Jessica
Jessica hadn't expected to see Carter that day. She'd been lounging on the couch with Ava's head in her lap while they'd binged some sitcom on Netflix, but now that she saw him standing out there in the hallway, all thoughts of a relaxing afternoon left her mind.
His clothes were wrinkled, circles were under his eyes dark, and the state of his hair a mess. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
"Carter? What? Are you okay?" Jessica grabbed his arm and pulled him into her apartment.
He shook his head as he walked to the free armchair beside the couch. He collapsed into it and closed his eyes. The way the tension left his body, it looked like he was attempting to fuse with the cushions.
Jessica, who'd been following him with her gaze, closed the door and rejoined Ava on the couch.
"What happened?" Ava asked. "Are you okay?"
Carter shook his head.
"You didn't come right from home, did you." Jessica made it sound like the statement it was meant to be.
Carter shook his head again.
"Did you talk to Zyan?" Ava sounded afraid of the answer.
Carter nodded.
"It didn't go so well, huh?" Jessica let the concern show in her voice.
Carter nodded again.
"You didn't get back together, did you?" Ava asked.
Another head-shake.
"I think I have some cookies. You want one?" Jessica offered.
Another nod.
Jessica got up and headed for the kitchen. Now wasn't the time to tease him and tell him to get them himself if he wanted some. She could hear Ava at her heels, following her.
"Should I call Zyan?" she asked, voice low to keep Carter from eavesdropping.
"No." Jessica glanced back at Carter, or rather, what she could see of him around the armchair's frame. "Not yet, anyway. I think you should confront him in person tomorrow. These two can't keep going like this—they're tearing each other's hearts apart and getting their own damaged in the process. Men. I swear to god. They don't get any smarter with age."
Ava raised an eyebrow, smile playing around her lips. "You think the situation would be different if they were women?"
Jessica shrugged. "Probably, yeah. We tend to talk more instead of clamming up. If things fall apart around us, we speak up and try to get the situation back under control. Most dudes are apparently too dense to think of that. They just wait in silence and expect things to fix themselves, and if that doesn't happen, they'd rather sit back and watch their world burn to ashes before doing something as unthinkable as talking about their feelings."
Ava just smiled and glanced back at Carter. "Come on. Let's get the guy some cookies."
They started raiding the cupboards in search of comfort food, but after a few seconds, Jessica froze when her eyes fell on an expensive box of chocolates. She'd bought them for her mother's birthday. The birthday drawing inevitably closer. She pushed the box aside but didn't allow herself to ignore what it symbolized. She'd have to face her family sooner rather than later, unfortunately, but at least this time, she wouldn't have to do it alone.
"You know what I just remembered?" Jessica asked.
"Hm?"
"I still need to buy a present for my mother's birthday." Jessica closed another cupboard and turned to face Ava. "You're still coming with, right?"
Ava threw her a glance. "What? To your mother's birthday party?"
Jessica nodded. "Yeah. Didn't I tell you before?"
Ava shook her head and closed the cupboard door with a little too much force. "How could you forget to tell me something like that?" She sounded bewildered, on the verge of panicking. "Especially when I invited you to my mom's party just a while ago?
Jessica stepped closer. "Okay. First of all, you need to calm down. It's no big deal! You don't need to buy her anything or get dressed up. It's just a casual get-together with my parents and siblings. Secondly, I honestly think it's just an excuse on her part so she can meet you, anyway. Especially after I told her I get to meet your family soon."
Ava's eyes widened, terror written all over her face.
Jessica gulped. "You're not calming down right now, are you?"
Ava shook her head in silence.
"I'm really sorry. You wanna go present shopping with me?"
Ava didn't say anything. She just stared.
"I was thinking tickets to a musical? And maybe something small and decorative to make the gift bag a little heavier?" Jessica tried.
"When's the party?" Ava asked, voice low. She was visibly doing her best to hide her panic, but it still read clear in every line of her face.
"In two weeks."
"And it'll just be your mother, siblings, and us?"
"Yeah. Dad doesn't care for Mom's birthday."
Ava nodded to herself. "I can do that. I can totally do that. I'm gonna charm their pants off…No, wait, that'd be wrong and slightly disgusting. Not—not that your family is disgusting! I'm sure they're all beautiful! Except for your homophobic mom, maybe, but I mean, they're related to you—even her—and they all share part of your genes, so they must be good-looking—"
"Ava!" Jessica cut her off, grin tugging at her lips. "Relax. You'll be fine. I'll be with you the entire time. Just think about me meeting your family! It'll be good practice for both of us!"
Ava kept her lips pressed together and gave a small nod. Her eyes said well, none of my family members are homophobic like your mom…but her mouth remained shut.
Jessica shot her a small, hopefully reassuring smile and turned to the kitchen. "Now, let's check the rest of the cupboards. I could've sworn I saw some Oreos here earlier."