It takes a little over a week for Jake to get back to mom with the amount, but when he finally does I wish he woulda kept taking his time.
I'm going to owe a staggering $5,000 to Taylor.
Once dad heard about what happened he was furious with me. Not only did he agree with Taylor's insane solution, he rode my ass hard until I found a job. Every single day he wouldn't let me do anything fun until I filled out applications.
I ended up getting a job at the movie theater in town—At least I get to watch movies for free, now.
Dad refused to let Taylor pay for the whole thing, but that didn't help me out like I originally thought it might. I expected to only have to pay $2,500 back...But my ignorance was really cute. I'm still giving all of my checks to Taylor, and then Taylor will start giving them to dad once he gets paid back first.
So I still have to pay $5,000, which sucks ass.
~*~
Taylor stops by the apartment one afternoon. Mom was expecting him, but I didn't know anything about it until he showed up.
"Hey bud," he says, giving me a hug.
"Hi"
"You're still mad at me, huh?" He asks, rolling his eyes once he studies my handsome, yet unhappy face.
"Yup"
"Well, that sucks," he says quietly.
I think he's actually upset that I'm still mad at him.
"What are you doing here?"
Normally I'm thrilled to see him, but not now. Not now that he's such an expensive ass.
"You, your mom, and I are going to see Jake"
"What, why?"
"Well, your mom wants to give him the money in person, and she wants you to apologize to him. I refused to give her the check without me going with—You guys aren't seeing him alone."
Well, that's nice of him. I don't really want to see Jake without Taylor being there, either.
"Oh sorry! I didn't know you were here," mom says, coming out of her room.
"No worries, I just got here," he says, smiling softly at her. "You ready?"
"Yeah. Sorry...I haven't even told him yet. It's been a busy day." She says, rushing to get her shoes on quickly.
"I just did."
I can tell he wants to ask her why her day has been so busy, but he doesn't.
"Your apology better be good, young man," she warns.
I just nod.
"Is he at his place, or at the gym?" Taylor asks her.
"Ummm, I'm honestly not sure. I'm guessing the gym since he's always there," she says, grabbing her bag and dropping it, spilling her purse out everywhere.
Taylor bends down and helps her pick everything up.
"You ok? You seem nervous," he asks, handing her prenatal vitamins back to her.
"I am nervous. Jake stresses me out."
"I know," he says, squeezing her shoulder lightly.
Mom smiles softly at him and heads for the door, and we follow suit.
~*~
"Yeah he's here. There's his truck," mom says, taking a deep breath.
We get in and scan the gym until we spot him. Jake is in the corner, kickboxing with a lady—It looks like a private lesson.
"Awesome! There you go! Great block, Millie, You're kicking ass today," he says, smiling and giving her a high five.
He's like a completely different person. I've never seen him so...nice... before.
"I'm glad he's not always an ass—He must just save that for me," mom says quietly, shaking her head.
She looks devastated
Taylor can tell too, and he squeezes her hand gently.
We wait for another minute, and then Jake sees us out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey Millie, can you give me 5? We'll work on your footwork in a minute," he says, giving her another high five.
"Sure," she smiles
Jake comes over, wiping himself off with his towel as he does. He doesn't say anything, he just switches his facial expression from friendly, to angry... the only expression I've ever known from him.
"Hey Jake," mom says, giving him a small smile.
"I've got 5 minutes—What do you want?" He snaps.
Mom looks at me, and I know it's my time to shine.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Jake. You didn't deserve this," I say, sweeping my hand across the gym. "I shouldn't have gone with them."
Jake nods silently, and I sigh in relief. It's over and we can go! Thank you!!'
"Here's your check." Mom says, handing it to him. He takes it from her and looks at it, his brow crinkling in confusion.
"Why are you paying for this?" He asks, turning his head to his left and looking hard at Taylor.
"Alex and I are splitting it, and he's getting a job to pay us back." Taylor says simply.
"But why?" He asks again
"I don't know what you're asking me," Taylor admits.
"Are you two back together?" He asks as he turns back to mom.
"No"
"Then why are you here, together?" He asks. Poor guy. It's not his fault that our lives are more drama-filled than a soap opera.
Mom sighs "I'm pregnant, Jake. I found out after we broke up. We're not together, but we're trying to coexist."
Jake takes a deep breath and lets it out angrily. "You're great at that, aren't you?"
"Watch it," Taylor says, his tone dark and scary.
"Ok, so you're helping them out—I get that part. But why are you here now?"
"Do you really want me to come out and say it? Ok, Jake, you're an ass! I don't trust you around them. So if I can help it, they're not going to be. Ever again," Taylor says
"What is it that you think I'm going to do to her, exactly?"
Woah...his feelings are VERY obviously hurt.. Who knew the Tin Man actually had a heart.
"You have a track record of hitting her, from what I hear," Taylor growls.
Jake looks at mom now. "Just so I'm understanding this correctly... you would rather spend time with the guy who cheated on you, over me? Are you really that afraid of me?" He asks, his voice getting softer for the first time in...Ever.
"I'm sorry," mom simply says as she looks down at the ground.
Jake's face flashes pain before he can hide it, and then he clears his throat and turns to me.
"Liam, I looked over the security cameras—I have audio and video throughout the whole place. I know you didn't do anything," he says, giving me a soft look. "I appreciate that—Your friends are dicks, though. I'm pretty sure one of the kids was the one I kicked out for grabbing a girl the other day."
"Yeah. Skyler," I say, following mom's lead and looking at the ground.
Jake just nods. "Thanks for the check. And the apology."
We're finally dismissed!
Mom nods with a small smile and we turn to leave.
"Ellie?" Jake says as we had already started walking away.
Mom turns around and looks at him. "Yeah?"
Jake pauses for a minute. "The last time I hit you, I went home and cried for an hour. Then Alex came a day or so later and threw me in jail for three days. I promised myself then that I would never touch you again. I guess I never told you that though, did I?"
"No," mom says quietly.
"I'm sorry, Ellie—I don't know how to fix this. We just...bring out the worst in each other."
"Yeah we do. I don't know how to fix it either." She admits, shifting her weight awkwardly.
"Well, maybe we should try. I don't even know him—I'd like to. And this baby too."
Mom hesitates for a minute before she looks at him. "Maybe. I'm not ready yet, though."
Jake just nods sadly. "I get it"
"Your nose looks good," she says with a gentle smile.
"Yeah, well, the person who set it knew what she was doing," he says, giving her an almost smile.
Woah!! Was that a compliment?!?!
"My 5 minutes are up—I've gotta get back." He says, pointing behind him.
Mom just nods as she turns around and leaves.
Jake simply looks at Taylor and me for a moment, before letting out a small sigh and going back to his private lesson.
"Let's get out of here," Taylor says, squeezing my shoulder.
Never thought you'd ask
We get to the parking lot and mom is waiting on us, standing next to the car.
"You ok? Taylor asks quietly.
She looks at him, and she has tears streaming down her face. She doesn't say anything, she just shakes her head as she wipes them away.
Taylor simply nods as he unlocks the door without a single word.
~*~
We drive back in silence and when we get back home, Taylor walks us to our door. "You ok, Ellie?"
"Yeah....I know what the issue is, there's just nothing I can do about it," she says, shaking her head in disgust.
"What's the issue?" Taylor asks softly.
She lets out another sigh, and I see tears filling her eyes again. "I look just like my mom, or at least, what she looked like then—Dad used to call us twins. Jake and I always got along. He was the BEST big brother. Then she left. He couldn't even look at me for the longest time. Then he just decided that he hated me one day. I remind him too much of her. There's nothing I can do about it."
She looks at the ground, letting the tears fall once more.
Taylor silently pulls her into a hug, trying to comfort her.
Mom instantly pulls away. "I'm sorry, I can't."
That hurts him badly, but he shakes it off and tries to force a smile. "It's ok...I'm gonna go. Bye buddy." He gives me a small smile and I can see the pain burning in his eyes as he turns on his heels and leaves quickly.
So much drama for one afternoon.
I go to my room and do homework, trying to avoid the crazy that is now apparently my life.