CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Gabe finished texting Sadie back and looked over at Krystal.
“Okay, you’ve been staring at me for like ten minutes,” he said. “What’s up?”
“I guess...I’ve been trying to figure you out,” she replied. Then frowned, shook her head a little. “No, that’s not quite right. I mean...ugh, I don’t know how to word this without sounding like a bitch.”
“Then sound like a bitch, I can discipline you if it’s too much.”
She leaned forward a little. “You can fucking try.” He smiled at her. She sighed and sat back on the sofa. “Like that, right there. Fucking…” She trailed off, looking momentarily lost in thought again.
Gabe let her think as Sadie replied. She evidently wanted in on this little viewing party they were going to have tonight.
He and Krystal sat across from each other in their living room, waiting for Ellen to finish getting ready and for Emily to show up.
It was almost time for their dynamic date.
“Okay,” Krystal said. “Fine. I’ve just been sitting here thinking of all your accomplishments.
And it just feels so bizarre. Like one or even a couple of them I could accept, but you did all this shit.
Taming fucking Ellen. Pulling Holly and Chloe.
Taming fucking me. Sleeping with not one, but two functional lesbians, and getting one of them willingly pregnant.
Being a successful indie author. All at fucking twenty six. ”
“Are you disparaging our man?” Ellen asked as she walked into the room.
“No,” Krystal replied. “Just...wondering.”
“I mean, it’s a fair question,” Gabe replied. “There wasn’t really anything about my life or me that indicated I was capable of all of this.”
“There was definitely something,” Ellen said, sitting down next to him.
He was experiencing a bit of surprise as he’d expected her to come down in a dress or something, (though he wasn’t sure why), but she had thrown on a pair of old jeans and a hoodie.
“I could sense it when we first started talking. I mean it was the spark, yeah, but more than that. Just this...immediate connection. Like I felt like you understood what I was saying in some way that most everyone else didn’t.
Which is weird because that sounds like an intellectual thing but it wasn’t at all, we were just talking about whatever. It was the emotional understanding.”
“If you had to guess, what would you say?” Krystal asked, looking back to him.
“If I had to put together a legitimate guess, I’d say it’s a combination of emotional intelligence, patience, and extreme luck. Also, I think, a lack of trying to control any of you.”
“You wouldn’t survive that,” Krystal replied, laughing.
“No, I would not.”
“That’s actually a really big factor for me,” Ellen said.
“You never tried to make me do anything, you never tried to trick me into doing anything, or make deals with me. You just asked, and if I didn’t want to–and it wasn’t something big and important that required further conversation–you were just like ‘okay’.
You just accepted it, and also you didn’t make me feel guilty about it. ”
“I’m still fucking shocked by how many people do not do this,” Krystal said, losing her smile. “And I know I’m fucking guilty of it, but Liz definitely trained me out of it...hmm. I guess maybe it’s because people don’t really realize they’re doing it.”
“I think it’s closer to so many people think it’s just a natural part of a relationship,” Gabe offered.
“Yes,” Ellen said, and Krystal nodded. “So much shit gets packaged with ‘a relationship’ that people just take for granted it’ll be part of it. Yelling, insulting each other, cold shoulder, manipulation, it’s so common that people think it’s supposed to be there. But it isn’t, really.”
“Too many people confuse arguing with debating,” Gabe said. “I don’t really know why I had this shit figured out. Maybe because I was trying to be a writer, so I was thinking about it a lot more? It sure didn’t come from people around me, I know that much.”
“Wherever it came from, we can now all reap the benefits of it,” Ellen said.
“Yes, the many, many benefits,” Krystal agreed with a smile that almost felt threatening.
“You are in a fucking mood, seriously,” Gabe said.
“I really am.”
They looked over as they heard a car door shut. Ellen got to her feet. “I think she’s here.”
“Oh my God,” Krystal said, laughing.
“What?” Ellen asked, saw she was looking at Gabe, then looked at him as well. He was staring up at her, feeling that sense of lusty awe he sometimes got flooded with when Ellen’s immense height was made apparent to him. She smiled, amused. “Can I help you, dear?”
“Um...I’m good,” he murmured.
Ellen laughed and headed for the front door as they heard a knock.
“Man, you really are just absolutely into her height,” Krystal said.
“Oh yes, I am. It’s definitely going to be the same for Liz and her muscles. Or you and your tats.”
“Hmm. I’ve been thinking about getting more. Like all down one arm? Would you be into that?”
“I would be so into that. Emily’s tattoo sleeves are so wicked hot.”
“I definitely lucked out there. Liz thinks they’re kinda cool, but I think she’s more neutral on them. Which is fine. Most everyone before her was the same or didn’t like them. You’re not gonna hit me with ‘but they’ll look bad when you get old!’ shit?”
“Fuck no. I mean, we’ll be old, it’ll all look bad on a long enough timeline,” he replied.
“That’s honestly exactly how I feel about it. Okay, I am so getting a big new tattoo sometime soon.”
“Look who’s here,” Ellen said, coming back into the living room with Emily.
“Wow, this place is fucking nice,” Emily muttered, looking around. Her gaze centered on him. “And it’s fucking crazy how different you look.”
“Everyone keeps saying that,” he replied.
“Because it’s true. I mean, it’s a glow up or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays, but it’s also like an emotional one, too. It’s awesome to see.”
“Is it?”
“Duh! I knew guys like you back in school and I tried dating a few and I mean, it was mixed results, but it was always like...the shy, awkward, sensitive guys honestly had so much potential. Like if they could have just gotten past that shyness and found even a bit of confidence, it would change their life. And I saw it happen sometimes, but it was rare. It was also dangerous, because they might overcorrect hard into asshole territory. I saw that, too. But you are kind of like a fully realized version of yourself now and you really deserve that happiness.”
“Dunno about that,” Gabe replied.
“Okay,” Ellen said briskly, “let’s get going before we fall into that particular conversation pit because I know Krystal won’t be able to help herself.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Krystal replied, getting up.
“I’m happy to go,” Gabe said, joining them.
“Excellent. Let’s begin our dynamic date,” Ellen said, shooing them towards the front door.
…
They took Ellen’s car and Gabe found himself in the back with Emily, who was looking particularly good in her formfitting black tanktop and brown cargo pants.
She had her head in his lap and was grinning up at him.
“So, I’ve got a question,” he said, running his fingers through her dark hair. “How did you all actually meet?”
“Oh boy,” Emily muttered, looking away and blushing, as both Ellen and Krystal began laughing.
“Interesting,” Gabe said.
“A bit,” Ellen replied. “More embarrassing. I’ll put it off a little bit.
So, me and Krystal knew each other first. We met in middle school.
Got sat next to each other at the beginning of the year and kind of just hit it off immediately.
We bonded over hating girly things and teasing boys.
We were pretty inseparable. And then tenth grade happened… ”
“This is so embarrassing,” Emily groaned.
“I’m pretty curious,” Gabe replied.
“Like a month into school, Emily tried to fight me,” Krystal said.
“Like actual fight?” he asked.
“Yeah, like a fistfight. She shoved me in the parking lot after school when I was heading home, she was so fucking pissed off. She was seeing red.”
“I have apologized like a million times,” Emily said firmly.
“I know, and I forgave you. She thought I had stolen her boyfriend. She was madly in love with her boy and he’d suddenly broken up with her after a few months.
They’d started dating over summer. And yeah, he just broke up with her and was suddenly with this new chick.
Which I am sorry you had to put up with that. ”
“It was such bullshit,” Emily muttered. “I was still so fucking pissed-it was the day of. He’d broken up with me in the morning, just before school. Kinda just ‘sorry babe, it’s not working out, I’m breaking up with you’, and that was it.”
“Jeez,” Gabe said.
“Yeah, it sucked so hard. I really thought it was going well. I mean, looking back, it was just a high school relationship, nothing particularly special. But at the time he felt like my world. But it was this bitch Christi. She was a redhead, kind of the same build as Krystal. And just...I was so sad and confused for the first half of the day. I remember thinking–hoping, really–that it was a prank or something? But then I saw him with this bitch at lunch and she was all up on him, and I wasn’t particularly coherent for the rest of the day. ”
“I’m really sorry, Em,” Gabe murmured, taking one of her hands. “That shit hits so fucking hard.”
“It does, and it did. Especially for me. I know teens are all crazy hormonal or whatever, but I was even more than that. But yeah, so, anyway. I was out of it with rage and I thought Krystal was her. Luckily, Ellen was there and seeing her kinda...snapped me out of it enough to listen.”
“How tall were you then?” Gabe asked.
“Like six three,” she replied.
“Man. You had to be so intimidating.”
“I was always intimidating. Anyway, continue.”
“So I calmed down, and it didn’t take too long for me to realize I was going after the wrong person.
And I was really embarrassed, and still really pissed, and once they actually understood the situation, they offered to take me on a girls’ night at the mall.
Although I’d have to drive, because I was the only one with a car at the time.
And that...threw me into such a bizarre headspace.
“And I had this insane moment of clarity that was realizing: okay, I can either do something stupid and maybe get expelled or thrown in juvie, I can go home and cry and be miserable all night, or I can hang out with these two girls, who actually seem really cool. And that sounds so fucking obvious, but in the moment I wanted nothing more than to do that first one or resign myself to the second one. So we went to the mall and became best friends.”
“Man, that’s amazing,” Gabe said. “Why’d you do it?”
“Because I had been there at the end of last year,” Krystal replied. “I was with this guy and he dumped me the moment some rich bitch prep batted her eyelashes at him.”
“...wait, so should I be worried about hurting you with what I’m doing with Stacy?” he asked.
“What? No. I’m way over it. Believe me, I’d tell you if I had baggage over her.”
“Okay, but would you really though?”
“He has a point,” Ellen murmured.
Krystal growled. “Whatever. I would. Or, well, put it this way, Gabe, you little fucking prick,” she said, twisting around to glare at him, “you’d be able to tell because of your fucking mind-reading abilities.”
“She has a point,” Ellen said.
“Thank fuck I don’t have actual mind-reading abilities,” he replied. “But you do indeed have a point.”
“Well, that’s how we met,” Emily said. “And Ellen and Krystal have been super cool to me ever since.”
“Did your ex ever come crawling back?” Gabe asked.
She snorted. “Yeah. Like two weeks later. God. I was so fucking pissed at his dumbass. We actually had something great but he threw it away like garbage just so that he could fuck around with miss bitch who was obviously going to flick him away after she was done picking her teeth with him. And if these two hadn’t been there backing me up, I might’ve been stupid enough to take him back.
As it was, Ellen scared the shit out of him. ”
“Oh shit, what happened?”
“He wanted to meet after school, to talk. I already knew they’d broken up.
Heard it in the rumor mill. I went, but Ellen and Krystal insisted on sticking around out of sight, watching in case things went south.
Thank fucking shit. He showed up with the sad eyes, begging me to take him back because he’d fucked up.
He tried to sell it like he’d broken up with her to get back with me, but I could already tell that was bullshit.
I said no. He kept begging. I kept saying no. He got angry, grabbed my wrist.”
“Shit,” Gabe murmured.
“Yep. Ellen was already walking over because I guess she could tell it was gonna go bad. She shouted ‘hey!’ at him and he spun around, looking pissed and ready to fight, but that stopped really quickly when he saw her marching up to him.”
“Oh my God, I’ve never seen someone go from pissed to terrified so fast. It was like split-second,” Ellen said. “And Krystal can be pretty menacing when she wants to be.”
“I might have flashed a switchblade,” Krystal said.
“What have you gotten yourself into?” Emily murmured, smirking up at him.
“The absolute paradise of surrounding myself with women who are past their crazy phases, but haven’t completely left them behind, so I get a perfect balance of getting to stick my dick in crazy, without any of the drawbacks,” he replied.
“That’s not wrong,” Ellen murmured.
“So that’s how we all met,” Emily said.
“Good, if sad, story. Where are we actually going, anyway?”
“A place called The Expo,” Ellen replied. “It’s in the next town over. Have you heard of it?”
“I think maybe a once or twice, but I don’t have any familiarity with it.”
“You will after today,” she said, and pulled onto the highway.