Her Life Of Maybes

Chapter Twenty Two

For once, Trinity awoke to yelling that wasn't her own. After a minute of bleary eyed, post dreaming confusion, she noticed the bed was empty and her boyfriends voice was one of the ones she could distinguish from the screaming match upstairs.

She scrambled off the bed, frantically searching for clothes to throw on. She found her own  shorts and Julian's T-shirt in her rush and quickly dressed.

Trinity reached the top of the stairs, breathing deeply before cracking it open.

"-STEALING TIME FROM MY STUDIO, NEVER COMING HOME ANYMORE AND LEAVING ON TRIPS WITHOUT SAYING A THING. AND NOW, NOW YOU'RE BRINGING YOUR SLUTS HOME?"

Jackson was a very large man. With broad shoulders and stylishly long hair, he looked a lot more similar to his stepson than Trinity imagined.

Julian took a step forward with a dangerous spark in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but Trinity beat him to it.

"I'm not a slut," she said in a calm manner.

Jackson turned to look at her with wild eyes with a hint of disgust as he took in her appearance.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Trinity. I'm your son's girlfriend. And I am not a slut."

He moved to speak, but she cut him off.

"He isn't a thief either. Julian took care of all your clients under the table. He practically ran that studio himself. He had every right to do his friends a favor."

She took a few steps towards Julian and laced her arm through his, discreetly tugging him back from his step dad. He still had an unstable energy surrounding him.

"And as for the trips, those are my fault. He can't help that his girlfriend is dying. Julian has been doing everything in his power to make my last few months fun and enjoyable. He's a lovely man, and you have no right at all to stand there and yell at him like he's trash. He's a beautiful person and I won't accept anyone treating him as if he's any less, not even you."

Trinity had raised her voice gradually through her small speech, and by the end her voice had taken on a slightly hysterical tone.

Jackson had nothing to say. His face didn't give much away at all. It was expressionless. Someone finally broke the silence.

"You didn't tell me?"

Trinity flinched. She forgot about Mrs. Cox. Her body turned slowly to face the older woman. She offered a weak smile.

"Tell you what?"

Mrs. Cox burst into tears. "Oh, darling! Anything! You didn't tell me anything! Not the dating or the dying. And you two-"

She faced her boys. "You two didn't tell me about all of this mess. Julian, you know better than to offer free sessions in the studio and Jackson, I can't believe you were making my boy run the place on his own. "

She was sobbing now, but brushed both of them off as they tried to comfort her, turning back to Trinity.

"Oh my sweet girl," she cried throwing her arms around Trinity's neck.

Trinity hugged her back fiercely, blinking out a few tears of her own.

Mrs. Cox cried into Trin's shoulder while Trinity tried to hold the tears back. This is exactly what she didn't want. She was hurting those she loved.

Eventually, Julian's mom got it together and stepped back from Trinity to wipe her eyes and take a few calming breaths.

"You two need to work some things out," she said pointing her finger between Jackson and Julian.