In the End

19 ~ Heavy

Someone rubs my back, easing away the knots that formed during the night.

"Morning, Penny." I yawn, not ready to wake up.

"Morning, JoJo." He sounds just as tired as me. "You punched me 8 times last night."

I snort, that's no where near my record, I've gotten to 13 before.

The sound of a camera clicking sends us both glaring to the doorway.  "Don't you two look cozy."

Emmy smirks and I chuck a pillow at his face. "Let me sleep."

"Your phones are buzzing." He says, "So... should I text this to y'all or..."

The sound of constant vibrating sends Aspen and I jumping for our phones.

"Hey, Boo." I yawn.

"Hey, Mere." Aspen groans as he talks to his witch.

"Hey, Cutie." Beau's voice filters through my head. "I'm so sorry about last night."

Tensing, I roll away from Aspen who stares daggers at my head. Oh yeah, he definitely heard that.

"It's fine." I assure him. "It's a new day, let's not focus in old issues."

"I'm still so sorry."

I smile, "I know."

"What are doing

"Just woke up. Would like to go back to sleep." Preferably beat the shit out of Emmy.

"Jesus, Mere." Aspen startles me. "I don't know when I'll be back. Why does it matter, you're in Colorado?"

"You just woke up?" Beau's voice prevents me from making a snide remark.

"Yeah."

"So why is Aspen there?"

"Him, Gen and I are sharing a room. My aunt's house flooded so we had to improvise." Although we probably would've shared anyways .

"Ok." His tone surprises me. So... casual. "I've got to go eat with my grandparents. Text me later."

"Bye, boo." I don't know why I was expecting a fight.

"Bye, Cutie."

Flinging myself back against the pillows, I sigh. My sigh ends as blue eyes fill my line of sight.

"What did you two fight about?" He asks.

"I don't know, what did Mere want."

Holding my stare for a long second, he stands up and offers me a hand. "Let's go eat."

Forty-five minutes later we're sitting at the Rhodes kitchen table. Mom studies Sage as he hums and cooks. Aspen and Gentry send pointed glances between each other and him. I know Sage knows we're all staring.

"So can we just address the elephant in the room?" I demand, the silence bothers me. We reserve the tense quiet for our house.

Not when we're home. Not here.

He brings a platter of French toast and  fruit. "It's egg and gluten free, Peanut."

Ready to stab, I pile my plate high. God bless good food.

"And as for the elephant, what do you mean?"

"Um, you broke up with the girl you loved for 12 years." Gentry says. And people say I'm blunt.

"She broke up with me." He states. "And it's better. I sacrificed a lot to make her happy and I just want to remember who I am."

I couldn't imagine loving anyone for that long, let alone losing them. Beau and I, what we have isn't love. Yet. Sage, though, I used to envy his ex for having someone to love her like he did.