(Fr)Enemies

Chapter Fourteen

The restaurant was a classy place a little ways out of the city limits with a dress code and live music. It was real elegant.

The Vincents were anything but.

They were loud, arguing about anything they could think of. They ordered a lot of food and they laughed and it was an all around good environment.

We got a couple of stares but I swear either they didn't notice or they simply didn't give a fuck.

I tried to remember if they had always been so unapologetically happy. I couldn't.

Rory had been ecstatic to see me and it kind of made me feel like shit when I realized that cutting her out of my life had probably hurt her as much as it had hurt me.

She had been like a sister to me.

Her and Sin were probably the cutest couple ever. It was weird when I thought of Rory being in a relationship with him but after seeing it with my own eyes it made perfect sense.

I knew about Sin. Everyone in Winterbrook did. He was a deputy and he was nice to look at. He'd even broken up a couple of parties I had been at.

When he was with Rory, he could almost turn the whole cop thing off. He looked normal, relaxed and if it wasn't for the way he scanned the restaurant multiple times checking for danger, I would have forgotten he was even a cop.

"I have an announcement." Kody said, absently pulling the plate of buttered bread out of his daughter's reach seconds before she could grab at it.

"You popping the question?" Sin said with a smirk on his face and I raised a brow. I had never seen him joke around with anyone. Even before he became a cop

Kody threw a fork at him, an annoyed expression on his face. "Mind your business Westbrook.  Who even invited you?"

There was laughter and I watched to see how Ezra took the joke. I had been stealing glances at her all night and it wasn't just because she was stunning. I wanted to see how she handled them.

The Vincents.

It was different for Sin. he was a man, plus he had known Kody for a while before dating Rory. But Ezra was new. Even though she had been in the Vincent's family for two years, she didn't grow up with them. She wasn't there when Kody had gapped teeth or when Aiden was shorter than me. Yet she fit into the family as if she had been raised with them.

I didn't understand how she did it.

"You had news?" Mr. Vincent said urging Kody on.

Kody smiled. "Right, I guess it's more Ezra's news." He said turning to his girlfriend.

She didn't blush or anything. She simply beamed across the table while absently playing with her daughters wild curls. "I took a job in Jacobsville. it's just an interning position but it's closer than Seattle-"

"Seriously?" Aiden said all of a sudden grabbing her arm so that she turned to him. "You guys are staying?"

She smiled now, a smile that was full of so much love that hell even I could feel it.

"An hour away." She said giving his arm a squeeze before turning back to the family.

The whole table erupted into excited voices, everyone talking over eachother.

I felt stupid just looking around so I quickly got up to go to the bathroom.  Lucky for me, I was sat next to Aiden and I needed him to move his chair for me to leave.

"You good?" He asked as I attempted to squeeze around him.

"Just gotta wash my hands." I lied. "They're sticky."

He eyed me for a while before shaking his head. "You wanna go outside, you wanna talk?"

That was exactly what I didn't need. I didn't want to cause a scene. I wanted to go to the bathroom and get my emotions in check before I burst into tears at this fucking table. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I'm just gonna wash my hands." I said again squeezing past his chair and rushing to the bathroom without looking back.

I might have imagined the table going silent.

The bathroom of the restaurant was just as fancy as the outside and of course there was an attendant who gave me a warm smile when I walked in. I quickly went to the stall, leaning against the door and taking some deep breaths.

My emotions were all over the place and I didn't understand why I kept doing this. There was just moments when it hit me that I was not the same Grace I had been three years ago and when it did it fucking hurt. I wanted to be that same grace. I wanted to laugh at that dinner table with the Vincents. I wanted to be worried about Kody and his family moving to Seattle.

I needed to speak to my therapist.

I sat there for a while, taking deep breaths while simultaneously watching the time on my phone. I didn't want to spend too much time in the bathroom. At the three minute mark, I took a final calming breath before opening the door and preparing to clean my face.

Ezra stood at the sink.

"Fuck." I said out loud on an accident.

She smiled handing me a handful of tissues. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." she said, with the same smile she had been sporting at the table. "Aiden said something about sticky hands."

"Yeah, um the ice cream melted" I said lamely, dabbing at my eyes with the tissues and walking up to the mirror.

She leaned next to me. "Hate it when that happens" She said.

I laughed, sounding stupid since I had just been crying. Actually feeling better I cleared my throat. "So, Jacobsville huh? Are you excited."

She shrugged. "I don't expect it to be too different. I'm just happy I don't have to leave my family you know?"

"oh, you're family lives in Winterbrook?" I asked attempting to make small talk so that it wasn't so awkward.

She laughed. "Oh, I'm an orphan. The Vincent's are my only family."

There was no response to that, at least not one that would make me feel like less of an asshole so I simply said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They're pretty great. How come you were crying?"

She said it so quickly that I almost didn't even hear the question.

I narrowed my eyes. I really didn't want to be a bitch but I couldn't even put into words why I was crying. "My hands were just so sticky that I-"

She nodded cutting me off. "If it's personal that's fine. You don't really know me and I don't really know you. You don't have to spill your guts."

I turned to throw the tissues away.

"We both love him though." She continued. "And he's worried about you, I had to force him not to come in here after you. So if the problem is not about him, then maybe you guys could talk it out."

I sighed. so we were going to do this. "The problem is me." I said simply.

"You could still talk to him about it." She said. "Or you could talk to me, I'm a great listener."

I didn't doubt she was and since it was way too late to go see Dr. Collins, I seriously toyed with the idea of talking with her.

"Not in a public bathroom, I can't." I said walking around her and opening the door.