Loving the Fighter

106

Jax's POV

I had been waiting for Patrick by the basketball court for a good 15 minutes so far and he hasn't showed up. I had considered just leaving quite a few times already but decided against every time because I knew the others would wonder why I was back so early.

"Are you going to come play or not," Matthew asked with his usual smile as he pushed his sweaty hair out of his face.

"I was supposed to be waiting on Patrick."

"That's weird then Patrick isn't normally late. Come play with us and when Patrick shows up you can ditch us for him." Judging by the way he pulled me into the court he wasn't actually asking anymore. "Sadly we're shirts today so you don't get to show off your muscles. Hope that doesn't disappoint you too much."

"I think it disappoints you more than me."

'Do you want to play instead of me? I don't mind sitting this one out.'

I don't think that's a good idea. I don't like sports so I don't know what I would be doing and I don't like people touching me so I think I'll just watch you.

I don't know how long we were playing for until I finally heard Patrick call me over but I know that it was way past 4:30.I didn't even try to hide the small glare on my face when I forced myself away from the court and over to Patrick.

The sun was already setting so I know he had to have ben at least 2 hours late and after 2 hours of basketball I was nearly ready to go back to the cabin for a nap.

"You're late," I say rudely as I come up beside him.

"Yes, I am very late but I bought something to make it better," he said as he shoved a large Styrofoam cup in my hand. "It's just a vanilla shake but I figured it was better than coming in late empty handed."

"Are you trying to bride me?"

"Possibly. Would it be bad if I were?"

"Depends on why you were 2 and a half hours late."

"I was questioning some more of the guards. It's only been a week but I think I have most of them fired and replaced. Most of them will be lucky if they can get a job picking up trash on the side of the road."

I only hum as I sip my milkshake.

"So what do you want to do," Patrick asked as he looked around the main yard.

"There's not much we can do," I say honestly.

"Oh come on, there's plenty to do."

"I wouldn't say there's plenty but even if there was, I don't have time. Dinner will start soon and we aren't really supposed to be out past 9 anyway."

Patrick frowned at that.

"Do you think your friends would mind if I tagged along to dinner?"

"Probably not, and even if they did they would get over it. They are probably going to make fun of you though."

"I think I can handle that. Will your boyfriends know to meet us there or will we need to go get them now?" I can't help the small blush that crawls up my face at his use of the word 'boyfriends' but Patrick doesn't comment on it.

"They'll know to come down," I say as I start walking to the cafeteria.

Patrick grimaced a bit when he walked into the cafeteria and I wasn't sure if it was due to the smell or the fact that he knew he was about to have to eat peasant food.

"It's easier if you breathe through your mouth," I joke when as I lead him over to my usual table. Like I thought Liam, Callum, and Ryder were already there.

"Why would I do that? Then I would just be tasting it," he said with a small laugh as began adding an excessive amount of salt onto his mashed potatoes.

The five of us stayed mostly quiet until the other 6 showed up. I still couldn't believe that now we had 10 people sitting at this tale every day.

"I see Patrick finally showed up," Matthew said as he settled into his seat.

"Yea I got held up with something," he said simply, waving it off all together. "How are you guys doing," he asked Boyd, Kyle, and Kellan with a smile. "It's been a while since I've seen any of you."

"Well its not like you didn't have the chance or anything," Kellan grumbled. "It's not like we were too busy or anything."

"We've been good," Kyle said with an uncharacteristic smile. "He's just grumpy because of his session."

"Ah," Patrick hummed. "I'm sure they can be a pain in the ass from time to time."

"Especially when they try to diagnose you over one thing you said one time," Kellan said with a huff. "People are allowed to have bad days without getting diagnosed with something."

"Agreed," Dylan said with a grim look. "I should be able to say I want to kill someone without them checking my bunk." Patrick only stared at him with a confused look until Dylan gave him a small smirk. "I'm just kidding. I only joke about murder, I would never actually do it." This didn't seem to calm Patrick down anymore but the rest if us got a decent laugh out of it.

"Speaking of recently diagnosed," Jordan said with a kind smile but my heart stopped beating, knowing exactly what he was about to say. "How is Carter doing? It feels like we haven't seen him in a while?"

"Who's Carter? New boyfriend or something," Patrick asked as he kept eating.

"You haven't told him about Carter yet?" Jordan eyes went wide as he realized his mistake.

"I haven't told him about Carter yet," I confirm as I closed my eyes for a second.

"Dude, I'm sorry. I just assumed he already knew."

"Jordan I like you and everything but you can be so stupid sometimes," Matthew said with a small glare. "Eat your food and let the adults do the talking for the night." Jordan mumbled out a barely audible ''yes sir' making me raise an eyebrow in their direction but before I could bring it up Patrick was talking again.

"Who is Carter?" He asked again, his voice still light but I could tell he really wanted to know.

It doesn't matter if he wants to know. If you don't want him to then he doesn't get to know. You don't owe him anything.

'I know, but I think I want him to know.'

"Andrew diagnosed me with DID," I say for what feels like the hundreth time this month. "Carter is apparently one of my altars," I said like it was no big deal as I went back to my milkshake. Ryder's hand slipped into mine, while Liam rubbed my knee.

"Oh cool. You never said of you liked that milkshake or not." His lack of questions took me a back a bit but I didn't comment on it just in case he decided to bring it up.

"Yea it's good."

"You didn't bring anyone else a milkshake," Kellan grumbled as he tucked himself into Kyle's side.

"I'll bring you one next time," he promised. If he ever came back I wouldn't be surprised if he had one for everyone.

I like Patrick.

'I do too.'

'But it's more fun if I pretend like I don't.'

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Last updated May 17, 2021