When Wren and Tristan arrived home from the party at the Bloom’s house, they were surprised - but not shocked - to find that Chase was already inside. In soft voices, they argued over who would do the consoling. Wren insisted Chase needed his mother’s comfort, but Tristan knew what his son really needed was a push in the right direction - right out the door and back home to his soon to be wife and unborn child.
Chase could hear his parents’ whispered conversation in the hallway and knew that they were talking about him and Eden, but he was too distressed to feel embarrassed. His pregnant fiance had left him standing on the porch like a fool after being humiliated by one of her family members, and maybe he deserved it a little, but he hated every inch of distance between them. Hated that he was sulking and waiting to be comforted by one or both of his parents, when he should be with her, fighting and loving their way through this.
“Move over, kid,” his father’s voice said, suddenly right by his side.
“Maybe I want to be alone,” Chase grumbled.
“If you wanted to be alone, you wouldn’t have come here, where you were guaranteed to be smothered with attention.” Tristan pushed at his shoulder and Chase gave up his half-hearted fight, shifting one cushion to the left. Tristan took the seat next to him, sitting down on the couch with a content sigh. “Just be lucky you got me and not your mother. She’s stress-baking a pie right now.”
“Jesus,” Chase said, laughing despite everything.
Tristan laughed too. “Don’t worry if you end up getting your head out of your ass and leaving before she finishes, though. I’ll be happy to eat it on your behalf.”
“Gee, thanks Dad, you’re the fucking best.” His tone may have been sarcastic, but the words were true.
“I know,” Tristan said happily. “So, you want to talk about what happened back there?”
Chase shook his head. “I don’t even know where to start.”
Chase sighed heavily. “You’ll think I’m a scumbag.”
“Did you hurt her?” Tristan asked sharply.
“No! Well, not physically. But I might have fucked her up emotionally.” He hung his head even lower, dragging his fingers through his hair in frustration. “God, I hate this.”
“Then what do you need to do to fix it?”
“Well, if you asked Eden, I’d need to get in a time machine to go back ten years and not sleep with Faith at Zelda’s wedding.” Tristan was quiet for a moment before letting out a quiet chuckle. Chase lifted his head quickly, glaring at his father. “I’m glad you think this is funny.”
“I don’t really, I’m just especially glad Wren’s not hearing this, now. So, I’m guessing Faith decided to reveal that little bit of information tonight?”
“Yeah,” Chase said glumly. “One minute, Eden and I were talking about sneaking away to – well…” He cleared his throat awkwardly, then moved on quickly. “And then Faith was there, talking about how great it was that it wasn’t awkward for the three of us to be standing together like a bunch of old pals, and how lucky we were that Eden wasn’t furious at us for sleeping together… which, of course, only made her fucking livid. She was acting like I had done this really shady thing by not telling her, but it happened so long ago that I had practically forgotten it had even happened in the first place! But of course, she remembers every single thing about that night, so now I’m the bad guy who can’t be trusted to do a single thing right. And she doesn’t want me around while she figures it out and… it kills me, dad. It fucking kills me.”
“Chase,” Tristan said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Eden loves you. She might be freaking out right now, but trust me, that last thing she wants is to be away from you right now. And I know it’s not what you want either.”
“No, it’s not. I hate being away from her for even a second… “
“So then what are you doing here?”
Chase smiled. “Guess I just needed a pep talk from my old man.”
“Well, consider yourself pepped. And I’m not old.”
“Really? Because your gray hair says otherwise…”
Tristan chuckled. “Get the hell out of here, kid. Go home where you belong.”
“Thanks, Dad. Enjoy the pie, and tell Mom I love her.”
