It's okay

Hearing the door open, Axel swivels in his chair, his bottle of iced tea still in his hand. A slight smile curls just the edge of his mouth and he stays seated.

He gives Jess a nod about the car. “That’s fine. One of the guys will move it later.”

Hearing her repeat offer for lunch, he cocks his head a little, noting that she was now looking at the floor. He’s quiet for a moment, his eyes studying her as he picks up on her awkwardness.

He taps a long finger on his bottle, a grin finally escaping at the mention of the rainbow.

“Well…” He glances down at his filthy work clothes and oil-stained hands. “I haven’t taken my lunch break yet and… I do know a nice little place that’s only about ten blocks from here that won’t mind me not going home and changing first.”

He stands up, setting his iced tea down and accidentally knocking a paperclip holder off the desk, sending paperclips all over the floor.

Staring at it a moment, he is silent, then heaves a sigh, setting his hands on his hips. “Okay. …Well. …That was smooth.” He nods with approval before grabbing the magnetic lid of the holder. Taking a retractable tape measure and hooking it to the end of the lid, he extends it to the floor, sweeping wide to attract all the fallen paperclips. Then letting the tape measure retract, he holds the mess of clips in his palm, turning them so they’ll fit back into the holder, then setting the tape measure back down.

A sheepish look briefly crosses his face, though he remains composed. “Alright. Now that the office is… clean… we can go.”

He spins on his heel and nods to the door, the corner of his mouth quirked. “I’ll lead the way in the truck.”

On their way out, he grabs his truck keys, then Jess’ car keys too, hollering at one of the guys that he was leaving for lunch.

Once outside in the sunlight, Axle tosses Jess’ keys to her. “It’s down on Birch… Sandwich Basket.”

He aims for his truck, but then stops, turning back to Jess. “Almost forgot.” He holds out a little plastic package between his first two fingers. “Courtesy of J & J’s Auto.”

The small extended gift is an air freshener to hang from the rearview mirror, and its shape and color is a rainbow.

Axel cocks his head, looking down into Jess' eyes. "In case you ever forget that after every storm, there's promise of new beginnings."


Wyatt returns a light hug to Katie as she joins them, a smile spreading on his lips. Though their friendship had taken a few odd turns, it was nice to know that they still had a camaraderie.

Jason welcomes Katie's hold on his hand, appreciating her presence and willingness to take the brunt of his negative emotions, even if it hurt. Feeling her grip tighten, he tries to ease off a bit, knowing that in public, they could easily cause much more of a scene than intended.

A pause comes to the conversation as Aerith joins them, and Wyatt gives a short chuckle, returning a kiss to her forehead and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "What else is there to talk about?" he teases. "Comparatively speaking, every other subject seems downright boring."

Jason smirks and throws Aerith a wink. "What your boyfriend is so eloquently trying to say is that venting sessions make for fewer nervous breakdowns."

Wyatt grins. "Couldn't have said it better."

As their food is brought, they try to steer the conversation away from work for a little while, but eventually, Jason brings it back around again.

"So... I think we'd all agree that somebody should keep an eye on Scott's place tonight. I'd be first to volunteer since I don't have to work, unless you have a better idea."

Wyatt shakes his head. "I wouldn't stay too close though. If he knew about it, it would probably just make him feel worse. I'd just feel better with a little security around him, that's all."

"How's he staying there? I mean, TJY wasn't doing anything with his house. He doesn't even have utilities, does he?"

"I don't think so. And I'm sure he knew that, but at this point I don't think he cared. I haven't talked to him much, but I think he just got tired of being in the way, and I think he felt stupid half the time, especially when he'd get scared of things. I'm sure he just figured it would be easier to get away from it. Can't really blame him, but... not sure it was a great idea on his part."

"No..." Jason shakes his head a little, thinking. "Hopefully Rick will have some excuse to get him back to TJY. We've got to save Scott's job."

"I don't know how," Wyatt admits. "It's all over the office now that Austin's firing him." He pauses, looking at Katie and Jason for a moment. "You weren't going to say any more, but... what exactly have you two been up to?"

Jason purses his lips. "Best you don't know details until it's over. I don't want Austin tracking anything back to you. Right now you're halfway out of the mess, so it's better."

"Hey, I'm just as much in the mess as you," Wyatt defends. "Though I guess I shouldn't argue. You two outrank me now."

Jason rolls his eyes. "Right. As if I'd ever pull rank on you."

Locking eyes with Wyatt for a moment, both start to laugh, and Jason grins sheepishly. "Okay, so maybe I would. But not this time. It's just safer."

"Alright, I understand." Wyatt glances at his watch and sighs. "And speaking of which... if I don't get back to work, I'll be late, and get myself into trouble." He gives Aerith a squeeze around her shoulders. "Sorry, but..." He looks around her on the booth. "You have to get up before I can."

Jason grins as he watches Wyatt preparing to leave, though his mind was going a mile a minute in many other directions.

So now what? You want to keep an eye on Scott with me? Is there more we should do than that? Should we go see him before that? Make sure he's okay? Keep him company? I just don't know what to do.


Kyle stares up at the pickup ceiling, his seat tilted back to a more comfortable position. Sitting in the parking lot, his music is still playing, though it’s not loud enough to keep him from hearing his phone ring.

He deliberately lets his voicemail pick up the call, but after a moment, he reaches back over his head to the back seat to find his phone.

Bringing it around to look at it, he sees the number of the caller he’d missed. Thinking for a second or two, he decides to go ahead and listen to the message.

A wry grin curls his mouth and he shakes his head as he hears Misty’s voice. There was a whole lot more in her tone that she wasn’t saying. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he just looks out the window for several minutes. Eventually he turns his attention back to his phone, taking note of where Misty’s call had come from. She was still at work. If he called her landline, he could leave a message on her answering machine that she’d get after work. That was probably the better option today. He could just ignore her like he was Phil today, but he didn’t really want to do that.

Again he takes several minutes to think, then finally dials. He knew how many rings it would take, and automatically counts them before her machine picks up. “Hey, Miss T.” The smile can almost be heard in his voice. “Listen, I, um… I got your message and… you don’t need to make a big deal out of it. I know it, and you know it, so…” A quiet chuckle escapes. “I guess dinner isn’t really necessary. Ever need anything, you know where to find me. So…I’ll see you around… church on Sunday if not before. And I still expect to see you at our next concert,” he teases, then pauses for just a moment. “Thanks for everything, Misty. And… it’s okay.”

Ending the call, Kyle tosses phone back into the other seat again, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.