All Chapters of A Love Mess: Who loves who?: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

The house felt different with Arlen back in it. Different in the way a room feels after someone knows what awaits them in that space. The air heavier, the corners darker, like the walls themselves were holding their breath. Cade heard the front door close, heard the low murmur of Justin's voice bringing him in, overly warm, overly attentive, and felt his jaw tighten before he even saw either of them.By the time he came downstairs, Arlen was settled on the couch, engrossed on his phone, looking too serious for a Sunday afternoon. Justin nowhere in sight.By the time Arlen had noticed him, he was almost at the door. "Are you surprised I'm back?" Arlen asked, dropping his phone on the couch."What?" Cade turned back to face him."You don't look like you're happy I'm back so soon." Arlen said, standing up."Back from the hospital and you're already wanting to pick a fight with me?" Cade mirrored Arlen's posture. Cade would never admit it out loud but he expected an apology considering th

The café was busiest in the mid-morning lull between the breakfast rush and lunch, which was, of course, exactly when the espresso machine chose to die.Arlen stood behind the counter, sweat prickling at his hairline, trying to keep his voice level as Jennifer jabbed at the buttons for the third time. "It's not the machine," he said, more sharply than he meant to. "You have to prime it first, I've shown you this—""I did prime it," Jennifer said, not looking up. "It's just not drawing.""Well, clearly it's not doing it right, because—"Arlen glanced up and realized, with a hot flush of embarrassment, that there were customers, a cluster of them near the window, pretending very hard to be absorbed in their phones while clearly listening to every word. He exhaled, forced his shoulders down from where they'd crept up toward his ears, and softened his tone."Just try the reset switch on the side. Should be a red one."She found it. The machine sputtered back to life. Problem solved, thoug

The call came in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, and Arlen almost didn't pick it up but something in the way his father rarely called just to talk, and the timing, right in the middle of the lunch rush, was inconvenient enough that he nearly let it go to voicemail. Something made him answer anyway."We need to talk," his father said, without so much as a hello. "Now. My office.""I'm at work, Dad.""This can't wait."Something in his father's voice; flat, controlled in the particular way that meant he was furious and working hard not to show it, made Arlen's stomach drop before he even knew what this was about. He told Max he something came up and left without explanation, the drive across the city feeling longer than it should have, dread building with every red light.His father was waiting in his office when Arlen arrived, standing rather than sitting, arms crossed, and Arlen knew before a single word was spoken that this wasn't going to be a conversation so much as a verdict al

Arlen went to Cade's room a few minutes after the man was back from work. Arlen was ready to question Cade about the pictures his dad got because, to Arlen, Cade was the only one who had a motive to do something like that.He knocked but didn't go in, waiting for Cade to open it himself.Cade opened, tie and blazer taken off minutes ago. He was surprised to see Arlen, more relieved, because he thought Justin was at it again."We need to talk," Arlen said, folding his arms.Cade immediately caught the tension in Arlen's voice, wondering what scene Arlen was about to cause now, "About?""My dad.""What about him?""He knows I'm dating Justin. Somehow he got pictures of Justin and I went to him." Arlen watched Cade's face carefully, searching for something— guilt, maybe, or the flicker of a lie. "And I keep thinking about who could've told him. Who would've had the pleasure."Cade narrowed his eyes, something wary creeping into his expression. "Are you asking me if I sent the pictures to

The idea had come to Arlen three days almost on impulse, in that strange lull after the fight with Max, when he still hadn't fully processed everything that had been said but needed, desperately, to feel like something in his life was still good, still simple, still under his control. Justin had apologized for defending Cade and they had made up. He and Justin had been through so much lately; the fight with his dad, the tension with Cade, all of it pressing down until it felt like the relationship itself was buckling under the weight of everything around it. So Arlen decided to do something about it. Something small, but real.Justin's apartment was finally okay for him to move back in. The timing is just perfect for the deadline given by Cade. Arlen was happy, though some stubbornness remained at the fact that Cade would get what he wanted. But he decided to only focus on Justin. So Arlen was on his way to the apartment to set up a surprise for his boyfriend. He'd remembered Justin