beautifully broken:if i break 3(65)

“Her looks had a little something to do with it too,” he chuckles. I laugh, taking a sip of ice tea. Gosh, this guy is so different to how he’s been over the past couple of weeks. He’s actually funny, and dare I say charming, and not a total prick. He’s been telling stories and jokes for the past hour while Mrs. Scott cooked. I actually didn’t notice Chris had been gone as long as he had until I got a text from Lisa saying to call her ASAP.

“Excuse me,” I say getting up from the table but as I do Chris walks into the kitchen.

“Now we can eat!” his dad laughs. Chris smiles widely but it’s tight.

“I made your dad’s favorite. Pork chops and mashed potatoes,” Gwen says happily. All her food is Chris' favorite.

“Great,” he says, kissing her on the forehead and then he heads to the kitchen. I follow behind him.

“Soo, …” I ask, watching him wash his hands.

“What’s up?” he asks shortly.

“How did things go with Lisa?” He glances at me and I notice his eye twitches a bit.

“Did Lisa talk to you about what she needed to tell me?” he asks as he continues to wash his hands.

“Uh, no. I tried to get her to tell me but she wouldn’t,” I tell him, and he only nods.

“What happened?” I ask, noticing he’s still washing his hands.

“Oh, we’ll all talk about it after dinner. I think that’s best,” he says shortly, continuing to scrub his hands.

“I think your hands are clean enough,” I chuckle but he continues washing them, his eyes don’t leave his hands.

“Chris,” I say and notice he’s not even paying attention to me.

“Chris!” I say firmer and nudge him. His head snaps up at me.

“My bad,” he says turning off the water. He turns towards me and kisses me on the lips. It’s soft and sweet at first but then he starts grabbing my ass and backs me against the counter and lifts me on it. I push him away.

“Cal!?” I ask him frantically and he scoffs at me.

“Nope. I just always wanted to make out in the kitchen,” he shrugs.

“Your parents are right in the other room with our daughter,” I laugh and he grins at me, leaving me on the counter top extremely confused. I try to gather my thoughts when Aidan knocks at the kitchen door. I jump off the counter and open it. He’s standing there with his hands on his knees as if he ran all the way here.

“Are you okay?” I ask him, and he nods catching his breath.

“I-is Chris here yet?” he manages to pant out.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” I ask him hesitantly.

“She told him. Has he gone crazy yet?” he asks.

“Uh no. He’s sitting at the table with his parents,” I tell him and Aidan’s eyes widen.

“What happened?” I ask him firmly.

“Aidan sweetie. You’re just in time for dinner. Come join us,” Mrs. Scott says as she gestures toward the dining room.

“Come on before the food gets cold,” she says adamantly. We follow her from the kitchen. I glance back at Aidan for some type of hint about what is happening but he doesn’t give me any. His anxious energy doesn’t make me feel good.

“Aidan, I’m so glad you’re here. I know you wouldn’t want to miss this,” Chris says playfully, but something is off.

Really off.

“Can I talk to you a minute Chris?”

“Sure. After dinner,” he says.

Dinner started off weird but as it goes on everything seems fine, perfect actually. The food is great as always. Chris and his parents tell us stories about them over the years. Except whenever they pull Aidan into a conversation his answers are short and he stays unusually quiet.

“Is everyone done? I’ll gather the plates. Would anyone like some wine?” Mrs. Scott says, standing up from her seat.

“Oh no, mom, sit down for a minute. I’ve got a story everyone is going to love. We’ll see if you all remember it,” Chris says happily. I can’t help but notice Aidan’s put his head down.

“Here we go,” Aidan mutters.

“So this was about...I can’t even say how many years ago. I think about nine or ten actually. God doesn’t time fly?” he starts, and I can’t help but notice how animated he is.

“Well, anyway. You went out of town to visit Aunt Clara,” he says, turning towards his mom, “and I was staying at Shawn Clarkson's house to help him set up for his sister's sweet sixteen. I kind of had a crush on her back then.” He laughs and Gwen does the same but I notice Mr. Scott is sitting perfectly still, the color has almost has drained from his face.