Here Comes The Sun

Chapter Six

After my lesson with Maisie I headed back to my small one bedroom apartment, it wasn't much but I didn't need anything more. I was used to living alone too, had since I turned eighteen and moved from my parents house to an old run down cabin on the other side of their property. I had spent years fixing it up with what free time I had when I wasn't working at the station or helping around my farm.
My parents didn't run some mega corporation type farm, they kept it small. They gave produce to local stores and a few chains that were only around our state and a handful out of state. The farm ran with a very limited staff which was nice when there weren't many people in our town that even wanted to work for him.
He had my two older brothers, my sister's husband, and a handful of guys on hand and that was all he needed. He had a habit of turning to anger and harsh words quickly, he'd been the one to so gracefully bless me with my anger issues. Unlike me though he felt no need to work on controlling them, I had been suspended from school and thrown in a night at the jail more times than I could count. It had been enough to want to better myself, he however blamed everyone else for being stupid fucks who set him off.
I loved my dad but he had a lot of faults, one being his inability to see his own faults. It was one of the reasons I wanted to move out of town, well that and the fact I beat the shit out of my Chief. My therapist had not been happy at the appointment after the incident, he also hadn't been surprised.
I had been stopping myself from reacting to him for months, with his ridiculous demands and stupid decisions he was putting everyone on edge and at risk until he fucked up and one of our guys got hurt. He was trapped under a wooden beam and ended up with some bad burns and a broken femur because the Chief wasn't listening when we said the house was too unstable.
After Alex, the guy who had gotten hurt, was taken to the hospital I couldn't hold back anymore. Chief Brehan had made a comment about making sure the guys were better trained, as if he wasn't the cause of Alex's pain, I had reacted badly.
I don't remember throwing the first punch but I do remember the look of shock and terror as I laid the second and the third and the fourth, and every one after till some of the guys managed to pull me off and hold me back till I calmed enough not to react like a feral cat. Brehan had just stayed on the ground, his face bloodied and his pride bruised.
I had unsurprisingly spent the night in jail after that one, my dad had managed to get him to drop the charges he wanted to press against me. I was fired and told never to step foot near him again, though no formal papers were ever filed to stop me. It gave me reason to find a new home, I loved being a firefighter, loved it so much more than working the farm like my family did. They loved it while I just saw it as a job, one which had a habit of taking up most of my life. Though being a firefighter also was a very time consuming and dangerous career to go for instead.
I loved it though, loved the rush of it, loved the feeling of living on the edge. It made me feel alive in a way nothing ever had before. The pay was kind of shit but it was enough for me to survive. I could afford my car, my apartment, and to do whatever other things I wanted, that was all I needed.

"Open up Archie!" Seth's voice shouted outside my apartment door.

Colin had told me he was coming over with Mac for some beers but he hadn't mentioned anything about Seth. I hadn't spent much time with the man child, their night downtown had really only happened because he was friends with Colin. Plus when Seth mentioned Maisie being downtown I couldn't help but follow. I wanted to see her, something that had become almost constant in the back of my mind. She looked so pretty and dancing with her was the highlight of my week.
Watching her dance with Seth though caused an all too familiar rage to grow. It was no surprise to me that seeing her up close and personal with another guy made the control I had worked years for on my anger slip. At the pool when she had been on the phone with someone and so quick to leave I felt it again.
There was no way she was going home to someone else, not with the way she let me hold her or how she would openly flirt. She didn't seem like the type to be like that, even without knowing the drama between her and Kyler I couldn't imagine it. I was being ridiculous though, I barely knew the girl she could have a whole husband and kids at home for all I knew.

"I'll steal your doormat if you don't open this door!" Seth's voice called out again.

I walked to the heavy wood door and undid both the locks to see Seth and Colin standing outside with beers and two pizza boxes. Seth had that stupid grin on his face and Colin was giving me a sheepish look, I was assuming Seth probably invited himself. I knew the two of them lived together at Colin's house he had gotten when his mom passed away a few years back

"I don't have a doormat." I pointed out to Seth, he just squeezed past me and walked into my apartment without being invited in.

"Have you not unpacked yet?" He asked, taking in the empty living area. I had a couple of personal items scattered like a picture of my family on a shelf in the corner and a couple of science fiction books I had enjoyed but that was about it.

"Yeah." He turned to me, his eyebrows raised in question.

"Did you become a firefighter because you lost everything in a house fire or something?"

"Why is it such a concern to you that I don't hoard knick knacks and shit?" I asked, noting the edge in my voice.

"Also why are you here?" I added, looking from him to Colin who was setting the pizza on the empty kitchen island.

"Colin was heading out and I asked to come, he said you wouldn't mind." Seth shrugs.

He heads over to the kitchen and starts opening the pizza boxes, pulling out a slice of cheese and are those fucking sardines on the pizza? What was with this dude and those fucking fish. He grabbed a paper towel to use as a plate and a beer before taking a seat on the barstools.
"I guess he was wrong on the whole, you not minding thing, but that's all good. We will get there, my mom always tells me I'm an acquired taste." He took a huge bite of pizza and dropped most of the cheese onto the paper towel under him.

"Don't make a mess." I grumble before grabbing from the other box that has a regular cheese and pepperoni.

"Trust I won't mess up your Ikea showroom." He nods at me. I decided to just ignore him after that, it worked most of the time while at work.

"Where's Mac?" I asked, usually they carpooled together since the two lived in the same neighborhood.

"He had to cancel, something about how he wasn't in the mood for company. He had dinner with his family yesterday so that probably took all the patience he had left for the week." Colin explains.

"It's only Sunday." Seth points out with a mouth full of sardine pizza.

"Yeah, so be careful what you say to him." Colin informs him and gets a thumbs up in response.

"Speaking about boys with attitudes, what the fuck is up with Kyler? It can't still be the whole Maisie thing right? Like he's the one who fucked someone else while they were still dating, also they've been apart longer then they were together now." I finally found interest in something Seth had to say.

"Jesus fucking Christ Seth, you are worse than a middle schooler when it comes to gossiping." Colin groans, grabbing a beer. He'd already finished one but Seth had a habit of getting people to drink a lot when he was around.

"Was I now supposed to talk about it? Is it not common knowledge? Maisie is cool with it now anyway, she told me her and the girl actually go shopping and get lunch together like once a month or something." I had not expected that one, if I had gotten cheated on, the last thing I would do is become friends with the other guy. In all honesty I would probably beat the shit out of him to make myself feel better.
Or atleast old me would have, this is the new Archer. This version of Archer has a handle on the incessant need to fix my problems with violence.
"How'd she find out?" I ask, finally finding interest in having a conversation with Seth.
"He's not going to say." Colin starts just as Seth tells me exactly how.
"She went to his apartment and the girl opened the door in nothing but his shirt." Colin throws a look to Seth who ignores it and shoves another bite of pizza into his mouth.
"She told me the whole story, we share a history so it makes it easier to spill." The words come out muffled as he speaks with his mouth still full of food.
He reminds me of a child. I know him and Colin are great friends but I don't get it.

Wait, what did he mean by a shared history?

"You guys dated?" I could feel that all too familiar anger start to rise even though I had no place to be mad.
He laughed, like bent over laughing and I started worrying he might choke on the pizza. "No, she and I are in a complete no go zone. One night we had both had too much to drink and ended up making out and the Chief and Lucas walked in on us, causing us both to freak out so bad she shoved me off the chair we were in and I ended up almost drowning in the pool. She had to jump in after me to make sure I didn't." He looks up like he's reminiscing. "Good times."
"Who's Lucas?" He had heard the name mentioned multiple times in the two months he had been working at the fire station but never further than a quiet comment.
"Now that is one I will not be getting into tonight, not when all we have is beer on hand." He raises the bottle before downing it and the pizza he had in his mouth.
I turn to Colin and he shakes his head, taking a big sip of his own beer. I am going to have to get this out of someone.