No lies

A sorry scoff makes its way to the surface, encased in a dry humor. Jason scoots back in the booth to sit sideways, leaning up against he wall and stretching out his long legs over the seat, his boots hanging off the end. “I guess when a man spends over half a year in prison, comes back to a life he doesn’t understand, and breaks up with his girlfriend, he might seem a little blue, eh?”

Only after the words have left his mouth does he realize that it’s the first time he’s said that about him and Katie aloud. It hits him hard enough that he starts to shut down and he looks away from Aerith for a moment. “I guess coming here was a distraction.”

Another forced smile surfaces. “Though the smell of the food is getting to me, so I might just have to relent and eat some supper while I’m here.” He cocks his head to the other side of the table. “Booth’s empty. Unless I’ve just succeeded in scaring you away, you’re welcome to it.”


Carson slowly relents and joins Misty in the kitchen. He half expects an interrogation for the call she’d just heard, but it doesn’t come. Instead, her question catches him just a little off guard.

He doesn’t answer right away… He unwraps his own burger and takes a bite, letting the silence rule for several minutes. His eyes stay lowered to the table. “There’s a lot of things about me I’ve never told you, Misty…mostly because it’s over and I don’t want you dwelling on why I did what I did, and who I did it with. And I know you’re smart enough to know that kind of past exists.”

Carson sets his burger down and folds his hands not even sure what to say. But Misty deserved an answer. “Ashlyn and I…had…a relationship based on all the wrong things. She liked me, I liked her and that was that. Commitment on either side never existed…we just…spent time together when we wanted to. And whether it was a day or a week, when it was over, it was over and we wouldn’t hardly see each other until the next time.”

He shrugs. “When describing her and me I’d never use the word love…but I won’t lie to you…there was more than a one night stand there, yes.”

Carson can feel heat creeping up the back of his neck. He didn’t like talking about this with Misty…he didn’t want to hurt her, and he didn’t like verbalizing his feelings either. It felt unnatural and awkward. But right now…it seemed necessary enough to grin and bear it.

He sighs deeply. “I guess…on some level I believed I’d found something resembling happiness when I was with her. Though there were…others…in between…somehow she and I always ended up back together again…often enough that the others in our circle at the Agency considered us being together as a given, or when we would show up at the same place that we’d…” He lets his voice trail off. Misty had been there that evening with Drew in the cabin…she’d witnessed the way the others had reacted to him and Ashlyn being together…he need not go on.

“Anyway…I guess that’s it. I don’t want it to be hard now, but it is sometimes…I was just trying to get answers from her tonight, and it was harder than I thought it would be. But…” He finally looks up to see Misty’s eyes. “But I’d never want that to come between us again…that's all in the past, and...as far as I’m concerned, you’re it.”