"what even made you come back?" Carl asked baxter as they sat in a booth at the back of the diner after they walked with rylee and ian to work.
"I had some loose ends to tie up, i guess" he said, shoving some fries in his mouth.
"What, with me and ry?" carl asked after swallowing the large bite of burger he had just taken.
"yeah, some of it" baxter shrugged.
Carl nodded, taking a gulp of his milkshake. They sat in silence for a moment, then baxter spoke up quickly, "so how long you guys been dating?"
"a few months."
"so it's not that serious then?" bater asked as he pushed his empty plate to the edge of the table.
"No, it is" carl defended quickly.
"well it can't be that serious after just a few months." baxter said with a slight laugh. Carl began to get annoyed that his friend was downplaying his relationship.
"Well, I mean, it's basically been 17 years"
"you weren't dating the minute you were born, carl." baxter rolled his eyes
"what the fuck are you getting at, baxter?" carl asked harshly
"you know i got better for her." baxter replied, his voice holding a hint of anger as well.
"what, so you came back for her?" carl asked, "you came back to win over my girlfriend."
"never mind." baxter sighed, "you know, i gotta go."
He stood up, pulling out his wallet from his pocket, and setting a crumpled up bunch of cash on the table, "good to see you, buddy"
Carl sat in the booth as Baxter walked out of the Diner. Ian was at the booth behind his, cleaning off tables. He finished, and walked over to carl's, grabbing the plates from in front of carl. Carl looked up at his brother, "Did he just fucking call me 'buddy'?"
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"I'm gonna go have a cigarette, do you want one?" Baxter asked rylee as he stood up from the bed of his motel room. They had been sitting around watching tv since rylee's shift was over.
"no thanks," she smiled at him, "I don't really like cigarettes anymore."
Baxter nodded and placed a cigarette between his lips, walking out onto the patio. Rylee sat in silence, watching tv for about 10 minutes before baxter came back into the room. He walked straight to the closet, searching in the drawers of the dresser sat in the closet. Not finding what he's looking for, he climbed on top of the dresser, and found a bag on top of the hanger rack. He sat down on the dresser, and pulled out a couple joints, throwing one onto the bed by rylee. He lit up his and then threw the lighter on the bed as well, it landing next to the joint, which rylee then lit up.
"so you're really into carl, huh?" baxter asked
"Yeah, he's my boyfriend." rylee laughed
"good" he mumbled, not making eye contact. "You guys like.. In love or whatever?"
"Yeah," she smiled, "he's probably the most important thing in my life."
"so you'd never leave him?" he asked, finally looking at her.
Rylee shifted, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"so, uh, you meet anyone in michigan?" she asked, ignoring his previous question.
"oh, nah." he shook his head, "not really into other girls, you know"
Rylee sat back for a moment, trying to decide if the discomfort was because he was actually being weird, or if the weed was just making her think so.
