Chapter 6
About a week after Seb and Artemis got engaged, we decided to go out to dinner to sort-of celebrate. And by we, I meant our family and Artemis's.
We went to a not-so-fancy restaurant near our houses, so I thankfully didn't have to dress up that nice.
We got the the restaurant and got a table for eight. Seb made sure he was sitting beside both me and Artemis; Artemis because they were engaged now and me because I found it more comforting to be sitting by Seb, especially if we were in a place with a lot of people.
The waitress came by and handed us our menus before taking our orders for the drinks. As soon as she went to get them, questions about Seb and Artemis's wedding began.
"When's the wedding?" Artemis's dad, Jasper, asked.
Artemis sighed. "Dad, we don't have an exact date yet. But, it will most likely be in March."
"It's never too early to plan a date," Jasper said. "And, Sebastian, my threat still stands. If you hurt my daughter again, I will use my shotgun."
"In my defense, the break up was mutual," Seb said.
"I will still use it."
"Got it," Seb said. "Don't hurt Artemis if I want to live."
Jasper nodded. "Good, good. So, who's the best man?"
"Dax," Ty said in a sour tone. Baby.
"Get over it," I said.
"Come on, I'm his Irish twin," Ty said. "It would make more sense if I was the best man."
"It makes more sense if I am considering you didn't meet until you were twelve," I pointed out. "Besides, he loves me more."
"It shouldn't matter about how long we knew him," Ty said. "Like I said, Irish twins."
"Yeah, his Irish twin who dated Artemis just to get Seb mad," I said. "It would be too awkward if you were the best man."
"Says the one who hooked up with her not that long ago," Ty shot back.
"Ty!" Sara said in a warning tone.
"Fuck you, Ty," I said.
"Dax!" Sara said. "Gemma's here!"
"And Ty's a dick," I said. "Are we stating the obvious here?"
"Yeah, I was stating the obvious of you hooking up with Artemis," Ty said.
"I'm sorry," Artemis's mom, Vivienne, spoke up. "Who hooked up with whom?"
"Mom, I can explain," Artemis said.
Vivienne raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Was this before or after you got back together with Sebastian?"
Thankfully, the waitress decided to show up with the drinks then. She then took our orders before walking away again. I was hoping Vivienne would have forgotten about the conversation we were having. She didn't.
"Before or after?" she asked again.
"....After," Artemis said with a sigh.
"After?" Vivienne asked. "So you did something you swore you would never do, especially after Craig?"
"We were drunk, and...."
"Because being drunk makes it so much better," Vivienne said sarcastically. "Sebastian, did you know about this?"
"Well....Yeah," Seb said. "They told me as soon as I got home from the road trip."
"And you still proposed to her?" Vivienne asked. Low blow, woman. Low blow.
"Mom!" Artemis protested. "We got over it, okay? Seb knows Dax and I didn't mean it at all. It only happened because when I was drunk, the memories of me being attracted to Dax came...." She stopped when she realized what she just said.
"You were attracted to Dax?" Ty asked. "Why....him?"
"Was that an insult?" I asked.
"It could be."
"Bitch."
"Dax! Curse one more time and you will be leaving," Sara warned.
"Then tell Ty to stop throwing me under the bus and insulting me," I said. "Here's a fun fact, Ty. The hook up has nothing to do with you and we got over it, so stop bringing it up."
"Then stop bringing up the fact that I dated Artemis and slept with Lauren," Ty said.
"Who's Lauren?" Vivienne asked.
Seb sighed. "My ex. She cheated on me with Ty."
"Can we stop talking about all the love triangles and cheating and everything?" Artemis asked. "We were supposed to have a nice dinner, but it turned into basically secret telling. We're over the hook up, okay? Seb wouldn't have proposed to me if he wasn't over it. We still love each other and we're not going to let this one mistake tear us apart."
"Yeah," Seb agreed. "Besides, we're both at fault here. I shouldn't have ignored them while I was on my road trip."
You see? He ignored you because he doesn't want you.
He doesn't love you.
You heard it yourself. He hates you.
Vivienne sighed as I began digging through my pockets. "I'm sorry for overreacting, Artemis," she said. "Whether or not you guys decided to forget about it and move pass it is your decision. I know you two still love each other and I'm happy you're getting married."
I couldn't find my earphones. I could have sworn I put them in my pocket.
Sebastian is only going to forget you.
You think he's going to focus on you after getting married? He won't. He'll leave you.
He should leave you. You don't deserve anyone.
You shouldn't be alive.
I closed my eyes and plugged my ears, resting my elbows on the table. Go away. Just go away....
"Dax," Seb said slowly. "Are you okay?" I shook my head. "Where are your earphones?"
"I-I forgot them," I said quietly.
Forgot. Just like how Sebastian will forget about you.
Nobody.
Loner.
Worthless.
"Dax, here," Seb said. I opened my eyes, only to see that Seb was holding a pair of earphones. "Sara brought an extra pair."
I took it from him and plugged it into my phone before playing music. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Jasper and Vivienne were probably very confused right now since they didn't know about my condition.
"You want to go talk outside?" Seb asked. I nodded and we both got up before heading outside of the restaurant.
"They're really bad, Seb," I said, my voice cracking. "I've been getting them almost everyday and it's really bad. They keep saying that I'm worthless and nobody wants me and how you'll just forget me. And I believe them sometimes."
"Dax," Seb said. "Don't ever believe a single word they say, okay? I will never forget you. Even when I get married and Artie and I move out, you will be coming with us. I already talked to both Sara and Artie about it and they both agreed it would be the best thing. We're not even going to go on a honeymoon."
"No honeymoon?" I asked.
Seb sighed. "We can't. I'm not going to leave you, Dax. And trust me, we wouldn't mind waiting until a few years to go on one, if we ever do. Look, you're not worthless, okay? I can't even stress how much you mean to me. You were always there for me when Dad was beating me, even though you're two years younger. I was four, you were two, and you would hug me when I was crying, even though you had no idea what I was crying about. And when you found out exactly what I cried about, you were still there. And after Artie left, you were one of the only things keeping me going. So, no, you're not worthless. You'll never be worthless, okay?"
I nodded and Seb gave me a hug. It was so hard at times not to listen to what the voices said. It wasn't like I could ignore them, because I couldn't. They kept coming back with worst things to say.
"Sebastian," a voice suddenly snapped.
We turned and saw two of the people I couldn't stand; Collin and his sister Lauren, also known as Seb's ex. She was absolutely horrible when Seb was dating her. She still was horrible.
"We're trying to get inside," Lauren said. "So if you could move, that would be great."
Seb raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? There's room for you to get by."
"What are you even doing here?" Lauren asked.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed here," Seb said sarcastically. "And if you must know, I'm having dinner with my family and my fiancee's family."
Lauren looked a bit shocked to hear that. I knew she still liked Seb, even after they graduated from high school. She couldn't get over the fact that Seb moved on. "You....You're engaged?" Lauren asked. "Let me guess. Artemis? What do you even see in her?"
"I would give you a list, but that could take hours," Seb said. He then rolled his eyes before looking at me. "Ready to go back inside?"
I nodded, so we went back inside to the restaurant. The food was already there, so Seb and I sat down and began eating.
"Dax?" Jasper spoke up. "I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but electronics shouldn't be at the table."
I looked at Seb for help. I couldn't take my earphones out, not yet. Yes, the voices were gone, but I usually kept the music in to assure they would stay away. It was rare for them to come while I listened to music.
"Uh....He kind of needs them," Seb said. "It's a long story."
"He's schizophrenic," Ty spoke up, his mouth filled with spaghetti. I was hoping Artemis's parents wouldn't have understood him, but they did.
"You have schizophrenia?" Jasper asked.
I glared at Ty, tempted to swear at him again, but Sara wouldn't appreciate it with Gemma here. So I went for the next best thing.
Giving Ty the finger when I knew Gemma wasn't looking.
Sara, however, saw that. "Dax...."
"What?" I asked. "Ty knows that I want to be the one to tell people. "
"Oh, I'm sure it's fine if Jasper and Vivienne know," Sara said. "It's not like they'll be telling anyone about it."
I frowned as I continued eating my food. I didn't care if they wouldn't tell anyone. I liked being the one to decide if someone knew or not.
Since when did family dinners turned into sharing secrets?
______________
I still love my baby Dax. cx Even though he's a year younger than me now....He's still my baby.
I'm going to love the next chapter a lot. No, I promise it won't break your hearts. cx I'm not too evil to break your heart again when I just did it. Let's just say that we get to see how certain people work together. cx
The picture above is of Isadora. I still love her. She's a really sweet girl.