𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂.

𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚠𝚘.

edye and fuckshit sat side by side on a curb watching ray skate and do tricks in front of a big crowd. "oh, i almost forgot to tell you. my dad wants to invite you over for dinner." edye told him as she rested her chin on her knees.

"forreal? your pops like me?" he raised his eyebrows at her in confusion, glancing between her and watching ray.

"i guess so, yeah. he said he hadn't seen you in a while," which was true, fuckshit mostly came in through her window or her dad was mostly at work. "what you think?"

"yeah, why not."

"okay." she nodded to herself, mentally preparing for that night. it was actually kind of cool to show him to her family.

"ayo, fuckshit.. drinks on me!" dexter yelled while holding bottles of beer and passing them out to random people.

fuckshit shook his head, waving him off. "nah, man." he didn't really know if he should drink while with edye but he also knew one drink wouldn't hurt him.

"what? you turn soft now that your chick right there?" he grilled with a smirk on his face.

"take it. i don't wanna stop you from doing you." edye shrugged, not really caring. it wasn't a big deal to her due to her environment. also fuckshit was drinking before she was even around and she didn't want to get in the way of that.

dexter held the drink out tauntingly, knowing his old friend never turned down drinks. at this point edye was kind of skeptical as she watched them interact. was it ironic she kept seeing dexter today? fuckshit hesitantly took the drink, ignoring edye's gaze. "so y'all been getting along? you and your dad?"

"i guess so, stevie's mom has really been making an impact on him i think. he's coming around."

he chuckled, shaking his head as if he had something to say but wouldn't say it as he brought the bottle to his lips. "what?" edye questioned, nudging him.

"you miss your mom?" fuckshit asked her, seriously. he was curious about it and could easily see there was at least some resentment for her parent that didn't pay her attention nor was in her life like that.

"oh, she doesn't want me." edye quickly shook her head, trying to shut the conversation down. she knew it was bound to be an emotional conversation anytime when fuckshit got serious.

he chuckled, tilting his head at her. "and that's not what the fuck i asked. i said, do you miss her? shit, you can be honest."

"well, honestly? sometimes. i've always wished i had a woman figure around that i could ask questions about whatever i'm experiencing. i think maybe my life choices wouldn't be as bad or i wouldn't have gotten into the shit i was in. i think i could understand why you like me better or even something small like how to be more girly," she'd actually never discussed this out loud and it kind of did nothing but make her more angry.

"i get angry about it often and i know sometimes i take my anger out on the wrong people. my dad didn't make it any better with all the women he'd bring in the house or ones that he was supposedly gonna propose to. but i also never told him how i felt about it. i just went out and did shit that made me feel alive and forget. then come home, forgive and forget."

fuckshit hummed in response to let her know he was listening. "fuckshit, she doesn't want me. i still think to this day that my father leaving wouldn't have hurt as much as my own mother -- the woman that birthed me -- leaving and that's not right. i just wish i had them both i guess. maybe i just won't ever understand. i'm sorry." edye breathed sheepishly as tears escaped her eyes. she didn't know what kind of effect he had on her to make her so emotional all the time.

"no, you're good baby." he replied calmly, wiping away her tears. in a weird way, he liked that edye was letting her frustration out. it was a big step for her since she always kept certain things bottled up that he knew bothered her to the max.

but he liked to hear about her life, it only made him understand her more. made him feel like he wasn't alone with this family shit. made him feel vulnerable or affectionate when he's always been perceived as hard and disrespectful for the way he acted on the outside. he was there for edye and that wasn't going to change.

✩*⢄⢁✧ --------- ✧⡈⡠*✩
i'm gonna drop the playlist for this book bc literally every time i write i have to listen to certain songs. i also want y'all to see the thought process since catching feelings is also a song that i based the book on. so go enjoy that (it'll be located in the chapter under the prologue) while i continue to write. :)