Rise From the Ashes (Sequal to On the Wrong Side)(BBS)

Chapter 10

Song is Help! by the Beatles. 

Brock's POV

We were all sitting downstairs laughing when there was a knock on the main door. It had been a few hours since Tyler and Lui had shown up, and we were all catching up from our year apart.

I got up to answer it and was surprised to find Jon on the other side.

"Umm, hey Brock," he said, scuffing his foot on the ground, not looking at me, "I was, umm, I was wondering if I could stay here. I, ah, well, with Evan being how he's being..."

I smiled, "Come on in, man. Do you want something to eat? We just had some pizza and I think there's some left. You might have to fight Tyler for it, though."

He sagged in relief and walked in. I guess he thought since he was Evan's boyfriend, we were going to turn him away? Who knows.

I followed him into the living room and plopped down onto Brian's lap, leaving the empty spot for Jon. He was hesitant, but eventually took it before looking at Tyler expectantly. I chuckled as Tyler huffed, but handed over the last couple of slices anyhow.

"So how have you been over the past year, Jon?" I asked.

He swallowed some of what was in his mouth before I got a garbled good.

Everyone laughed as he tried to finish his bite and give me a better answer.

"Good, well as good as I could be given everything. I missed our random gaming nights, though. And going and getting coffee. I really just missed this. I-" he paused, clearly not sure if he wanted to go on or not, "I wish it hadn't gotten to this point, though. I'm sorry about what happened last year, and yesterday. I'm also sorry that we didn't reign Evan in before he got too out of hand."

He looked at Brian, "I know it's not the same coming from me, but I'm sorry for what happened yesterday to you too. He shouldn't have done that. Maybe if I had done something about him early on, he wouldn't have gotten this bad."

I felt Brian shrug underneath me, "It's not your fault. None of it is. He knew what he was doing and did it anyhow. He'll either realize how fucked up he's gotten or go down fighting at this point. As awful as that sounds."

"You're right, though," Marcel said, "We can only apologize for our own actions. He didn't force us to do anything, but we could have made better choices. Now we just have to wait and see if he'll do the same."

"Do you really think he will, though? I mean, given the past year, I doubt it," Tyler said, and the conversation turned to what all Evan had gotten them to do in the past year that they didn't necessarily agree with.

I wandered into the kitchen at one point to try and muddle through my own thoughts. I knew, deep down, that Evan wasn't a bad person. I also knew that he liked to make stupid choices, especially when put under pressure. Maybe he just needed to have one on one interactions with some of us to come to terms with us not being the bad guys.

Jaren wandered in not long after, "So what are you thinking about? I can practically hear the little hamsters wheel squeaking, poor guys running so fast."

I chuckled, "That maybe I should go and talk to Evan by myself. Clearly we have some things that need said to one another, and it might be best to do them alone instead of around the whole group. That might help both of us be able to come to terms with things."

"You really think you can go talk to him and him not attack you?"

"I think it's worth a shot."

"What's worth a shot?" Jon asked, "Also, where would I find something to drink?"