Fleur POV

This morning, I woke up feeling slightly hopeful. I guess crying really does get the sad out. It did help that Justin let me unload everything and at the same time didn't push beyond that. One of the positive things of us having so much in common is we can understand when one another has reached their limit. I know there's that whole "opposites attract" deal, but having a lot in common can also be good, I think. It's a sense of familiarity for me, that helps me feel at ease.

Anyway, after face-timing with my mom and dad and having another small crying session, Justin and I are on our way to the restaurant Max will be meeting us at. He's taken it upon himself to be the designated driver and I'm relieved. My emotions are everywhere and I should probably not be behind a wheel till I get them in check. We hadn't seen much of this small city last night since we arrived when it was already dark, but now that it's daytime I can see the appeal. It seems cozy almost. The view of the Rockies ahead of everything in the back is enchanting. I can see why people love it here.

Before I know it, Justin is turning into a parking lot and I am pushed out of my own thoughts to observe the building in front of me. This place looks like it's been here forever, always a good sign that a restaurant has survived this long. I glance around the parking lot and see only a handful of vehicles. Maybe people around here aren't too keen on brunch? Or maybe it's because it's mid morning on a Thursday and people are already out working and whatnot. I should probably stop caring so much about irrelevant matters right now. It was a nice little escape though.

Justin helps me out of the car and guides me into the restaurant with his hand resting on the small of my back. He's been extra delicate with me since last night, like I'm a wounded bird. It's kind of cute and adds to the list of reasons I am happy he came with me.

As soon as we step inside the restaurant I look around to see if Maxwell is here. When my eyes reach one side of the restaurant, I notice a somewhat large figure in the corner and realize it is him sitting at a booth in the corner. He's not alone, though. There's an even larger figure sitting across from him, but I'm unsure which person it is from last night. I only glanced at a handful of them, but something inside is telling me it's the mesmerizing guy that was guarding the door. The one who looks too perfect for this world.

Wow Fleur... Way to be that hormonal teen girl again. Snap out of it!

Max quickly notices us making our way to him and says something to the person he's with. Once we get closer, the person turns his head over his shoulders and I have confirmation that it is indeed the beautiful man that made me feel a little weird in the chest by looking at him. He does a quick scan of me and my insecure self wishes I were invisible. I slept like shit, which means I probably look like shit too. I decided to skip makeup this morning mostly because I spent a lot of time lazing around and talking to my parents, but also because I will probably cry and will mess it up anyway. I try not to let his look intimidate me, but his gaze, no matter how short it is, makes me feel like he's trying to put a puzzle together. Too bad there's not much mystery to me. He'll be disappointed to find out, not like he'd be the type that cares anyway. He's probably got every female with eyes falling at his feet. That thought makes my heart drop a little. I feel stupid for feeling something like that for someone I don't even know.

Okay can someone PLEASE take these hormones away from me?

His gaze leaves mine and goes to Justin's and for a split second it looks like there's a small scowl coming from him. He immediately turns his head back and I'm sure it was probably me just seeing things. I look back at Max and see that he has a small, sad smile on his lips. He doesn't look like he had a very good night either. Gee, I wonder why? Sometimes I forget that others are living through so much as well. Of course he had a bad night! He just learned he had a spawn roaming the earth and knew nothing about it!

As we get near the booth, Max stands up as well as his....friend? I don't know their relationship, but I guess today is as good as any to find out. Not that I'm curious who this person is or anything...

"Hello..Fleur," he says, still having a hard time saying my name out loud I guess. "I'm glad you made it." There is a hint of relief in his voice, as if he thought we were going to bail today. He probably doesn't trust easily, and with what he just encountered, it may be affected even more. "Hi. I'm...uh...Max," he says while looking at Justin next to me with his hand out. Justin, being the well mannered young man I know his mom raised is quick to reciprocate and bring his hand to Max's.

"I'm Justin, Fleur's boyfriend. It's nice to meet you, sir."

Wait...WHAT?

I'm not sure if any of the three guys around me noticed, but I'm sure my eyes were about to pop out of my head. Boyfriend? I remember us trying things out, but we never discussed actually being labelled as anything. I quickly try to regain my composure and drop my eyes down to my feet while I feel Justin's other hand wrap around my waist. What is he trying to do? Aren't dad's supposed to hate 'boyfriends'? Even though he's not really my dad-dad I can't imagine this going over well with him. I see the other guy's hands next to me and weirdly they are clenched into tight fists right now. I wonder why that is...

"Oh, well...it's nice to meet you, Justin," Max quickly lets out. "This is my enf-..friend, Tank." My eyes, for some reason, dart up to this Tank person as soon as Max says his name. Tank? That can NOT be his real name. I wonder what it really is? I also wonder why he goes by Tank. When my eyes shot up to his face, his were trained on Justin next to me. He does not look happy to see Justin here. Justin, again with his polite self reaches his hand out to this Tank person.

"Tank, interesting name," Justin chuckles lowly. "Nice to meet you." His hand is still hanging out and Tank's eyes are still focusing on Justin, like he's trying to figure him out as well. For a moment I was worried, but after a second, but what felt like minutes, Tank's hand reaches out to shake Justin's. I notice that Tank squeezes poor Justin's hand and I hear a low gasp come from Justin's mouth. Is that supposed to be a power move or something? Maybe it's some sort of universal guy thing. I don't know. I don't get out enough.

For a moment, I feel slightly left out that this Tank guy shook Justin's hand and kept a firm gaze on him, but next thing I know his eyes turn to me and he holds his hand out to greet me. Internally, I am code red...completely set ablaze, and I have no clue why this is freaking me out. Externally, I hope I am coming off as completely normal and not at all a wreck. I slowly reach out to shake his hand and the second mine reaches his, he slowly grasps it. If his handshake with Justin was rough and firm, it's the complete opposite with me. He shakes my hand like mine is made of porcelain. While I feel the rough texture of his hands, I also feel a warmth that spreads all the way down to my stomach. I give a small nod with the handshake because I'm sure my voice will fail me. Letting go felt just as weird, I can't really explain. I don't know if I like the feeling or not, I just know I should probably not be near this Tank person. He makes my insides feel like they are going haywire. The fact that I don't know if it's a good or bad feeling scares me.

I look back to Max who is gesturing for Tank to sit next to him so Justin and I can share a side. Justin slides in first so I can be right across from Max. We sit there for a few moments in silence, awkward silence might I add before Max hands Justin and I a menu. I'm trying to concentrate and read the menu, but my mind has so many questions right now. What should I ask Max? Who is this Tank person? Why the hell did Justin call himself my boyfriend? It's tough to choose between an omelette and french toast with these questions swirling around. I hear the shuffling of someone heading our way before they stand before us.

"Morning Ghost. Do you and your lot know what y'all want to drink?" says a slightly older lady with dirty blond hair highlighted with some gray and white. It takes me a moment before my mind asks 'Who the hell is Ghost?'

"We'll just have some coffee and water all around. Thanks Pam," he says huskily to the waitress and she nods and walks away quickly. "I hope that's okay with you. I don't know if you're the coffee drinking type," he says to me. It takes me another second to realize he was talking to me till I look up at him and nod.

"Why did she call you Ghost?" I ask immediately. I guess the other questions are filling my head too much that this one needed to be let out immediately. I'm only human, I get foot in mouth disease on occasion.

Max looks at me with a small smirk and says, "Oh, it's just a nickname," in an almost shy manner. That kind of demeanor seems almost foreign on him. Then again, I don't really know the guy.

I mouth a small 'oh' and nod my head and go back to my menu. A moment later, the waitress Max called 'Pam' comes with a tray of coffee, water, and a small metal pitcher filled with cream. I'm an occasional coffee drinker and lots of cream and sugar are the only way I can handle it. With the night I had, I am very much thankful for this bitter delight.

"Alrighty, what can I getcha today lady and fellas?" she says. She looks at me first and I opt for a spinach and mushroom omelette while Justin asks for some sort of egg plate with Max or 'Ghost' getting the same as him. When it gets to Tank he declines and asks for an extra coffee when she gets the chance. Listening to his voice does something to me. It's a little soft, but it has the power to be commanding to whomever he may give orders to. I kind of like it, and I feel the heat rushing to my cheeks just thinking about it. As much as I want to look his way, I know it would be in very poor taste to be ogling some older guy that I don't even know while my self proclaimed 'boyfriend' is next to me. Now I feel guilty for kind of neglecting Justin since he told Max what he was to me. We're still close friends, and maybe he has a logical explanation for his actions. With that, I grab his hand under the table and give it a light squeeze.

No matter what happens, he's still my friend.

"So...Fleur," Max says, gaining my full attention. I mentally face-palm because I should be thinking of only him. He's the reason I'm here. He deserves my full attention. "Tell me a little about yourself." This is always my least favorite part. It's like the first day of school when there's that one teacher that makes you introduce yourself to the class and tell them your life. Like the class hasn't known one another forever or anything...ugh.

"Well, um...I just turned 18 on the 15th of May, I plan on going to University of Oregon in the fall cause it's only a couple hours away from where I live now." He's staring at me intently and his eyes urging me to give him more information. The eagerness I see in them makes me feel a little happy inside. "I don't know...uh....I like the beach and hanging with the few close friends I have: Justin, Jasmine, and Brandon. I bake a lot with my mom and like to help my dad with his work projects sometimes. He's an architect so he let's me help with his models..." I start going off. When I mention my mom and dad I don't miss the slight wince and pain in his face. Especially when I talk about my dad. I feel guilty, but at the same time I'm not sure what else to say. They did raise me...

After a short pause he clears his throat and speaks up again. "What are you going to school for?" Ah, a question I loathe, only because I am going in as undecided and my parents are already giving me a bit of grief for it.

"I don't know yet," I say while hanging my head low. I don't know why I'm waiting to be scolded by him. I guess I assume that in all adults. To my luck, it never came.

He chuckles lowly and says, "that's alright. You have plenty of time to figure out what you really want." I look back up to him in awe. Why couldn't my own parents see this? It's not like I don't want to be indecisive, I just don't believe I've grown enough to know for sure what I want to do for the rest of my life.

"But you should decide soon, Flo." Justin chimes in. One difference we do have is that he's decided what he wants to do and is going to Oregon State, even closer to home than me. I am a little irritated by his statement because we've gone over why I'm undecided right now and him and Brandon can't seem to fathom that someone doesn't know what they want. People change. If we stuck with what we wanted, I'd be trying to be a princess who lives in a marshmallow house and has a talking Koi fish.

Surprisingly, Tank decides to put his two cents in as well. "She doesn't have to decide anything right now if she doesn't want to. Don't force her into something she isn't ready for."

If looks could kill, Justin would be six feet under. The last sentence he spoke seemed like it had nothing to do with the current conversation, but I don't know why that is. Can he read our minds so deep that it's things we aren't even aware of? Not wanting Justin to become this big, bad wolf's lunch meat, I quickly interject and steer the conversation a different route.

"Who is Katie LeDoux?" I say and feel all three heads turn to me. I keep my eyes firmly on Max in front of me mostly because I'm terrified to make eye contact with the large man next to him.

With a small smile and an eyebrow raised, Max says, "she's my sister. How do you know about her?"

I feel myself shrinking at the idea of telling him that I was stalking her social media to get some clues, but I feel he deserves to know. "I sort of...looked up the last name 'LeDoux' in this area and stumbled upon her and her Facebook." I really don't know if I'm throwing her under the bus, but I continue. "Her pictures were mostly public so I was able to find out the name of the club she's always taking pictures at and then the most recent one I saw was with you and some other woman celebrating." The smile on his face slowly fades as I talk more and instead a slight frown forms with a hint of sadness in his eyes. Why would he be sad about a celebration?

"Yeah, that's my...wife." I don't want to pry, but there shouldn't be hesitation in saying your wife, especially when you've just celebrated so many years together. This conversation is turning more and more sour and I'm not sure how to save it. There's one other item I want to bring up, but I know that it will definitely ruin the morning for sure considering his reaction last night. I want to find out where my biological mom could be. Maybe there's someone else I could ask...maybe his sister. She seems social and nice enough. I guess if we stick around long enough for me to meet her it won't hurt to try. After that thought, another idea pops into my head that could perhaps save things.

I pull out my phone and open up an album of pictures my mom scanned. They are all of me and some with me and them included in different times of my life. Maybe he would like to see what it was like growing up, or at least I hope so.

"These pictures are of me growing up. W-would you like to see them?" I ask with caution. Deep down, I'm terrified on how it might feel if he says no. Something in me wants him to say yes. He quickly scans my phone and then looks at me with a gleam in his eyes and my body instantly relaxes. I feel a warmth on the inside, a sort of happiness and let him take my phone from me.

I watch him scrolling through pictures and his smile lifting on some. Others, I see his smile completely fade and my best guess is that it's the ones with my mom and/or dad. Fortunately, there are more of me alone or with friends than with the two of them on my phone. He slightly chuckles at one and leans over to show one to Tank. I thought this Tank person was one of the most beautiful guys I had ever seen, but now I know for sure he is at the top as soon as his mouth lifts into a smile. The fact that a picture of me brings out a reaction like that in him makes me squirm in my seat. Justin takes that as me being uncomfortable and in a way I guess I am. I don't know what's going on inside me and I can't tell if I like it or not. Usually foreign feelings make me anxious so let's go with me not liking it for now.

Max hands my phone back for me to see what picture had him and Tank so amused. OH GOD why?! Of course it has to be the picture of me in 5th grade with chubby cheeks full of food and chocolate surrounding my mouth. I mentally pray for the ground to open up and swallow me, but there's also a lingering feeling of joy, Justin is rubbing his hand on my thigh and trying to make me feel a little more relaxed at seeing how embarrassed I got.

Shortly after that, our food is handed to us and I'm relieved that there is little room for talking with our mouths full. I'm on high alert because I can feel the gaze of a certain person who didn't order any food on me. Maybe he regrets not getting anything? Ugh...the nice person in me is going to do something silly I just feel it. Not a second later do my eyes look up to him to see I was correct in his staring at me and my hand unconsciously reaches for my side plate of toast and places it in front of him.

"I don't really want this, do you?" I ask, proud of myself that I was able to speak to such a perfect face without stuttering. My entire body ignites once again when I see his mouth lift into that smile and my cheeks are one thousand percent on fire. The small victory in my head for making him smile again is quickly extinguished by the sound of Justin clearing his throat. I slowly move my gaze to him to see that he does not look at all happy and it makes me feel like a kid with their hand caught in the cookie jar. I'm still somewhat upset with him for calling himself my boyfriend, but this feels worse than that. Like I've betrayed him somehow. In a sense I guess you could say I did. I did promise him I would try to see if we could be more and I should make more of an effort. I want to scold myself, but I'll wait till later. I still have to figure out where to go from here with my biological father.

A few minutes of silence pass with only the sounds of forks and knives hitting plates before I hear Max let out a content sigh and push his plate away from him. "Do you have any plans for today?" he asks. To be honest, I don't. I thought last night would go a little different and it threw everything else off for my trip. I look up to him and slowly shake my head and hope that he might make an offer or give us some information on things to do. He plays with his beard and thinks for a moment before he looks at Tank and then back to me.

"How about you and I spend some time together. I can show you a few places and then I'd like to introduce you to some family, Katie included," he says. I'm nervous to meet anyone new, and the fact that this will technically be blood relations I'm meeting takes the rest of my appetite from me. This is what I wanted, though, so I look back up to him and nod my head with a small smile. A small smile then reaches his face before he brings up what is probably the worst plan in the world.

"Okay, good. Your friend Justin here can take Tank back to the club and he can show him around there since it's closed. You can come with me and we'll meet them back there around 6 this evening."

Shit in my pants. He wants to go alone with me? I thought this would be a group sort of thing. Also, the looks Tank was giving Justin and the fact that I was practically caught drooling over a man I didn't know makes me worried that these two guys should not be alone or near one another. Before I can say anything, Max speaks up one more time, "don't worry, Justin will be in good hands there. Tank, make sure you don't get him into any trouble, you hear?" He says while turning towards him.

"Sure thing, boss," is all Tank says before Max calls for Pam to bring the check. I guess I won't get to object to these plans. I look towards Justin who is glaring at Tank and I can tell he's not happy with his stiff posture. All I can hope is that Justin is kept safe and occupied and that by this evening he's still fully intact so we can talk about what is going on with us.

Above all else, there's a small part of me that is jealous that Justin will be with Tank while I'm not, and I don't like that feeling at all.

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Do you ever feel like you wrote a lot of words without saying much? That's how I feel with this chapter, but I also need to build more foundation for the story before the action and drama take off. Otherwise, we get messy stories with mediocre endings.

With that being said, I appreciate your patience and am grateful to have you as a reader.

I'd also like to hear your theories. What do you think is going on with her biological mom? Why did Max not seem happy about his anniversary with Denise? Why did Justin do what he did? I love hearing theories.

Happy Reading!