It Gets Complicated (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 9: Ex-cuse My Love

A/N:

Any bold lines will represent Jay writing in his journal. Any italicized lines will be flashbacks of past events.

........

"Can I stay with you for the weekend? Just the two of us?" I asked over the phone. I swear I could hear the smile on his face when he replied with some combinations of repeating the words "I love you," "yes", and "fucking." I dated a moronic loser...

"I am not a moron! Or a loser!" He scolded over the phone. Again? Really? I keep saying shit out loud...I seriously think it's becoming a problem. "I'm your loser." Dear lord, I didn't think it was possible for your heart to beat so hard, or your face to get this red, or to be so utterly speechless. I was tomato-izing. Yep, new thing again, deal with it.

"Just come pick me up after work okay? Then we can discuss your loser status over dinner." I finally got something out and I think I was trying to sound taunting and cute, but it came out as giving birth while running a marathon.

"You're all nervous," he teased, making my heart flutter again. Daaaammmnnn iiiiitttttt. I am not the type of person to get all red-faced and flustered. I do that to people! Yet, here I was, sitting in a parking lot letting Ryan tease me into this absurd state. "I'll see you tonight." He had that cocky smirk on his face. I wanted to slap him through the phone. "I love you." With that he disconnected and my tomato-ization continued.

...........

I opened my eyes and found myself on the couch, a freshly wet rag on my forehead and a face above my own. Ryan had moved me here after I fell asleep on him in the bathroom floor, resting my head in his lap while he watched some movie where someone's head just got knocked off. Because this is what I want to see after puking my guts out.

"If you ever tickle me again I'm getting a restraining order." I grumbled into his stomach.

"Don't say that..." his tone of voice completely threw me for a loop. I was trying to lighten things up and take away from the fact that I had just vomited violently in the other room and he sounded...hurt. "You say that stuff all the time."

"I-I-I-" three strikes and I'm out. I couldn't get the words to form in my mouth. But really, what words was I gonna say? That I love through hating people? I mean, yeah, sure, it's honest and true, but how awful does that sound?! "I'm sorry." I peeked up at his face where he was staring down at me. No, he wasn't just staring down at me, he was giving me the Ryan look, that soft adoration mixed with sadness and the corners of his mouth turning up into that sad soft smile. So maybe I ran out of words, it's a complicated look! "I'm like four years old, I don't know what I'm saying half the time." His hand ran over my short hair. What was even going on? Why was he so upset all of a sudden?

"You need to know about Zack." He finally said. Every apologetic and attempting to be happy emotion faded from my face. This was the talk I'd been waiting for. Zack was his ex-boyfriend.

..........

When he came to pick me up from work I couldn't pass the opportunity to make out with him against his corvette. Seriously, I don't do the whole car thing, but the car was hot. However, it always brought back to mind the question of how much money he actually had. It just wasn't something that I felt comfortable asking and didn't really need to know.

"So," he pecked me on the lips one last time. "Where do you want to eat?" We ended up getting take out on the way back to the apartment, going through our normal motions of holding hands in the car and insulting each other every opportunity we got. It was becoming normal. Looking at him, laughing at/with him, kissing him...all of it already felt so casual and so normal that I didn't expect anything to break routine. But, this is me we're talking about, so of course something had to go awry.

There was a boy waiting in the parking lot of the apartment complex when we pulled in. He immediately approached the car when Ryan and I stepped out. He was about Ryan's height, maybe a little shorter and definitely a lot thinner. The moment Ryan saw this stranger, though, he proceeded to push me behind him and glare at the approaching figure. Well, this should be interesting.

"You fucking bastard!" The boy yelled. Why was that voice familiar? "How could you just do this to me? And for that?" He gestured towards me. Excuse me? Oh HELL NO. "What, princess? You got a problem with what I said?" That was directed at me and I'm assuming that's because once again my thoughts just came out of my mouth. Note to self: set up appointment with psychiatrist.

"Ryan, hold my Chinese food, I'm about to rip stoner boy's hair out." I glared at this stranger.

"Jay," Ryan sighed, "this is my ex-boyfriend, Zack." That REALLY makes me want to kick his ass. "He's been arrested for assault before, so please don't try." I froze. A: this was getting ridiculous. Every time an emotinal situation came up I just started blabbing. B: no fair. "What do you want?"

I couldn't help comparing Zack to myself, only because there were no comparisons to make. He had black hair that was a medium-length and straight, his eyes were hazel and blood shot, probably because he was pot head, he was tall, he was ugly...okay maybe if he wasn't calling me ugly I might have found him slightly attractive, but shots were fired.

"I'm here to let your little slut know what to expect from you, since he obviously hasn't been listening to me all week." Zack crossed his arms. His voice was masculine but once he jutted out that hip all my respect went out the window. You either have attitude or intimidation, you can't have both.

"Call him a slut again." I hadn't noticed Ryan's food was now sprawled across the ground, an egg roll rolling underneath a car. Bye little egg roll. I was trying to distract myself because I didn't like it when Ryan got angry. Was it hot that he would get jealous or defensive and flip a switch and all of those muscles would tense up and this vein on his neck would stick out? YES. Did it scare me? HELL yes. "Do it." The words were short and simple but the dark, commanding tone behind them had me shaking, and they weren't even directed towards me. Zack took a step backwards, glaring at me.

"You're going to regret leaving me for him." Zack grumbled. "And you, little princess, are goin-" well that's about the time that Ryan became the Flash and punched Zack in the face. There was this triumphant cracking sound that made my heart swell...what? A guy can't be proud of his boyfriend for breaking someone's nose? I mean, it was crooked anyways.

Ryan was walking back over to me, wiping blood onto his white shirt. Once again, how much money does he even have? That is a POLO! He was looking at me with those caring eyes before he wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me towards the apartments.

"If you even think about keying my car, I will drown you in the ditch behind the building." Ryan called out. Zack was laying in a daze on the asphalt. Ha! Maybe he got a concussion and it would cure his insanity. I couldn't help but laugh at my own jokes, even if this one actually stayed in my head. Once inside the apartment, I put my Chinese food in the fridge because really, who eats Chinese food when they're stressed out? No one.

"You remember when I said I wasn't scared of you?" I asked with my back to him, leaning against the counter as his angry face flashed through my mind.

"Please don't." I could hear him choking up. I turned to see him standing on the opposite side of the kitchen, bracing himself against the sink. I walked up behind him, my arms snaking around his midsection and my head resting on his broad back.

"I was wrong." I felt him stiffen. "You're more like a ladybug than a chihuahua." His laughter, his booming, obnoxiously loud, warm, and contagious laughter, filled the air. I smiled up at him as he finally turned around, wiping a tear from his soft cheek. "I love you more."

A/N:

I know this chapter is almost twice as long as the others, but it's one of my favorites :) so if you liked it too, you should definitely leave a comment or a vote or both! I promise this flashback will end in the next chapter! Thanks for reading! xx

-Tay