving my phone in his face. "This."
He glanced from the picture to me. "I...I...baby, it was a mistake! I swear!"
A loud scoff escaped me, echoing the kitchen. "This wasn't a fucking mistake, Jesse," I shook my head. "This was a goddamn choice."
"I was drunk and not thinking at all. Just listen to me, please," He begged, looking like a trapped little rat with no escape.
"Did you sleep with Amber?" I questioned, feeling heartbroken as he just stared at me without saying a word. "Answer me," I shouted as tears poured down my cheeks. "Did you fuck that whore in our bed?"
His face twisted in guilt. "I..I'm sorry...I never meant to hurt you...it just happened...we were both wasted, and I..it happened, and I wish I could take it all back. I swear to God, Vee. I'm so fucking sorry," He went out to reach for me as I slapped his hand away.
"Don't touch me."
"Vee..I.."
"How could you do this to me? How could you throw away everything we had for one night," My voice broke, sobbing through my words. "One night with her? I thought we were forever."
"We still are...I didn't mean to," He said.
My head shook, clenching my teeth together. "What, did your dick just accidentally slip inside of her?"
His forehead creased. "Stop it."
"Shut up," I snapped. "I gave you my fucking heart, Jesse. I gave everything I had for you...for us...only for you to break my damn heart into a million pieces and feed it to the likes of that bitch. How could you be so stupid...so heartless?"
"I'm sorry...I wasn't.."
Before he could finish, I interrupted him. "Thinking? That's the saddest excuse you could make because you were thinking it just wasn't with your brain," His eyes were teary, but it didn't make me feel anything but angry. "I never thought someone could go from loving a person so much to hating them within minutes, but here we fucking are," My words were laced with venom as I turned around, running towards the bathroom and locking myself in there.
Jesse started to pound on the door. "Don't do this. Please...baby. I'm sorry," He said in a panic. "Open the door."
I walked to the other side of the bathroom, leaning against the wall and sliding all the way down to bring my knees up to my face. Jesse was frantically trying to talk as I drowned him out, trying to think of what to do because all I wanted right now was to leave and never come back. I closed my eyes, wishing it was a nightmare and maybe I would wake up, but once I opened them, I was still stuck in this reality where I felt beat down and broken.
*Ding*
Before I pulled it out of my pocket, my phone went off, thinking it was Jesse trying to pull some dumb shit, but instead, it was Sam.
Hey, how did everything go?
I began to sob, shaking my head, and without really thinking, I pressed the call button by his name. It rang a few times until I heard his voice.
"Is this a butt dial? I thought you hate talking on the phone," He lightly laughed.
"Sam," I finally managed to say. "He slept..slept with her."
He paused for a second. "Who slept with who?" His asked loudly.
"Jesse...he slept with Amber. He cheated on me," My voice was filled with the worst type of pain. Admitting it out loud made it real. "I'm stuck in our bathroom, and I....I want to leave, but..."
"Are you fucking serious?" He shouted in disbelief.
"Yes."
"Just hold on. I will come get you."
The call went silent. "Sam?" I looked at my phone as it said the call had now ended.
"Vee," Jesse yelled in a last-ditch effort to get me to talk to him. "Please, just let me in."
I stared over at the door, silently shaking my head. "Never again," I whispered to myself. "I'll never let anyone in."
Several minutes had gone by, surprisingly without any more pleas from him until the doorbell rang. I quickly made my way out of the bathroom, flying down the hallway just as Jesse opened the front door.
The second Sam saw Jesse, his face twisted in disgust. "You piece of shit," He lashed out before his fist went flying into Jesse's face, making him fall backward on the floor.
My hand covered my mouth in shock.
Jesse wiped his mouth, leaving a streak of blood on the back of his hand before looking back at me with a pissed-off expression. "Why the fuck would you call him?"
My lips parted like I was going to speak, but no words came out.
"Because apparently, her boyfriend is a cheating bastard and sad excuse of a friend. Seriously, how pathetic and disgusting can one person be? Was it not bad enough not showing up for Ryder and Nix when they needed it, so you decided to go after my sloppy seconds and ruin the only good thing your sorry ass had going for you?"
Sam was breathing heavy, screaming at Jesse as he got to his feet, letting out a cold laugh. "Do you want my sloppy seconds now in return? Because it sure sounds like it."
*Punch*
"Arghh," Jesse grunted as Sam punched him in the jaw this time but managed to hold his ground. "Fuck you," He spat, swinging his arm back and slamming his fist right into Sam's eye as his head flew backward for a second.
The next thing I knew, Sam shoved Jesse as hard as he could before he hit against the back wall by the kitchen, knocking down a couple of pictures off the wall. I screamed. "Stop it! Sam, he isn't worth it!"
"You think you're any better than me? You have slept with every whore in the damn city," Jesse shouted as the veins in his neck popped out.
Sam growled. "This isn't about me, you selfish bastard! You are the one cheating on someone that you never deserved in the first place. How fucking stupid are you?"
Jesse charged for him, slamming Sam down onto the ground as they were partially outside our opened front door.
"Jesse, get off of him! Stop this, now!" I yelled, but they both ignored me.
Sam sucker-punched the side of his head before Jesse kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of them.
Just as I was about to throw myself in the middle of the chaos, a police officer appeared just outside the door, followed by a few others, yanking Jesse off of Sam like a bolt of lightning. "Put your hands behind your back, now," He yelled at him in a demanding tone as his face went ghostly white from shock, doing what he was told.
"What the hell," Sam protested when another officer tried to put both his hands behind his back.
"Sam, listen to him, please," I begged, not wanting him to get into any trouble. I had no idea why they came or who called them but now I was scared beyond belief.
One cop stood Jesse up as he curled his lip, glaring at me. "This is all your fucking fault. You happy now, Vee?"
My eyes filled with tears, feeling sick to my stomach.
"Shut your fucking mouth, Jesse. This is on you, not her," Sam angrily snapped back.
The officer pulled him away. "Enough, both of you," He shouted before they were both taken down to the parking lot to be separated. I saw several of our neighbors looking on in curiosity and worry.
"Ma'am, do you live here?" An officer spoke up, approaching me.
My body was shaking as I nodded. "Yes, with my boyfriend," I told him.
His eyes found mine, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be okay."
"Okay," I spoke in a hushed and upset tone.
"What's your name?"
"Vee."
"Alright, Vee, we're getting their stories down there, but I want you to tell me what you can," He spoke kindly.
I went on to explain the situation the best I could without oversharing to save me from total humiliation, but that ship has pretty much already sailed.
After I was done, another officer joined us, looking agitated. "We're taking them downtown to Tampa County Jail."
My heart stopped as I glanced between them in a panic. "What? Why?"
"Disturbing the peace and simple assault," He explained nonchalantly.
"Oh my god, this can't be happening," I ran between both officers as they shouted after me, making my way down the stairs.
As soon as I sprinted out towards the parking lot, one of the cop cars drove past me that had Sam in it. His eyes met mine before I saw him mouth "call Ryder now," and he was gone.
Without another thought, I picked up my phone and called him immediately.
"Hey, Vee. What's up?"
"Ryder, thank god you picked up. They took them away, and now I don't know what to fucking do. Oh god, he was right, this is my fault," I felt my heart nearly beating out of my chest.
"Woah, Woah, slow down. What happened?" Ryder asked with concern laced in his voice.
"Sam and Jesse got into a nasty fight, and someone called the cops...they were just arrested."
"What the fuck? Where are they?"
My eyes narrowed, staring at the ground while I tried to remember. "Um, Tampa County Jail," I told him, sniffling.
"Okay, try to calm down. We'll meet you there."
___________________
Author's Note
I just want to say that everything happens for a reason, and sometimes people end up not being who you thought they were. Vee is learning that now, and soon she will realize that she is going through this because Jesse, who she thought was the love of her life, isn't the one after all. Little does she know....
Also, I had to end it there because I have a whole chapter planned for the group to help Sam out...not so much Jesse. The next one will bring the new wolf pack closer together and stronger than ever. I really wanted to let you all see Vee's side of things and the craziness of it all. We'll be getting back to Scar and Nixie soon!❤️