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6. Find More Eggs

Ocean was a persistent fucker.

Consistently over the span of an hour that Maisie would never get back, he asked for her number. He made a speech about how closer the two of them would be if they could just text each other in seconds. That led Maisie to think of nightmares that involved Ocean texting her every waking second with an unnatural mix of emojis. It was too much; Ocean was too much.

But he wouldn't stop nagging her and after the two hundredth time he had got down on his knees to literally beg her, Maisie whipped her phone out before too many people started looking.

Maisie regretted that decision almost immediately.

Maisie snorted out loud unexpectedly from her place on top of her bed. The lamp was on beside her but it was dimmed and honestly still forced Maisie to squint her eyes in order to see anything. Her eyes stung from her phone's large screen even though the brightness was all the way down.

Damn phones need be able to dim lower. This is still bright!

Maisie rolled her eyes and locked her phone, dropping it down next to her lamp on the bedside table. The entire house was silent and she just sat there, blankets around her waist and textbooks covering the rest of the bed. Her brain was a fried mess and she couldn't cram anything else into her skull. She didn't have a lecture until six in the evening the next day so Maisie slowly started to relax.

Relaxing helped. It helped her forget to stress over school and worry about the pile of bills she can't afford to pay. It helped her to stop overthinking the psychology degree she was trying to walk out of college with. Four years she was sealing away for a degree she didn't even know if she wanted or not.

Maisie switched the lamp off, closed her eyes and laid down in bed. Relax, she told herself, it's too late to start stressing now.

***

Charity walked down the street towards her best friends bakery at six in the morning. The sun was warm and for once she wasn't annoyed by it. The rays glowed down on her bare arms through the white summer dress she wore. The day seemed like it was going to be warm, good and nice.

Well that was until she turned the corner and there stood her lying, cheating, son-of-a-bitch boyfriend who she had yet to finally say goodbye to.

Rick leaned against the wall of another building with his hands shoved into his pocket, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. When he saw Charity walk around the corner he quickly stomped out the cigarette and straightened up, running his hands through his blonde hair.

Charity slowed down until she stopped in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want, Rick?" she asked.

"I know I fucked up-"

Charity rolled her eyes. "No, you don't."

Rick sighed. "I'm trying."

"Are you?" Charity asked. "Because I honestly can't tell."

"I am Charity," he said. "You know I am. Look, I got rid of Kara. She won't come back, what more do you want?"

"Just because you finally told the girl you were cheating on me with to get lost doesn't mean that everything is suddenly perfect," Charity ground out. "Four months, Rick. You've been lying behind my back for four whole months. And dammit I've known for weeks!"

Rick took a step forward. "Then why didn't you say anything? You must still want us to be together if you never said anything about it. I'm right aren't I?"

Charity blinked at him and gulped. "I don't-"

"This is just a rough patch," Rick cut her off. "We'll get over it. We always do."

Charity's entire body felt like it hurt. For some idiotic reason she had actually liked Rick. She liked his company, his smile, the way he held her hand and the warmth his body gave off when she curled up against him. But that was before she found out he was cheating on her. Now that warmth he once gave her just felt hot - so hot that it was overbearing.

Charity shook her head. "This isn't a rough patch. We can't get over this-"

"Yes we can. We can if we try-"

"-because I don't want to," Charity finished and Rick stopped talking immediately. "I don't want to fix this."

She thought her voice would be feeble and weak but instead it came out steady and strong, the complete opposite of her hearts state. Charity looked away from Rick's face and the latter just stood there, looking like he had just been kicked in the face.

"Why?" he breathed.

Charity took in a deep breath. "Because it's not worth saving. Not anymore."

"You can't say that," Rick said. "There's got to be something worth saving."

"Why should I try saving something that's only brought me pain? I don't want to be the one that has to save this. I don't want to be the one that has to put all the effort in. I really did like you, Rick. You were kind and sweet and amazing. But you're not really like that, not know, the person you are now is ugly."

Rick ground his teeth together. "So this is all about you now?"

Charity felt like she'd just been hit in the chest. "Who else do you want it to be about? Should we revolve this around Kara? Or should it all be about you? You had your time when you cheated on me, when you lied to me. That's when it was about you. So sorry if for once it's going to be about me. And I don't want to put all my effort into something that's not going to give a shit back."

"I will give a-"

"No you won't!" Charity burst out. "You never did! For once just stop lying to me!"

"Hey!"

Charity and Rick stepped apart when a new voice came from behind Rick. He turned around to see Sheriff Small walking over, dressed in his uniform. He stopped when he reached them and stood between the quarrelling couple.

Tony opened his mouth to berate the two of them but when he glanced down and saw the tears in Charity's eyes as she looked away, he tilted his body toward Rick's, unconsciously acting as a barrier for her.

"Son, I think you should be going," Tony said.

"Not without Charity," he said.

"Kid, if you don't get the hell out of here then I won't talk to you as Sheriff but as Tony. And Tony will happily beat the shit out of you."

Sheriff Small may not be muscular but he was a trained cop and bigger than Rick. Charity didn't look up as Rick cursed and walked off, his shoes scuffing against the ground with each step. An arm settled over her shoulder and she smiled a little, looking up at Tony.

"Thanks, Mr. Small," she said.

He rubbed her arm. "No problem, kid. Come on, I feel like you're probably wanting to talk to Maisie."

Charity nodded and they began to head in the direction of the bakery that was just at the end of the long street.

"Boyfriend?" Tony questioned.

Charity sighed. "Ex-boyfriend."

When they reached the bakery, Charity walked in and immediately went towards Maisie who, from one look at her face, knew exactly who had bothered her. The two friends hugged and Maisie rubbed her back. She looked over Charity's shoulder to see Tony stood in the doorway. He tapped his watch and indicated that he was going to leave.

Maisie subtly pointed to a paper bag of muffins on the top of the counter and smiled at her step-dad.

'Thank you,' she mouthed.

Tony gave her a wink and grabbed the paper bag before leaving his late mother's bakery.

Charity finally pulled away from Maisie and breathed out slowly.

"Is he gone now?" Maisie asked.

Charity shrugged. "Probably not gone forever but...I know not to go back."

Maisie gave her a wide smile and Charity decided that she made the right choice. Constantly depending on Rick and then waiting on the day he would do a complete turn-around and realize he made a mistake was going to just leave her sad and alone. He wouldn't be sorry. And if he ever was, then Charity was no longer going to be there to hear it.

"Fucking piece of absolute shit," Nick said as he fell into the bakery and stomped his foot down on the floor continuously. "What idiot leaves gum on the ground where my foot could easily, oh I don't know, step on it?!"

Andrew walked in after him followed by Keith and lastly Logan. The last boy to walk through ran a hand over his blonde hair and tugged on Andrew's ear until he yelped.

"Get off, Arschloch!" Andrew yelled, batting his hand at Logan until he laughed and pulled away.

Nick wiped his foot over and over again on the tiled floor, aggressively. "New. Fucking. Shoes."

Keith sat down at a table and kicked his feet up onto another chair before closing his eyes. Logan sat down on the table beside him and Andrew attempted to jump on Nick's back, claiming that he should make money from free piggyback rides.

Maisie glanced over at the clock.

On time.

- Tahlie x