A Wall Between

Chapter 15

Late in the morning on Friday, Cooper was sitting outside the apartment building, waiting to get picked up. Ellie and Abra were waiting with him.

Ellie had checked through his bag for him and made sure he had everything, which was good because he'd nearly forgotten to pack deodorant and clean socks. He probably could have borrowed some from somebody, but still. That was one less thing he'd have to deal with.

Cooper had been told that Mason would be picking him up, but the bland but expensive looking dark grey car that pulled up in front of them had him wondering if he'd been lied to. Mason could afford nice things, but his tastes tended to be flashier.

It was Mason who got out of the car, though, and Cooper immediately hugged him. "I'm glad you're the one picking me up. Mum said you would be, but I thought it might be a trick to make sure I didn't try to back out last minute."

Mason grinned. "Well, she is a filthy fucking liar. Hey Ellie, Abra. You two been taking good care of my brother for me?"

"He's a handful, but we manage," Ellie told him. "I expect you to return the favour and take good care of him for us this weekend."

"That's kinda a challenge with our parents, but I'm willing to choke out my own mother if I have to. You ready to go, Coop?"

"I guess so. You don't need to pee or anything?"

"In a toilet?" Mason scoffed. "No. That would decrease the number of times I get to pull off onto a quiet side street and piss on the tires of dad's shitty car."

"Aw. I went to the toilet right before I came down to wait for you."

Mason clapped Cooper on the back. "Are you familiar with the word 'diuretic'? Let's head off. We'll stop at a drive thru and I'll buy you some coffee."

#

Normally Cooper just drank instant coffee he made for himself at home because it was cheap and easy, but Mason bought him one of the fancy expensive ones with whipped cream and way too much sugar. They grabbed some doughnuts as well and then got back into the car and properly began their journey.

Cooper took a bite of a powdered doughnut and washed it down with a mouthful of coffee. "So, how were things looking before you left to pick me up? Has the drama already begun, or is it going to be my job to bring that?"

"This is an interesting one, actually, because the drama got there before either of us. Did mum tell you that Logan's fiance is pregnant?"

Cooper choked on a mouthful of coffee. "Oh, shit. Really? No, she didn't mention that."

Mason laughed. "Yeah, I'm not fucking surprised. Imagine that. The golden child who can do no wrong gets his girlfriend pregnant."

"Huh. I guess I'm going to be an uncle. How far along is she?"

"I think she said about four months."

"Huh."

"It's kinda surreal. But yeah, he's marrying her now which is of course what mum and dad want, but still. He's supposed to be perfect, and that's not so much. At least not in mum and dad's eyes."

"Yeah. Wow."

"I alternate between laughing about it and just feeling kinda sorry for him. Like, I guess I was jealous of him growing up because everything seemed to come so easy to him and mum and dad were actually proud of him, but I don't know that there's ever been a point where I've actually wanted to be him."

"That's a good point. I don't always know how I feel about being myself, but I definitely wouldn't rather be him."

"If only because it would mean talking to mum and dad more than twice a year."