·what do you say do you do when it all comes down·

[❀ Melíssa]

      Chelsea turned the corner, hoping this room would be the one in which she’d locate her boyfriend. She could never understand how every single person in Queens knew each other and seemed to occupy the same house every weekend. “This is the last time I go to a party on Long Island,” she muttered as she scanned the crowd. “I’ll never leave Manhattan again.”
      Unfortunately, part of Manhattan was at the party too. She spotted Axel plucking two beers from a cooler and then looking around in front of him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket – probably to text her – and bumped into someone.
      It was Gavin.
      She watched as the two exchanged hellos and what appeared to be small talk. Picking her way towards them, she tried to get Axel’s attention, eventually reaching for her own phone and dialing his number. A moment passed before he looked down at his screen, saying something to Gavin and answering it.
      “Where are you?” he asked.
      “Coming toward you,” she replied, waving from across the apartment. “I’ve been trying to catch up to you for like, five minutes.”
      “I know, this party is insane – there are at least a hundred more people here than I expected. Oh, hey, ran into Gavin.”
      “Yeah, I see him over there,” she waved before pushing through group of guys debating the hotness of a girl on the other side of the room. Closing in on the guys, she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Hey guys,” she accepted a beer from Axel.
      “How the hell did you guys get separated?” Gavin asked.
      “Bathroom line,” she explained. “I told him not to wait.”
      “So I wandered,” Axel shrugged.
      “Hmmm,” Gavin mused. “If it were me, I probably would have waited with you.”
      “Well that seemed a little counter-productive for us to both just stand there. I was the only one who had to go,” Chelsea said defiantly.
      “Yeah, this way I could grab us some drinks.”
      “I’ve waited in quite a few bathroom lines over the years,” Gavin looked pointedly at Chelsea. “And I’m pretty sure there were still drinks left over when we go to them.”
      “I don’t recall anyone ever asking you to wait.”
      “The way I remember it, not one told me not to.”
      Axel followed Chelsea’s glare, his eyes lighting on Gavin. “Dude, what’s your deal? It’s a line to take a piss, not a farewell flight to ‘Nam.”
      “I’m just saying, seems Chelsea prefers more space from you than from other people,” he shrugged, sipping at his own beer.
      “Other people like who? You?” Axel took a step towards him.
      “Oh, so she told you?”
      “Told me what? That it was nothing? That it meant nothing?”
      Gavin smirked. “She sure kept coming back a whole lot for nothing. Tell me, has she told the way she likes – ”
      “Okay!” Chelsea jumped in. “Does any of this really matter?”
      His hand going intimately to her hip, Axel said, “Frankly, yes, I think it does. Apparently someone is a little hung up on the past and needs to wake up.”
      “The past? You better check your timeline again,” Gavin leaned casually against the counter.
      “What’s the supposed to mean?”
      “I’m just saying, I’m pretty sure I was still hitting that after you came into the picture.”
      “ ‘Hitting that?’ “ Chelsea exploded, as she got hit with a spray of beer. Axel had knocked Gavin to the floor and thrown several punches at his face.
      “Fight!” came the inevitable shouts from the other room as party-goers struggled to see through the doorway.
      “Axel, stop! Gavin, just… stop!” Chelsea scrambled to simultaneously pull Axel up and push Gavin away with his foot. She interfered just enough to allow Gavin to get a few shots in.
      “Fuck you!” Axel shouted, returning the hit.
      “Can’t deal with the truth?” Gavin spat back. “You mad that your girl wanted to get laid by someone else?”
      “Gavin, shut up!” Chelsea cried. “It was three times!”
      “I think it was more than that, honey.”
      “Wait, he’s not bullshitting?” Axel pushed Gavin off of him and jumped to his feet in front of Chelsea. Instinctively, she put one arm up in front of her and cringed. “And why do you do that, why do you act like I’m about to hit you all the time?”
      “He doesn’t know about the psycho ex?” Gavin spoke incredulously from the floor, gingerly touching his lower lip. His fingers came away with blood.
      “Wait, what?” Axel looked back and forth from Chelsea’s stricken face to Gavin. The onlookers realized that the fight was over and drifted away.
      Chelsea watched the wheels start to turn in Axel’s head as he worked through his own thoughts. While she waited for him to come to a conclusion, she reached for the napkins, throwing one at Gavin and using the other to dab at Axel’s upper lip and eyebrow. He gestured as he talked to himself.
      “Psycho ex… always flinching…” his eyes landed on hers as it all fell into place. “Chels, did he…?” When she nodded silently, he pulled her into his arms. “I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”
      “It’s not something I just bring up in everyday conversation.”
      Axel sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “We’ve had more than everyday conversations.”
      “I suppose we should talk about it then, huh?” Chelsea said quietly. “Get up Gavin. Let’s go up to the roof.”
      “Why is he invited?”
      “I’ve known him since I was born, and he was there to see a lot of things. He might have to fill in some blanks; there is a lot that I’ve blocked out,” she took Axel’s hand and led him from the room, Gavin in tow. Once they located the fire escape window, Axel held the sash for Chelsea to climb through, following.
      The three of them stood near the edge of the roof, leaning on the wall. Chelsea shared the details of the time spent with her last boyfriend. Gavin did supply a multitude of details, some of which Chelsea had, in fact, repressed, and some that she just couldn’t bring herself to say, like the circumstances surrounding her first time.
      “And for the record, the only reason I continued to sleep with Gavin on the side is because he was safe. He couldn’t hurt me. The longer I waited to sleep with you, the longer I could put off becoming serious. The more serious we got, the more I made you able to hurt me,” she wiped away tears.
      “I’m not going to hu – ”
      “Don’t. It’s an empty promise to my ears, no matter who says it.”
      “For real Chels, when were you going to tell me about all this?”
      “Honestly, I would have gone forever without talking about this.”
      “That’s one hell of a secret to keep.”
      “Don’t you get it?” Gavin interrupted. “Keeping secrets is what allowed it to go on for so long.”
      “He has a point,” Axel said.
      “It’s my story to tell, isn’t it? Both of you back off. It’s out there now, so can we drop it?”
      “Fine, fine,” Gavin held up his hands in surrender.
      “Can we just go?” Chelsea asked, defeated.
      Taking her hand, Axel led her back to the fire escape. They climbed down, bypassing the floor where the party was and saying goodbye to Gavin as he re-entered. As they reached the ground and began walking, Axel groaned.
      “What’s wrong?”
      “You couldn’t pick anyone else to sleep with other than him?”
      Chelsea rolled her eyes as she kissed his cut lip softly. “You guys are going to fight again one day, aren’t you?”
      “Probably,” he chuckled, throwing his arm across her shoulders as they strolled casually toward the subway.