Six Like The Number

Until I Met You

*Six’s POV*

On Saturday, I go watch Paradox play their set. They play at an outdoor venue at some sort of fair. Of course they’re incredible. I expected nothing else. The crowd loves them and I’m fairly convinced they could actually go somewhere with this. After the gig, he takes Theo and me out to dinner. We’re waiting on our food when my phone rings. The caller I.D. says it’s St.Jude’s Hospital and my heart stops. I answer it and say, “Hello?”

“Six, it’s me.”

“Jordan?” I say, confused.

“Jordan?!” Axle says, anger flashing across his face. I ignore him and listen to the words coming through the phone.

“Yeah, you need to come to the hospital. Laura OD’d at my house with my dad. I brought her to the hospital but you need to get here.”

“I’m on my way,” I tell him and then hang up the phone.

“It’s my mom. We have to go.” His look softens and I grab Theo as he leaves money on the table for the food we never got to eat.

As we near the hospital, Axle says, “Pull up near the door, I’ll park the car and bring Theo in.” I nod and when I get there, I run out, throwing him the keys. I run into the reception area and say, “Hi, my name is Six Keller. My mom just got admitted.”

“Yes, she’s in with the doctors right now, you can take a seat in the waiting room and we’ll be with you as soon as possible.”

“Six!” I hear from behind me and I look to see Jordan walking from the waiting area.

“What happened?!”

“I’m not really sure. I came home and she was on the couch passed out and she was breathing really weird and I tried to wake her up but I couldn’t so I brought her here. She looked really

bad, Six.”

“Did they say anything when you got here?”

“No, nothing. I’m sorry Angel.” He pulls me into a hug, and I let him comfort me, instinctively burying my head in his chest and wrapping my arms around his waist. I pull back when he says, “Who the f**k is that?”

I turn around to see Axle walk in with Theo. Theo runs over to Jordan and he picks him up and says, “Hey Teddy Bear.”

“Jordan, this is my boyfriend Axle.” I don’t miss the look that passes between them and the tension in the air between them is palpable.

“Okay, no, this,” I gesture vaguely between them, “is not happening right now. Please let’s just go sit down.”

We sit there for a bit with Theo on my lap before he looks up at me and says, “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

“I’ll go get something,” Axle says and then stands up abruptly and walks towards the cafeteria.

“Does he make you happy?” Jordan asks once Axle is out of ear shot.

“Yeah, he does,” I tell him. I see the sadness on his face and it takes so much effort for me not to take him in my arms and hold him. “I’m sorry, Jordan.” We have so much history and a piece of me is still tugging me towards him.

I see the look of confusion that crosses his features and he says, “Don’t be sorry. You deserve more than me anyway and I always knew that. Sometimes I think that’s why I slept with Alisha. I did it to get you to leave me so you could have the life you deserve.”

My heart literally feels like it’s about to split into pieces. “Please don’t do this Jordan. I can’t.”

“I know you can’t angel. I don’t expect you to.”

“Stop calling me that. I can’t handle it right now,” I whisper to him and he wipes away the tear that falls down my cheek.

“Okay, sorry.” Just then, the elevator dings and Axle comes over with a tray of food. I pull back and we all manage to get some food in us and then Theo squirms around so I let him go and he crawls into Jordan’s lap. He’s too young to know what’s happening but he can definitely sense something is wrong. It’s no surprise he went to Jordan. He was a big part of Theo’s life.

Suddenly I feel guilt creeping up on me because I broke up with Jordan but Theo never really understood why he suddenly stopped coming around. We sit there a bit longer and Theo has spun around and is now fast asleep with his head on Jordan’s chest. The sight of them together makes my heart hurt.

“We might be here a while. I can bring Theo to Shaunice’s for the night. Does she know?”

“No, I haven’t called her. But that’s a good idea.” I pull out my phone and call her. Of course she tells me she’ll take Theo for the night. I hand my keys to Jordan and he stands up, careful not to wake Theo and leaves.

We sit in awkward silence for a few minutes before Axle finally speaks. “You still love him don’t you?” I furrow my eyebrows together, contemplating my answer and how much I’m willing to

admit to.

“No, I don’t. We have so much history and I used to think that my heart could never belong to anyone else and when he got Alisha pregnant, it felt like that was it for me. It felt like I had my shot at love and it was gone. Until I met you.” In that split second, I made the decision to hand him my heart and, if he wanted to, he could crush it in the blink of an eye.

He wipes away a tear from my cheek that I wasn’t even aware I had shed.

“You know, seeing you with him tonight made me reconsider everything. He understands you in a way I never can. And I’ll never force you to be with me or not to be with me. The decision is completely yours. But full disclosure, I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”

I lean over and rest my forehead on his when I reply, “I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you too.”