"And then I was like, what does that even mean. How can you say I'm difficult when you didn't even try and figure out what was wrong!" Alyssa ranted as we continued walk.
"Did you say he asked what was bothering you?" I questioned.
"That's the other problem, he should've known!" She continued.
I laughed at her antics before speaking, "you sure the pregnancy hormones aren't getting to you?" I asked.
"why does everyone keep saying that, I'm literally normal." She groaned.
"sure you are." I said sarcastically.
"You know wh-" she paused her sentence abruptly causing me to look at her.
"Either I'm delusional, or that's Detective Amirault." She spoke pointing over to a table in the food court.
I looked to where she was pointing, and that's was definitely him, but he wasn't alone.
"He has a daughter?" She asked with pinched eyebrows.
My eyes widened as realization hit me, "no....he doesn't, it's not his daughter."
"How do you know?" She asked.
"Cause she's Clarence's,"
"I really don't want to do this," Destin shook his head.
"c'mon, it wont be that bad." I persuaded, "and there isn't anybody in here which is rare."
He stood there, clearly conflicted, his bottom lip tormented by his teeth.
"Look," I started, moving so I was behind him.
He tensed up against me-his breath hitching when my front met his back.
I made sure to give him some room, there were still boundaries I didn't wanna cross.
"is this okay?" I asked lowly.
" y-yeah." He nodded, stuttering slightly.
As he held the ball I put my hands over his, repositioning them.
"Position your hands like this," I instructed-his tiny hands perfect fit for mine.
"Hold it up like this," I continued, lifting the ball above us.
"now shoot." I spoke near his ear.
"Okay, so just so I know I'm not missing any details, Clarence has a daughter, and the mother of his daughter is dating the detective that Freya and I set you up with-on a gay dating app." She spoke.
"Yeah that about sums it up." I sighed.
"Why do I feel like I'm always out of the loop." She shook her head.
"Honestly Alyssa 'the loop' has so many twist and turns I'm not even sure I know what's going on anymore." I spoke honestly causing her to chuckle.
"Are you gonna say something?" She asked.
"No, obviously not." I shook my head.
"I don't even know what I would say, plus I think I should get Clares input on this, it's his daughter."
"How do you think he's gonna take it?" She asked.
"Well-based on the past, not well." I slouched.
"Jesus your life is complicated." She shook her head, stuffing a grape in her mouth.
"See! Now you're starting to get it." I spoke.
After about five minutes we decided continue shopping, not wanting to partake in an awkward confrontation.
"This is so cute, but I'm so fucking fat I can't fit anything!" Alyssa whined, eyeing her body in the mirror compared to the dress.
"One, there's nothing wrong with weight, and two, you're not even remotely big." I shook my head, "your bump doesn't even show that much." I sympathized.
"You're just saying that cause your my friend, anyone else could see how much weight I've put on." She continued.
"What weig-"
"Joshua!" I heard a deep voice say from behind me.
For once in my life I thought things would go smoothly, that I'd get out of here without an issue.
Well that was naive on my part, nothing in my life was ever easy.
"Detective," I sighed, turning around.
"I can't believe I actually made it." Destin spoke from beside me, a bright smile plastering his face.
"I told you it was easy," I smirked, eyeing him from the side.
He looked over at me and blushed, immediately looking away again.
"Yo why do you always break eye contact?" I questioned with a laugh.
"I don't know," he shrugged, still looking at the ground.
In a sudden burst of confidence, I gently grabbed the side of his face with my hand-turning him to me.
"see, not so bad is it?" I chuckled, "I don't bite."
His eyes fluttered, every now and again he'd look down but he'd always look back up to meet mine.
"I-I just get nervous, people...they um...make me nervous." He confessed, whispering basically.
"you don't gotta be nervous around me ." I smiled,
He blushed at the gesture but did his best to retain eye contact.
"That's not how it works," he shook his head.
"I..umm...have-an-anxiety." he spoke softly, "social... social anxiety."
"I don't like big crowds...I-I don't like confrontation, people in general, just make me nervous."
I stayed silent and looked at him with wide eyes, taking it all in. A lot of things made sense now, especially the way he acted.
I didn't know much about anxiety, but I knew it affected people in different ways.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know why I told you that....I just made it awkward." He ranted, beginning to stand up.
I grabbed his wrist abruptly and stood up myself, "woah woah," I started.
"You didn't make anything weird, if anything I'm glad you told me, now I know how to treat you." I nodded.
"thank you for sharing that with me, forreal." I spoke sincerely.
He looked up at me in thought, he was silent-but his eyes glimmered with an unknown emotion.
His lips parted and his breathing was steady.
There was tension between us, but we were both too young to even realize what it meant.
Before anything went further, we heard loud voices echo through the gym, meaning other people were entering.
Immediately he backed away, gathering his things quickly, "I-I should get going." He stuttered.
"let me walk with you." I told, rather than asked as I grabbed my ball and bag.
"y-you honestly don't have to, it's o-"
"Do you want me to?" I asked simply,cutting him off.
He looked taken back, but rather than respond verbally, he nodded, giving me the answer I'd asked for.
"then I'm comin'," I cheesed
"How have you been?" He asked, watching me as if he couldn't believe I was standing before him.
His whole demeanor confused me, why was he trying to act like he was my friend, like we were on good terms at all.
He lied to me and got Clare arrested, he was a closeted coward who went on a date with me despite having a whole fiancé at home.
I'd lost all respect for him
I rolled my eyes and turned back around ignoring him, acting as if I was deaf to his words.
"I know you mister," I light voice spoke, causing us both to look down at the beautiful little girl.
I was stuck, complete unsure of what to say.
She'd seen me before but I didn't expect her to remember, there was so much commotion that happened I felt she'd forget.
"you're my daddy's friend." She spoke, he wide doe eyes resembling Clares.
Demetrius looked down at her and chuckled, "sweetheart what are you talking about" he played off.
But she wasn't stupid, and I could tell she was very observant for her age.
"my daddy, he knows my daddy!" She said louder, pointing at me.
I looked around to see if anyone was alerted before bringing my attention back to her.
"y-yeah, I do." I nodded, unsure about how to approach the situation.
I watched as she began to rub at her eyes, sniffing a little.
"d-daddy."
Out of know where she began crying, hysterical at the memory.
I was still completely frozen, confused of where to go with the situation.
Someone her age probably had a lot she didn't understand. I'm not sure what they've been telling her to explain why she hasn't seen Clare, but whatever it was--it wasn't working.
This little girl knew her father....
•RUIN 🥀US•