Addicted To You

80

It's been a long, hard two weeks. No thanks to Archer. 

It has gotten so bad to the point Chase eventually spoke his mind. I didn't budge to make an argument with him, because the problems he had were valid. It's only right for him to be upset with how Archer is handling things. I had to convince him many times to not go off doing something he will regret. And he had to stop himself frequently. 

Let's just say these last two weeks haven't been easy. 

It all started when Mary asked me about my engagement party to let people know about it. I was very hesitant, and Chase was almost too excited about it. I told her a date, even though I still wasn't sure.

I told Chase I didn't want to rush things for the wedding just yet, and he took it the wrong way. As if I don't want to marry him.

As it got closer to the time, Archer told me he needed me on that day. I told Chase, and that's when he drew the line with me staying late at the job.

"At this rate, you might as well move in with him since you guys are spending so much time together." is that he said. 

His voice beams through my mind as I'm getting dressed for the day.

"Where are you heading?" Ellie asks while leaning on my door.

"To go see Dinosaurs." I smile while grabbing my coat. "It's a museum Chase is taking Xavier to. I thought I should tag along since I haven't seen him that much."

"Isn't he upset with you?"

"Yes, but he can't stay mad at me forever. He even said it himself." I check my phone to see how close my ride is. "What plans do you have today?" I ask Ellie.

"Nothing, just homework." She grins too hard. On the bright side, her appearance is slowly beginning to come back. Day by day, I can normal Ellie coming back to life. 

"Don't do anything stupid, please, and if you need me, call." I tell her. 

We walk into the museum, and Xavier starts to point out everything he sees. He wanted to hold my hand instead of Chase's. And when his legs got tired, he was either in my arms or in the stroller.

He picked up on this habit where he twirls his long brown curly hair until it's a knot, and we have to fix it. While eating his snack in the stroller, I tried my best to undo the knot while Chase was busy with a phone call. Since I met him here, he's been giving me the cold shoulder. I tried being the bigger person and making conversation, but he hits me with one-word responses, such as; cool, yeah, and okay. 

When he comes back from his call, we continued to walk around.

"You see the triceratops, Xavier?" Chase asks him while pointing to the large fossil.

"Big!" Xavier shouts.

I don't know why I expected to see Chase's face when he did, but I didn't, he doesn't even look the slightest bit like his mother either. I stay quiet because I have no say when it comes to him. The last time I asked him to do another DNA test, it nearly causes a dispute. 

"So, Ellie's birthday is tomorrow. Do you want to stop by and have dinner with us? I'm sure Claudia will be there too, but it'll be a good time to tell her about the engagement."

"Sure." He responds.

I suck in a breath to keep my composure. "Ok. Enough with the petty short responses. I deserve a decent conversation." I scold. 

"Ok." He shrugs. "You sure you won't have to stay long for work again, like every Sunday and other day?" He asks with his head to the side.

This isn't what I meant by a conversation Chase.