Page 4 of Your Side of the Offense

He looks like he hasn't stopped running his hands through his hair all morning. I have been really worried about him. He’s been slipping in and out of his depressive moods. A lot more often lately. He actually needs her. We all do.

"You think she’s had time to cool off? That she'll listen and take us back?" Jaden asks solemnly.

"I doubt it." I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Summer isn't the forgiving type. Our girl has too much pride.

"She fucking has to," Archer says with more force than I think he intended.

"She doesn't have to do a thing. It's her decision." Harvey looks like he's in pain. I know he feels like shit.

Archer gets off the couch and walks away from Harvey, clenching his fists. No doubt wanting to pummel him.

"It's your fucking fault!" Archer hisses from the corner, looking towards the ocean. This pad is the ultimate holiday getaway, but we haven't found any happiness here.

Harvey stands up. "Yeah, so it is. What are you going to fucking do about it, huh?"

The idiot is just looking to start a fight again.

Jaden gets up and shoves Harvey back on the couch as Archer advances on him. I get up to stop Arch.

"We can't fight each other. What's done is done.” I look between them, then move to sit on the couch. “We need a plan. We are definitely seeing her in the following days. What are we going to do?"

Archer grunts and returns to his window, running his hands through his blond hair again.

"We need to grovel," Jaden says evenly, like he's talking about the weather.

"Yeah," Archer agrees but doesn't turn.

"But how do we do that? You know she won't hear us.”

Silence befalls us, and I look Harvey's way.

"You, sunshine, what do you think?" I ask.

Harvey shakes his head. "I'm not going to do it. I hurt her too much. You guys should try though. I am going to move on." He stands and walks out of the living room then the apartment. The retreat of a defeated man.

No doubt going to wallow in self-pity and get wasted some more. As much as I think he was wrong for hiding things from Summer and ended up fucking everything up for all of us, he should still be trying with us to get our girl back. But it just seems he gave up.

"Fucking idiot," Archer mutters, then walks out.

"Well, this was fruitful," I murmur flatly.

Jaden sighs, plopping down on the couch opposite me. Archer and Harvey have always been the emotionally unstable ones in the group. Jaden and I are the saner ones. Though Jaden hides what really goes on in that head of his behind his social skills. He may look the least unaffected, but he is dying inside too.

"We need to get her back, man," he says, his hands sliding over his baby afro haircut that he keeps stylishly messy, before covering his face.

"I think we should give her a little space. If we suffocate her, we'll just scare her away."

"She's had three months."

"Let's just take it easy."

"You mean finesse her." He smirks a little.

I smirk too. "If it helps."

Jaden seems to be mowing over what I'm saying.

The levelheaded smooth talker can talk his way out of touching the Monalisa, Archer is the one who understands people, the empath, but he throws the meanest punch. Harvey is the wild one, the crazy one, the one liable to do anything. And I’m the chill ideas guy who always has a blunt in his hand, the one always breaking up fights between them.

---