Young Writers Society

Karson sighed as he walked into the Lovetts’ kitchen and turned on a pot of coffee. Now that the immediate danger the Reneves posed was passed, he felt like the entire weight of the world was crashing down on him. All he wanted to do was to go back to last week, when he could sleep, and still had a job, and Sadie was her normal, sassy self. And his girlfriend wasn’t mad at him.

But that wasn’t going to happen, and Meyer needed sleep more than he did. Meyer spent the entire ride from the hut to the apartment clutching Sadie close to his chest, quietly begging her to wake up. Karson could hear his ragged breathing coming from their bedroom as Meyer went in and situated Sadie and came out with a tear-stained face. He promptly sent Meyer back to bed and told him to sleep.

Karson walk back into the living room and sat down in the recliner, letting his eyes trace the scarred surface of the coffee table. He’d been in the dark house for hours now, keeping watch in case anyone showed up that shouldn’t be there. It’d given him a lot of time to think.

His girlfriend, Ashlyn, wasn’t happy when he’d gone home for a few minutes to grab a few things before their meeting with Reneve. She’d followed him around the house cussing at him, accusing him of cheating on her because he hadn’t come home the night before. Karson figured another night on Meyer’s couch wouldn’t do anything to help his case.

He’d be surprised if Ashlyn didn’t break up with him before the week was through. He sighed and rubbed his face as he thought about it. He’d known it was bound to come sooner or later—he never stayed with the same girl more than a few months—but he didn’t have time for drama right now. But then again, he supposed it was just as well. He could get a fresh start with a new girl, in the Caribbean, if Resnick didn’t kill him in the next few days.

Karson wandered back into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee, then opened the pantry to find a snack. He looked down as his phone started vibrating. A picture of Ashlyn flashed across his screen as she called. He sighed and took a long drink of the hot liquid, considering ignoring the call. If they were going to break up, he’d rather it didn’t happen in a whispered argument at 3 in the morning.

Can’t run from it forever, he thought. He took a deep breath then answered the phone. “Hey, babe.”

“Where the fuck are you?”

Karson held the phone away from his ear as his girlfriend shouted into his ear. “At Meyer’s house.”

“Likely fucking story,” she snarled. “A second night in a row?”

“Yes,” Karson said gently. “I’m sorry, babe, but he needs me here.”

“And what if I need you? Hmm? You never think about what I need—you just do whatever Meyer fucking Lovett wants you to.”

“We’re friends—”

“Sounds more like you’re little fuck-buddies.” Karson heard Ashlyn slam something down, and it sounded like glass broke. He bit back a sigh. “Why don’t you just date Meyer? You certainly spend enough time with him.”

“You’re prettier.”

“Fuck you.”

“You’re better at that, too.”

“Yeah? Well you’re damn sure not going to do it anymore.” Something else broke. Karson flinched. It would be a mess to clean up, if he bothered going back home before they made their move. He doubted there’d be much reason to go back, with how this conversation was going.

“Baby, come on--”

“Don’t baby me,” she snarled. “I’m done with your shit! If you don’t want to be with me, that’s fine. I can find someone who does.”

“Babe, it’s like 3 in the morning,” Karson whispered, glancing at the clock displayed on the microwave screen. “I’d be sleeping if I was home… why are you even up?”

“I’m packing.”

Karson sighed. “This is it, then?”

“Want me to leave your shit in the yard or the shower?”

“Why not just leave it where it is?” A louder slam. It sounded like a shelf fell over, knocking other things over with it. Karson sighed again as he listened to what sounded like cloth ripping. “Babe?”

“We are so done.” The line went dead.

Karson flipped his phone off and slid it back into his pocket with a long sigh. He was so tired. Of being awake. Of being crappy at relationships. Karson always kind of prided himself with changing up who his girlfriend was every few months, even though he always stayed faithful to whoever it happened to be at the moment.

He’d mocked Meyer when he married Sadie. He didn’t understand why Meyer would want to be tied down to one woman. Sure, he’d always liked Sadie, and he always hoped she’d stick around for a while, but he’d never really thought about a relationship lasting as long as hers and Meyer’s had so far. Now, as he glared down into his coffee, a large part of him wished he had a girl he could look at like Meyer looked at Sadie.

Karson had never had a woman who could do anything worse to him than tossing his clothes in the yard. Again. He’d certainly never held any of his girls quite the same way that Meyer held Sadie. Sure, he’d hold his woman if she was crying and wanted him to cuddle her—but he did it more out of duty than because he really cared she was upset. He just figured consolation was part of taking care of a woman, the same as making sure she had food every day.

He’d never cried as he carried a girl to her bed, or felt as vulnerable as Meyer looked as he was begging Sadie to wake up. Karson rubbed his face, thinking hard. Maybe I should just keep hanging around the Lovetts for a while, until I figure out how to do this whole relationship thing right. Karson turned back towards the living room with his coffee, but stopped when he saw Meyer in the doorway.

Meyer cringed slightly as he stepped forward with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, man.”

Karson shrugged. “It’s okay… did I wake you up? I didn’t mean to—”

“No,” Meyer cut in. “I was awake before you started talking.”

“Oh.” Karson walked past him. “You should sleep more.”

“You should go home… see if you can calm your woman down.”

“Nah,” Karson shook his head. He sat down on the edge of the couch, and looked up as his friend slowly followed and sat in his recliner. Meyer looked at him in the dim light coming from the kitchen.

“It’s past an apology?”

“A bit.” Karson chuckled softly, humorlessly. He doubted anything short of a cruise and a ring could persuade Ashlyn to stay at this point. He stared down at the steam coming off his coffee.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Karson shrugged. “We were close to it anyway… I think she was just looking for an excuse to break it off.”

“It still sucks.”

Karson nodded. “Yup.”

The men sat in silence for several long minutes. For a moment, it almost felt like they were back in high school, all those years before. Meyer getting his first apartment several months before it was legal, after a fight came to blows with his old man and he suddenly found himself homeless. Karson finally getting fed up with his brother’s rules and running away from the court-appointed guardianship he’d suffered under for a while.

“Kailee was my fault, too, wasn’t she?” Meyer asked after a long moment.

Karson thought for a moment. He’d nearly forgotten about Kailee. She was his first serious girlfriend—the first one he’d ever gone all the way with. They broke up not long after Karson moved in with Meyer. She said Meyer was a bad influence and said she was going to break up with Karson if he didn’t stop hanging around him so much—turned out she was telling the truth.

“Kailee was your fault,” Karson agreed as he looked up from his coffee, trying to read something from Meyer’s expression. “Pity, too. I actually liked that one.”

Meyer smirked. “I didn’t. Too much of a goodie-two-shoes for my tastes.”

“I remember.” Meyer narrowed his eyes. “You were mean to that poor girl.”

“She wasn’t right for you.”

“Yeah.” Karson couldn’t argue there. Kailee was a goodie-two-shoes. She never would’ve stayed with Karson, not with the way his life had played out so far. It was just as well that their relationship ended when it did.

“Ashlyn wasn’t, either.” Meyer said as he stood up and stretched his back.

“Yeah,” Karson repeated. She wasn’t. Her best quality was her skill in the bedroom, and that wasn’t enough for a relationship. She was too shallow to actually talk to—and having a girl he could talk to was the main thing he’d ever wanted. “She was more fun than anything.”

“No time for fun anymore,” Meyer said thoughtfully.

“I know.”

“Sleep is good, though.” Meyer took a step towards him and patted his back. “You should get some rest… I’m good to take back over.”

“No, I’m okay,” Karson argued. “You should go lay back down with--”

“Really,” Meyer insisted. “I got sleep. Looks like that’s just what you need. Get some shut eye, Kars. I’ll wake you up if I need help—promise.”

Karson took a deep breath, then sighed. He was tired. His eyes felt gritty and were getting so heavy. He knew that he’d be much more useful, especially in a gun fight, if he got at least a couple hours of rest before the battle started. He nodded slowly. “Alright… you’re probably right.”

“I’m always right,” Meyer said with a smirk. “I was right about Kailee, I’m right about sleep, and I’m right about Ashlyn. You’ll see soon enough.”

“Eh, we’ll see,” Karson said gruffly, rolling his eyes. He laid down on the couch and pulled the small pink blanket over him that Sadie had supplied the night before. He hadn’t said anything about it, but he suspected she chose the most girly one she had, just because she could. He didn’t mind, even if it did kind of remind him of Ashlyn’s absurdly pink fashion choices.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to relax his tense muscles and calm his racing thoughts. Meyer walked past him once more, on the way back to the bed room. “I am sorry, though. I appreciate it.”

Karson cracked an eye open, but Meyer never slowed down. A moment later his dark figure disappeared into the bed room. Karson closed his eyes once more and pulled the blankets tighter around him, finding a sense of security in being wrapped up, even if it wasn’t in someone’s arms. Life is always better in the daylight.