Book 2: Chapter 16

***Chapter 16***

The spread Clara put out was spectacular. For our dinner she made steak, potatoes, and asparagus as a side dish. Not to mention the dinner rolls that were buttered to perfection. That itself looked yummy, but then there was this huge double chocolate cake sitting in the middle of the spread. Coupled by small pies around it and it was all kinds of flavors you name it! She went all out for this dinner when it wasn't necessary. Though definitely appreciated. Jay lucked out having her as his stepmom.

My mouth fell agape just looking at everything. It smelled heavenly too, you couldn't miss it. Every time I come to Sunbury, I'm spoiled by all the delectable food there is to eat. Of course, I'm lucky to have Jeremy in our family now because he brings a little bit of Sunbury down to Greendale for us. This though was out of this world. How could anything possibly go wrong now?

"Derrick will be down in a minute, he's just procrastinating." Clara spoke, setting the kids up to eat their food.

I'm assuming Derrick was Jay's father's name because his face when she said that didn't look to happy. Seeing his face was going to be a lot for me to handle. I didn't agree with the decisions he made regarding Jay and the tragic events that transpired beforehand. Looking at Jay, he didn't look excited either, meaning Clara must be the one keeping things together. It's always the moms working double time.

Jason pulled my chair out for me to sit before sitting next to me. Our moment in the family room has brought a lightness to us tonight that hasn't been felt in quite some time. He was expressing himself to me more and making more loving gestures. Things could only go up from here on out and I was looking forward to every part of it.

We put the napkins on our laps as we took a serving of food on our plates. Derrick still hadn't shown up, but that didn't stop Clara from grilling us about our relationship.

"So, how did you two meet?" She asked us both.

Jason answered her first. "Through a friend of ours," he said not name dropping anyone. It was probably better that way.

"Are you a couple or simply dating? What's the deal with that?" She continued to ask questions.

We looked at each other and then away. "It's complicated," we both say at the same time.

It's true things were complicated even with our loving moment. If we wanted to date, it would be hard to do when we also have to hide our relationship from practically everyone. The upside being that we were good at hiding it the first time. There would be no difference in doing so now but it wasn't ideal. However, it was only complicated because of me and my mixed-up feelings for two best friends.

Clara scoffed, not understanding where the complications came from. "What's the issue? You both obviously like each other and Jay you went a whole year talking about this girl." She put him on the spot as his cheeks turned crimson.

I giggled silently to myself hearing that but happy that he never stopped thinking about me. Still, if we told the cold hard truth she'd see why it was troubling for us to even like each other in the first place. Let alone love.

Jay grabbed my hand leaning into whisper to me. "See, this is why you don't confide in your parents about stuff. They never keep it to themselves," he joked making us both laugh.

He kissed my knuckles before his father finally made his presence known. It was as if this dark cloud started hanging over Jay's head. That laughable playful side of him vanished the minute he saw Derrick standing there. This man was expressionless and didn't look like he even wanted to be here. The guy didn't even greet any of us when he came in except for the little ones and Clara. He calmly took his seat avoiding eye contact with me or Jay. It was awkward and already left a bad taste in my mouth.

Minutes passed of him saying not a single word to anyone. He filled his plate with his food, and we all started to eat in silence. The atmosphere was great when it was just us. It was as if Derrick sucked the life out of the room and we couldn't get it back. I wasn't going to take him not speaking to me though. It was rude of him, and he was going to be introduced to me whether he liked it or not.

Clearing my throat, I looked in his direction much to Jay's dismay but fuck that noise. "Hi, it's finally nice to meet you. I'm Jay's friend, Autumn." I say directly to him.

Clara looked surprised that I had done that, but she obviously didn't know who my mom was. I was raised by a lady whose belief was if they don't notice you, make them notice you. That's exactly what I was doing with Derrick, and it worked!

His brow raised as he looked up at me with one eye. Jay wasn't lying when he said he looked like him. Seeing them next to each other I could see where Jay gets a lot of his facial structure from. Though Jay had that curly dark hair and striking blue eyes like his mom, the rest of him screamed Derrick. It should be like looking in the mirror for these two.

Not directing his question at me, he talked to Jay which was again rude. "Is this a girlfriend or something?" Derrick asked him not that interested.

Jay rolled his eyes, "can we not focus on our relationship status? It's irrelevant." He's already annoyed.

"It can't be irrelevant if you've brought her here for dinner." He refuted. "I hope you weren't drunk when you met her."

"Derrick!" Clara yelled.

Where the hell did that even come from? First, he ignores my invitation to be cordial, now he's shitting on Jay for no reason. Why would that be the first thing he says? Jay had his troubles, but he was a different person than he was a year ago. He's been working so hard I wasn't going to let him ruin the person Jay is now. This man seemed bitter and like he held a grudge against Jay for something that was out of his control. Now he was on strike 2!

Jay didn't seem to be doing alright. The anger continued to build up as his leg shook violently under the table. The vein on his forehead minutes away from exploding. I grab his hand and give it a squeeze. I wanted him to know that I was there for him and that this would only last a few hours. Though things only got worse.

Derrick chewed his food before speaking again. "I'm just making sure he met her in a normal way and not him being strung out." He said not holding back his word. "I mean, look at what he caused to happen to his own mother. I highly doubt he'd be more cautious with an innocent girl."

"Enough!" This time I yelled, getting fed up with his antics. It wasn't my place, but I wasn't going to sit here and listen to his shit.

I stood up as Jay looked at me with tears welling in his eyes. Bringing up what happened with his mom is always a touchy subject with him. Especially when his father clearly still blamed him for it.

"Do you ever take a moment and realize that maybe you're the problem?" I asked him. "Stop blaming him for your own wrong doings! You failed as a parent, YOU! Instead of being a father you upped and left starting a completely new family unannounced to him."

The anger flowing out of me was tremendous! But I'll stick up for Jason against anyone and I mean anyone.

"The fact that he even wants anything to do with you shows just how great of a person he is. Yeah, sure he had a drinking problem," I started.

"Which I fixed that," Jay added.

I hushed him. "Point being, the son that you neglected was not at fault for what happened to your wife. And you seem to forget that you could've lost two people that day. Get your head out of your ass and be a damn father!" I was going to walk away, but I had to stick it to him one more time. "And don't you ever talk badly about Jason again when you're the one who put him in a shitty situation to begin with!"

This wasn't what I wanted to happen in front of Clara and the kids, but I had had enough. He was rude and a plain asshole who needed to be put in his place. The emotions swirling through me got me riled up. So riled up that I began to cry. Not because I was sad, but because that's not something I would normally do. I don't know what came over me and the dinner was ruined thanks to my outburst. There was no way Clara was going to like me after this. Did this make things worse for Jay? I'm such an idiot!

Immediately finding me, Jay saw my crying face and didn't hesitate to comfort me. I should've been comforting him after the mess he had to sit and listen to from his father. But my emotions got the best of me tonight. All I wanted to do was protect him and make sure he was okay. I crossed the line, and I wouldn't hear the end of it from my mother.

"Oh, gorgeous please stop crying," Jay said stroking his fingers through my hair.

I snuggled into his chest letting all my feelings out on his poor shirt. "I'm sorry Jay, I didn't mean to ruin the dinner," I apologized to him.

"Are you kidding? Autumn, you made me love you even more." He reassured me. "If any girl is willing to stand up for me to my father, of all people, that's a win in my book."

The tears settled as I peeked an eye up at him. "So, you're not mad at me?"

He chuckled, "of course not, silly girl. You're everything I've wanted and more. You can't escape me that easily." He winked at me.

It made me feel better knowing that he wasn't angry with me for doing that. Though I admit, it was a bit immature on my part. There was a difference between us maturity level wise. I could see why he wouldn't say anything to his father. To Jason I'm sure it wasn't worth the hassle. Not only that, but I also bet he didn't expect his father to change. He's been coming around because of his siblings and his stepmom. The only sane people he has left in his family. I'm hoping I didn't burn too many bridges with her as that is still her husband. Clara was someone I enjoyed, and I wanted to keep our relationship intact at least.

Wiping my face, Jay lifted it up to his. "Why don't you wait in the car, while I go get us a slice of that beautifully made cake." He suggested music to my ears. That cake looked fantastic!

There was still worry on my end though. "Do you think Clara is mad at me?" I was scared that it may be the case.

He sighed, "mm, I doubt it. You forget I confide in her about a lot of things as she does me. There's things you said that I would have never thought to say to my father because I found it not even worth my time." He explained to me. "Doesn't mean he didn't need to hear it though. Maybe this'll bring him back to reality and we can start fresh."

I smile softly, still feeling bad. "I'm really sorry," I apologized again.

"Gorgeous, stop apologizing and go wait in the car. Please." He kissed the top of my head as I did what he said.

This night was more eventful than I would have liked it to be. I was ready to go home and go to bed after all these mishaps. I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out. The good thing is Jay wasn't upset, but it was daunting not knowing what the consequences of my actions would turn out to be.