14 – Breakup and Read (1)

After a long phone conversation, Sebastian and Axel were back to being friends. They caught each other up with everything that had happened in their lives since their fight. And Sebastian found himself in a good mood more often than not.

But there were two people guaranteed to ruin that. His father, and Ellie.

He could eliminate one person from that list easily. It only meant he wouldn’t have Tibby anymore. Sebastian confessed his concerns to his mother while they sat on the family room couch.

“I have an idea,” Celine said. “Where’s Tibby?”

As if on cue, Tibby walked into the room. Celine stood up, and pointed to the couch. Tibby jumped onto it, and laid down, taking up all the space. His front legs draped across Sebastian’s lap.

Celine pulled out her phone, and held it up. “Smile.”

Sebastian did. Celine snapped a couple pictures. “Let’s have him do that thing where he puts his paws on your shoulders.”

Standing up, Sebastian patted his chest. Tibby stood on his hind legs, and set his front paws on his shoulders. The dog nearly towered over him. Celine took a few pictures from the side.

“Let’s try some of just him. Go get the dog treats. We can have him beg. That’ll be cute.”

“Why are we taking pictures?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m going to post them online. We need everyone to see we have a dog.”

“Why does that matter?”

Celine looked at Sebastian. “What do you think will happen if the public falls in love with Tibby, and your father gets rid of him?”

Of course. It was so obvious. Why hadn’t Sebastian thought of that? “They might not vote for him.”

“Yep. Even if you break up with Ellie, your father will think twice about getting rid of Tibby.”

It didn’t take long for the pictures of Tibby to spread online. Celine had even added glittering text that said “Vote Barstow for Governor” to the picture of Tibby begging. It got thousands of likes.

Waylon quickly found out. For once, he was happy with Celine and Sebastian. “That was real smart thinking. Voters love dogs!” He looked over at Tibby, who cowered away from him. “Guess the dumb mutt finally made himself useful.”

It was the nicest thing he had ever said about Tibby. Perhaps Sebastian would be able to break up with Ellie after all.

He would wait a week. It would be enough distance for his father not to suspect the true reason for Tibby’s popularity push, but soon enough for people to still be gushing over the dog.

~~~~~

“I don’t know how to do it,” Sebastian said to Axel, as they sat across from each other at a picnic table in a park.

“Just meet her in a public place and say you don’t want to date anymore,” Jake said. He sat next to Axel, a little closer than Sebastian would have liked. Unfortunately, whenever Axel invited Sebastian to hang out, it usually included Jake. The two had an unspoken agreement to tolerate each other around Axel.

“If only I’d thought of that,” Sebastian muttered. He had already tried, but he couldn’t get the words to come out. And then Ellie rambled on about how happy he made her. How she hoped they’d stay together. She even made a joking comment about their future children. Sebastian shuddered at the thought.

“What if you do something that will make her break up with you?” Axel asked.

“That should be easy,” Jake said. “Tell her you’re friends with us now.”

“I already did. All she said was ‘nobody’s perfect.’” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Hopeless.”

“Have you tried showing her how much you hate yourself?” Jake asked.

“If the panic attack didn’t drive her away, I don’t think any of my mental issues will.”

What if you pretend to be even more mentally ill?” Axel asked. “Like, fake schizophrenia or something.”

“That’s wildly problematic,” Jake said.

“And this relationship isn’t?”

“At least it’s not exploiting stereotypes of mentally disabled people. Not all schizophrenics are scary and evil. Some go on to live productive lives. This relationship is just a byproduct of a fascist society.”

Sebastian rubbed his forehead. “Can you please talk like a normal person?”

Jake opened his mouth, but Axel interrupted him. “How about texting her?”

“That’s cowardly,” Jake said.

“So is dragging this relationship out. Besides, she’s gonna hate him for this no matter how we do it. Might as well make it fast and easy.”

Sebastian couldn’t think of a better option, other than ignoring her altogether. But he had tried that with Axel and that went horribly wrong. He allowed himself to look at Axel, who smiled at him. The sight of him filled his body with longing, followed by the usual wave of disgust.

Axel reached his hand out towards Sebastian. Without thinking, Sebastian held it.

Jake laughed. “What the hell are you doing?”

The corners of Axel’s mouth twitched, as though he were trying not to join in on Jake’s guffaws. “I wanted your phone, not your hand.”

“Right.” Sebastian yanked his hand away, face burning. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He fumbled his pockets, pulling out his phone. “What are you doing with it?”

“Helping you text Ellie.”

Sebastian unlocked his phone and navigated to his texts with Ellie. The last thing she texted him was, “I love you!” The last thing he had texted her was, “Okay.” He handed his phone over to Axel, then sat next to him so he could see what he was going to type. It was a tight fit, all three of them sitting on one side of the bench. Sebastian’s thigh brushed Axel’s, and Axel scooted over to give him more room. The action filled Sebastian with disappointment.

“You are such a good boyfriend,” Axel said flatly as he read the last texts.

“What else was I supposed to say?”

“Not ‘okay.’ I’m surprised she hasn’t broken up with you over that.” Axel scrolled up to read more. Jake leaned over to read as well.

Sebastian grabbed at his phone. “That’s private!”

“Okay, okay. Calm down.” Axel tapped the message box. “How should we word this?”

“Just type ‘I’m breaking up with you,’” Jake said. “Short, simple, and to the point.”

“There should be some sort of introduction first,” Axel said. “And something at the end to soften the blow. This is going to break the poor girl’s heart. We need to take her feelings into consideration, you know.”

Axel sounded like he cared about Ellie a lot more than Sebastian did. He was willing to go with Jake’s advice.

“She’s a homophobe. Who cares about her feelings,” Jake muttered.

“I don’t know,” Axel said. “Maybe decent human beings?”

“You’re gay yourself. How-”

“Not so loud!” Axel's eyes darted around the empty park. “Jesus, Jake. How many times do I have to tell you to be careful?!”

“Okay. Sorry.”

Sebastian forced his expression to remain neutral. But inside, his chest swelled over their disagreement.

Axel typed, “I need to tell you something you are not going to like.”

“Sounds like a good start,” Sebastian said.

Jake nodded. “Now write the ‘I’m breaking up’ part.

Axel went for the I, but tapped send in the process. “Shit! I didn’t want to send it yet.”

“Hurry up and type the rest,” Jake said frantically. “She’s already responding.”

Sebastian chewed his lip as three moving dots flickered on the screen.

Me too, Ellie wrote back. Sebastian perked up. Was she going to break up with him? Three dots flickered again, and the next message came through.

I have to cancel our plans tomorrow. My grandpa’s in the hospital. The doctors don't know if he's gonna make it. We’re all with him right now.

“Jesus,” Axel said under his breath.

Sebastian covered his face with his hand. Now would be a cruel time to break up with her.

“How close were they?” Jake asked.

“He lives somewhere in New Nevada.” Sebastian couldn’t remember the city. It was a miracle he remembered the state. “They only see each other on Christmas. But he used to live here when she was younger. She’d see him all the time then.”

“So, used to be close but now not really.” Jake stroked his chin. “It might still be okay-”

“It doesn’t matter how close they were!" Axel turned to Jake. "You don’t break up with someone when their relative is dying.”

“She said they don't know if he'll live. Not that he's actually dying.”

Axel set the phone aside, rubbing his face. “How can you be so insensitive?”

“How am I going to break up with her now?” Sebastian wailed. He couldn’t help it.

“We can try again when her grandpa’s out of the hospital,” Jake said.

“What if he leaves the hospital in a hearse?” Sebastian clutched his hair. He’d have to wait until at least after the funeral, if not longer. God, he’d probably have to spend the next month trying to comfort her.

The phone pinged. They all read her next text.

What did you want to tell me?

Sebastian groaned. Of course she’d want to know.

Axel picked up the phone and typed. That’s not important right now. What’s important is that you’re feeling okay.

“That sounds too nice,” Jake said. “We want her to dump him, not crawl into his arms.”

“I would also never say that to her.” But Sebastian wished he could hear those words coming out of Axel’s mouth next time he was feeling down.

Axel deleted it. “What should I put instead?”

“Tibby threw up on my pants?” Jake suggested. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Sebastian muttered.

Axel typed, Tibby threw up on my pants and tapped send.

Ellie was quick to respond.

Does that mean you’re not wearing any? I’d love a pic of that! ;)

“Yeah, I’m not giving you sexting advice.” Axel handed the phone back to Sebastian with a smirk. “You’re on your own there.”