Deciding that Jesse is right, I stand and face him with my hand out. He grasps it, and we do a bro hug before I hop down from the truck bed and go inside. Time to fix my shit for real this time.
Vic
Seeing Simon in the truck bed tears at my heart when Jesse and I pull up to the house. When I said I needed to grab a few things, he asked to come along for “bonding time,” so I invited him along. We haven’t talked much at all, except for him to shoo me into the house while he sits with Simon.
My office is the first stop. I need to grab a few more pads of sticky notes and some pens. Henry has extra monitors, so we set up a decent workspace for me already at his house. I’ve beenspending Friday through Monday there, but lately Tuesdays have been creeping in as well. Everything feels so right with the Pack that it’s hard to leave.
As I step into the bedroom, I’m faced with the physical reminder of why I came back here. I can smell Simon’s Vanilla/Orange combination permeating the room we’ve been using. He never did move to a different one. My own Sandalwood weaves throughout Simon’s scent; not as strong, but they complement each other well.
I grab a bag from my side of the closet space and add my office supplies to it. Then I rifle through my clothing, trying to pick a few more pieces to keep at Henry’s. I will definitely need another pair of shoes, so those will get set in the back as well. The process takes a few minutes, and by the time I’m zipping up my bag, it’s pretty damn full. Finally coaxing it to close, I turn to leave the room and see Simon standing in the doorway.
We stand and stare at each other for a moment, and he has a hard time meeting my eyes. I know he’s been wallowing in shame since he denied Josie’s care, but I haven’t really tried to bring him out of it. The behavior was so unlike the Simon I know that I couldn’t reconcile who I knew him to be with the cold version he presented to Josie. My heart feels like it’s torn in two between the two of them. I just want to love them both; is that too much to ask? Lately, it seems like that.
“Hey,” Simon finally breaks the silence.
“Hi,” I refuse to give him an out.
Petty? Yes. Do I care? No.
He clears his throat, “I owe you a couple of apologies.”
“Okay,” I drag out the word, curious what he thinks he needs to apologize for.
“I’m sorry for how I treated Josie. I’m sorry for embarrassing you. I’m especially sorry that I went into rut and beat the shit out of you,” he says.
That… was not what I was expecting.
“Si. I’m not mad at you. I miss you,” I tell him.
He looks at me in surprise, “You do?”
“Of course I do! You’re clearly torn up about how Josie learned about your rut, and I figured when you were ready to talk, you’d come to me. I just didn’t want to push you after we’d had our last talk.”
Simon runs a hand down his face, “God, I’m an idiot.”
“But you’remyidiot,” I say with a small smile.
That earns me a short laugh in return, and I feel hopeful as a result.
“I’m embarrassed. I let things get out of control, beat the shit out of you, then took it out on Josie,” he says.
Gently setting my bag on the ground, I walk over closer to him and grab his face gently in my hands.
“Baby,Ibeat the shit out ofyou. Nice try though, I knocked your ass out,” I tell him.
He pushes me away playfully, grinning at my cheek.
“What brought all this on, anyway? I’m glad you’re talking to me, but it’s a bit of a surprise,” I confess.
“Jesse.”
“Jesse?”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” Simon confirms.
I nod in agreement, “He really is. It’s been nice to get to know him, and he’s happy to just exist in a room with people, no pressure to socialize.”
Simon scuffs his shoe against the carpet.
