Walking into my house, I prepared myself for another argument with my parents. I was ready to be grounded again, to hear another lecture, and to face my consequences. However, all of my preparation didn’t really prepare me for what I walked into. Upon entering the living area, my mother pulled in for a warm embrace. Instead brushing her off like I had done last night, I hugged her back. We didn’t say anything for a while and I’ll admit that I shed another tear or two, but when we pulled away my mother simply said “Men can be idiots sometimes.”

I laughed in return. My guess is that Ronnie probably told my mother what was going on with me when she visited her.

My mother sighed before saying “Parents can be idiots too.”

I shook my head. “You were right.” My voice sounded deadpanned, but that was only because I didn’t want to breakdown again.

“I usually am, but now’s not a time to brag about it.” She quipped which made me chuckle again.

“Are you and dad still fighting?” I asked shyly.

She sighed again; a pregnant pause followed after. “I love your father dearly.” She began. “What the two of us are going through will take time, and during these times of uncertainty we are bound to argue.”

I nodded. “So, no divorce?” I asked hesitantly.

“We’re trying couples therapy. Moira—Ronnie’s therapist—specializes in marriage counsel as well, so we’ve been seeing her.” She answered.

I smiled. “I can’t be mad at you if you’re trying.”

“I’m just happy you’re not mad at us. Verity, I’m sorry.” She apologized sincerely. “It’s just I wasn’t used to that side of you. You usually don’t involve yourself with relationships that it felt like you were changing on me too quickly.”

I was about to say something along the lines that assured my mother I wasn’t changing, but she continued to speak.

“Can you blame me for wanting you to be the same?” She asked rhetorically. “Your brother is living his own life, your sister is going through rehab, and your father…” She trailed off, allowing a few seconds of uninterrupted silence to pass over us. “I just didn’t want you to switch up because I wanted one thing to remain the same.”

Taking in my mother’s perspective, I could understand how she wanted her me to not deviate from my daily routine. I wasn’t the same Verity, and it was only realized now.

“Mom.” I sighed. “People have to change. It’s a part of growing up.”

She smiled at me, wiping away a tear that escaped from the brim of her eye. “I know that now, but it’s hard for a mother to let her babies grow up.”

“We can’t all be babies.” I pointed out.

She laughed which in return made me laugh. Whatever angst I held against my parents evaporated after this conversation.

---

The rest of the week was spent avoiding Tony, which incidentally was like avoiding Callie because Tony was always with Mike and Mike was always with Callie. Thankfully, Callie never took my lack of presence personally, for she knew the reason I’d rush into class or the library. Callie was quite aware of my feelings towards Tony, which at the moment, were quite muddled because there was a space in my heart that ached for him. I buried my face in books whenever I walked the hallways at school and I even took a few extra precautions of running into the girl’s bathroom whenever Tony looked in my direction. When Callie would come over to my house after school she’d tease me for “running away like a little bitch”. And as usual I’d roll my eyes at my best friend before she thoroughly updated me on hers and Mike’s relationship.

Saturday morning, after visiting Ronnie, I took a quick trip to The Lazy Duck—a weird coffee shop that obtained the best morning treats. I rarely came to The Lazy Duck, mostly because I never venture to this side of the city, but also because my parents always deemed this side of San Diego as a wasteland for misfits. I entered The Lazy Duck only to be greeted by a wave of metal music playing in the background. That was another thing about The Lazy Duck; it was pretty much the only coffee shop that didn’t play jazz or blues through the speakers. The owner, Oliver Sykes, was a UK born guy who came out here to make it in the music industry, but his dreams didn’t go according to plan. Now he’s a coffee enthusiast who indulges in metal music and breaking the rules of society’s “norms” when it comes to your average coffee shop.

“Verity, it’s been too long love.” Oli’s naturally strong British accent sounded over Coheed and Cambria’s song.

“Sure has.” I commented with a forced smile.

“Asshole’s Alarm and a scone?” He asked.

Did I mention that The Lazy Duck also features beverages with obscene yet hilarious names? Oli made it a point to have The Lazy Duck be completely different compared to other coffee lounges. I remember the first time coming here and literally fell in love with how brazen yet comical everything was.

“Yeah, and can you add a newspaper to that.” I chimed in while nodding to today’s news.

Swiping my bank card through the machine I heard my name being called from across the room. “Verity!” The voice said again.

I turned around to find Vic sitting at a small corner table with a laptop and textbook out. I smiled timidly at him before grabbing my order from Oli.

“Take care, love.” Oli said before helping his next customer.

Vic waved me over, motioning me to sit across of him. I walked over with hesitant steps before finally sitting in the wooden chair athwart from him.

“Hey Vic.” I smiled while pacing my cup at the edge of the table since Vic’s laptop and textbook took up half of the table.

“You come to The Lazy Duck often?” He asked while closing up his textbook and laptop to make room for my things.

“Not really.” I admitted. “This place is usually out of the way for me, but I was missing the strong coffee.” I added while holding up the Asshole’s Alarm.

Vic chuckled. “It does have its charm, huh?”

I laughed this time, wondering why Vic would want to spend time with me. Surly, Tony would have informed him of our current status, which was nonexistent.

“So, what are you doing here?” I asked, trying to make small talk.

“Homework.” He answered while pointing at the laptop and textbook. “This place usually helps me write out an essay quickly.”

Homework, that was neutral territory we could discuss without it getting awkward.

“What are you writing?” I asked.

“A psych paper that needs to be turned in by midnight tonight.” Vic replied sheepishly.

I laughed. “Well, at least with psychology you can always bullshit your way through an essay.”

“Yeah, I’m working on this theory I have—it’s a part of the assignment—we have to come up with a theory that can explain human behavior, and I chose to do mine on something I’ve been tinkering with for a while. It’s called ‘Disasterology’.” Vic explained.

“That sounds pretty interesting. What is disasterology?” I asked.

Vic smiled. “It was something I’ve noticed in every failed relationship I had.” He began. “It’s like you put all this effort in to create something beautiful with someone, and eventually this beautiful creation can be destroyed so easily. But it’s also about how we, meaning humans in general, tend to mess things up on purpose because at least the intentional ‘fuck up’ is easier to take than the unintentional act of fucking up.”

I blinked back at Vic, wondering if his explanation was meant to be implied to mines and Tony’s non-relationship, relationship. “That’s quite an explanation.” I commented blandly.

Vic’s eyes went big. “I didn’t mean to imply it towards you. It—I was just explaining my assignment, and—sorry.” Vic stumbled over his sincere apology.

I laughed while waving him off. “It’s nothing. I mean, your concept is really interesting.” I began. “So you know about me and Tony?” I asked hesitantly before lightly sipping on my drink.

Vic chuckled. “Tony can’t stop talking about you. It’s a little annoying.”

I smiled. “That sounds like an exaggeration.”

Vic shook his head. “Nope, that’s the truth. He repeatedly says how he fucked up yours and his relationship.”

I looked away from Vic and sighed.

“I know it’s not my place to say anything, but you should probably talk to him.” Vic said softly.

“And what would we say to each other besides circling around an argument we had Monday night.” I pointed out.

Vic smiled. “The fact that there’s still an argument to be made means that you two still have things you haven’t said to each other. Take it from a psychology major” He began with a joking attitude. “It’s better to work through disasterology rather than letting things remain destroyed.”

I smiled at Vic, coming to terms that he was right. I mean, if my parents—who were bounded by both law and religion—can try to work through their strife’s then I should be able to do the same as well.

Notes

Do I see a happy chapter on the horizon?

Haha thanks for reading guys, and I most likely won't update until tomorrow. Now I need to work on my other stories (the collabs).

Also I think imma delete my "On the Edge" story because I'm not happy with it.

Enjoy <3