FYI several people in the courtroom commented on how fashion conscious you were in that shirt
the old lady was DROOLING over you
youre welcome <3
Baz shook his head, chuckled even, while rolling his eyes.Ridiculous much.
He saved the number underAnnoying Stalker.Who knew when it might come in handy again.
Baz bobbed a pencil between two fingers, slumping into his office chair.Something about Sami being the bigger person today didn’t sit right with him.Likely the part where Baz had failed to do the same, the part where he had blown up at Eevee and stormed out instead of hearing her out.
He was better than that.Hell, he wanted to be better than that.And if Sami-fucking-Adam could come through for him in a moment of need…
Baz had some making up to do.
The tree-lined streets of Hyde Park felt like home.For nearly ten years, they had been.Him, Eevee, and Joel, all working shitty jobs to cover the rent of their two-bedroom apartment; Joel’s parents had chipped in when necessary, which it barely ever was.The three of them always made do.None of it would have been necessary if Jack hadn’t been the worst father ever, but that wasn’t the part of the story Baz chose to focus on today, for Eevee’s sake.
He parked in his usual spot, under the tree with the low hanging vines and rugged bark, right in front of their building.
He knocked on the door of apartment 4c instead of using the key Eevee had refused to take back; no good negotiation ever began with an ambush.
Joel opened up in no time, dressed in a black crew neck and dark gray sweatpants.“Oh, thank god.I’m so glad you’re here, man.”
Now there was a greeting Baz could get used to.
“Hey.Is she here?”
“Living room.I was about to call you myself to get y’all to stop sulking.”
An arrow pierced through Baz’s heart.Not just him who’d had a rough weekend, then.Hurting Eevee was never acceptable, no matter how little Baz thought of her choices.
She sat with her knees pulled to her chest on the worn-out brown leather couch that they had hoisted up the four flights of stairs years ago, full of memories and snack remnants of their many movie nights.Eevee stared at the rustling trees dancing in the wind on the other side of the window.
“Hi,” Baz tried.
Her eyes flicked to him for less than a heartbeat.She curled tighter into herself.
“Hello.”
Silence.
“I’ll give you two a moment.”With that, Joel disappeared into the kitchen.Out of sight, albeit in full earshot thanks to the paper-thin walls, but the intention was noble.
Baz shifted his weight to his right foot; the dark wood creaked and wobbled underneath him.The wedding picture on the side table shimmered gray with the dust sitting on top of it.
“If I hadn’t told you and you’d found out later, you’d be just as mad,” Eevee declared then.Oh, gee, if only there was a way out of that dilemma.Like not succumbing to Jack Hadley’s toxicity again in the first place.
Aya’s voice echoed in his mind:Are you really gonna let him come between you now?The answer was no.Baz forced the budding anger down.
“Are you sure talking to Jack is a good idea?”
Eevee jumped to her feet.“I’m sorry you’re upset, but I’m a grown woman, Baz!I get to talk to whoever I want, whether my little brother approves or not.”
Why did everyone feel the need to remind him of that?This wasn’t about pleasing him or stripping Eevee of her autonomy, it was about self-preservation.
“I know.But I don’t want him to hurt you again the way he did before.”
“He won’t.Because I’m not a sixteen-year-old kid who depends on him anymore, and neither are you.He has no power over us unless we give it to him.You think I would have accepted his call if I didn’t know for a fact that my life is so good that nothing he says will ruin it?”
