Show me love.

Eleven

"What the hell do you mean you invited him?" 

Paul pushes in six individuals candles in the thick cushion of icing and shrugs. 

"That's exactly what I mean." He replies freely. "Vivian is real fond of him, and to be honest with you, it's nice having someone on the more mature side to speak too. I can't get a conversation out of any of the boys with a crude remark or childish joke. Carl still can't talk say boobs without laughing."

I groan, covering my face with my hands. My stomach fluttered - with both excitement or anxiousness that Jason and I were only separated by a wall.

"Good time to tell him." Paul shrugs. "Just saying."

I roll my eyes childishly and fold my arms over my chest as I follow him through to the living room, braving a toothy smile and starting the echo of happy birthday. 

Shortly after the cake was cut and the parents had came to collect the seven little, shattered bodies who had ate their weight in candy, I help tidy the remaining mess.

"Did you talk to him yet?" Flo whispers, eyeing Jason and Paul in the back garden. 

I shake my head. "Did I not make it clear tonight by avoiding him."

"You should." She says before distastefully screwing her face up and biting back a gag as she wipes up the mushed cake from the table. "He's obviously not in a good place and you're probably the only one he can confide in."

"He has David."

"It's not the same." She replies. "He doesn't want to speak to David because he's not you. He knows you listen, he knows you care and more than likely, whatever is going round in that little head of his, is about you."

I stayed silent as the porch doors slid open. 

Flo leans to my ear. "He trusts you. Talk to him."

Paul enters with Jason just short behind him. Flo nudges me with her elbow, her wide eyes glancing to the boys. 

"Paul, help me in the kitchen?" 

He furrows his brows, but notices his wife's warning look and quickly agrees shuffling behind her and leaving the thick and awkward blanket of tension. My palms where sweaty. 

"I should go." He says with a brief cough. "I've a few work relations to finish."

I frown. "You're going back to the office? But it's almost eight."

"I know."

"You can't stay at the office again, Jason. Why don't you go home, get food and some rest." 

He pauses, almost as if he was pondering about what he would say next before shaking his head. "Work keeps me busy. Focused."

"You're not going to be able to keep working if you don't take care of yourself." I mutter lowly. He didn't reply, instead his attention was drawn to the picture hanging above the couch. 

It was of Flo, Paul and Vivian when she was only hours old and wrapped in a pastel pink blanket. It was my gift to them the first year after she was born simply because I adored it so much and if I dare say it, it was my goal. 

A photo in my own house, with my new family.

"I went to view a studio today." I blurt, watching as his shoulder tense much like mine were. "That's, uh, where I was before the Paparazzi chased me."

He nods. Still avoiding too look at me. 

"I should go." He says quietly. His hesitation made me anxious. I follow him into the hallway and to the front door, standing off to the side as he bids a goodbye to Flo and Paul in the other room.