All Chapters of A Love Mess: Who loves who?: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

The cafe smelled like it always did in the mornings; burnt espresso and cinnamon from whatever was in the case that day, and Arlen moved through it with an ease that had been missing for weeks. Tying his apron behind his back, calling out a greeting to the regular by the window before he'd even fully clocked in. It felt good to be back. Not fixed, not entirely, but good."You look better," Max said, elbows on the counter, watching Arlen steam milk with the particular scrutiny of someone checking for cracks."I feel a little better." Arlen leaned against the counter for a second, allowing himself the small luxury of a break between customers. "Like, actually better. Not performing it.""Good. That's good, Arlen. I'm glad." Max said. "Talked and apologized to Cade?""Yeah." Arlen felt something warm move through him just thinking about it, unexpected in its intensity. "Yeah, I did.""And?""And it went well. Better than well, actually." Arlen wiped down the counter that didn't really ne

The knock came early, before Arlen had even finished pulling on his shoes, he opened the door to find Cade standing there in his work clothes, keys already in hand, looking faintly like he'd rehearsed whatever he was about to say."Heading to work?" Cade asked, even if it was very obvious that Arlen was dressing up for work. "Yeah," Arlen replied."I can drive you to work," Cade said, plain and simple. "If you want. It's basically on my way." After the small refusal from Arlen, yesterday, he made sure to ask again, early enough before Arlen drove to his cafe.Arlen blinked, one shoe still untied. "But it's not on your way. The cafe's in the opposite direction from your office.""Close enough." Cade shrugged, unbothered by being caught in the small lie."Oh, wait, I won't have a ride back. I'll—""I'll pick you up." Cade said, meeting Arlen's eyes.Arlen looked at him for a second, something warm working its way up under his ribs at the transparent effort of it, and decided not to arg

"You're humming," Max said, watching him from his usual stool. "You've been humming for like fifteen minutes. Should I be concerned?"Arlen huffed a laugh, not even bothering to deny it. "Didn't realize I was doing that.""You've been doing a lot of things lately that you didn't used to do," Max said, tilting his head, studying him with the kind of careful attention that Arlen had learned, over the years, usually meant Max was working up to saying something. "You look different. Lighter, or something.""Lighter.""Yeah." Max shrugged, reaching for one of the pastries Arlen had set out earlier. "I don't know how else to put it. You just seem....I don't know, more like yourself than you have in a long time. Genuinely happier, actually, than you were when you were with.....Justin."The comparison landed with more weight than Arlen expected, and he paused for a moment, cloth still in hand, considering it honestly instead of brushing it off the way he might have a few weeks earlier. "Yeah,

Arlen walked three blocks before his legs finally slowed, the anger that had propelled him out of the car burning down into something quieter, more uncertain. He found a bench near a small park and sat, elbows on his knees, staring at nothing in particular while his pulse gradually settled."Why did that hit so hard," he muttered, thinking the moment over slowly, trying to be honest with himself instead of just living in the anger. Cade's question echoed in his head and Arlen tried to examine it now without the heat of the moment clouding everything.Had he really thought Cade wanted him to forgive Justin? Looking back at it now, away from the charged air of the car, he wasn't sure that was actually what he'd heard. Cade had expressed nothing but anger toward Justin, frustration on Arlen's behalf, protective in a way that left little room for actual doubt about where his loyalties sat. So why had that single question landed like a betrayal?"Maybe it wasn't about Cade at all," Arlen a

The living room looked different by the time Saturday evening arrived. Cade had spent the better part of the afternoon on it, more attention than he'd probably admit to putting into arranging throw blankets just so, dimming the lights to something warm and low, setting out the salted caramel chocolate Nick had mentioned weeks earlier. Alongside a bowl of popcorn and a few other snacks he'd picked up on a hunch hoping they'd land well. He'd debated the movie choice, finally settling on an old romance neither of them had mentioned watching before. Nothing too on the nose, he told himself, just something that left room for comfortable silence.He heard Arlen's car pull into the driveway a little after seven and felt something flutter nervously in his chest despite himself, smoothing a hand down his shirt before making his way to the door.Arlen stepped inside a moment later, a bag of popcorn, as promised and paused, eyes moving slowly around the room, taking in the low lighting, the bla