A/N: I only own the OC.
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I woke up the next morning and I was glad I had dragged myself to the couch instead of sleeping in the floor. I was still in my dress, my phone was lighting up like Christmas lights, but surprisingly other than having cotton mouth I wasn't hung over. I guess I had cried it all out. I sat there for a second when I heard a knock at my door. I sighed and wanted to ignore it, but if it was about the club I couldn't.
I cracked open the door to see Johnny standing there looking worried. I opened the door so he could come in. I knew that I looked like a mess and I didn't care. He followed me in wordlessly as I went to the kitchen. I turned on my Ninja and opted for a single up right up. Johnny sat at my kitchen table and waited for me to get myself together. I figured it wasn't an emergency if he was waiting. I made him a cup and sat them down.
"If Dexter called you..." I was saying when he cut me off.
"Dave called me, which is why I took it more seriously." he said and I was surprised that Dave had reached out. I knew that he had seen a small portion of our disagreement before it went full blown fight, but I didn't realize he would take it that serious. I sighed and nodded.
"Are you ok?" he asked me as we sipped our coffee.
"I... don't know. I found out some things last night that I wish Dexter had told me instead of finding out the way I did. I want you to know that I am not going to put you and Candace in the middle of this." I said and he chuckled.
"Dexter and I have been friends a long time, and while I know that you two made each other happy; I also know that he has his demons. I want you each to be happy, but that doesn't have to be with each other." he said and I nodded... that was one way to put it.
"Thanks, Johnny." I said and he nodded. We talked while he finished his coffee, and I wanted a shower before I dealt with the mess that was my phone at the moment. I showered, changed, and felt so much better. I knew that I eventually had to look at me phone, and part of me held out hope that Dexter would have texted me, tried to call, or maybe even just show up sometime today.
I walked out to my front porch because it was a cooler, rainier day, and that fit my mood. I sat down and finally looked at my phone. I had a lot of missed text from Dave, a few from Becky, a few from Elias, and only one from Dexter... I guess everyone had been right. I finally clicked on his message.
I'm sorry... was all it said and I sighed. I was trying not to cry again when I heard the gate open from the driveway. I looked over and was surprised to see Dave walking up. He sat down beside me, on the step, and hugged me.
"Thanks calling Johnny." I said and he nodded.
"I wanted to make sure that you got home ok after last night. I saw you leave by taxi, and heard that Dexter had destroyed the suite." he said and I nodded as I felt the tears start. Dave pulled me to him as I sobbed into his shoulder. He was honestly the last person I had expected to comfort me, but Dave and I had been through a lot together. I was there when his mom passed, he was there when my Dad passed, we rode out the hurricane that threatened to destroy St. Augustine together, and other things. Dave and I may have ended poorly, but we were there for each other.
"Jodi, you deserve nothing but happiness. I know it's not me anymore, but I had hoped that it would have been him." Dave admitted when I calmed down.
"You aren't going to say told you so?" I asked him and he chuckled.
"Nah, because I was hoping that I wasn't. I thought you knew about his ex and his nights out." he said and I shook my head.
"Actually, his Dad and ex-wife were the ones who told me last night." I said and Dave's eyes got big. I nodded and he hugged me again.
"You will be ok, Jodi. You always have been." he said and I sighed.
"Thanks, Dave, and I really hope you find happiness too." I said and he gave me a small smile.
"I'm just glad to have my friend back." he said and I chuckled as he hugged me before heading back to his car. I guess it was kind of funny that we had gone from best friends, to lovers, to engaged, to enemies, and now back to friends. I don't know what made him realize that, but I was glad for it.
I went back to answering text, and Becky wanted to come over tonight. I was fine with it since I really didn't feel like being alone. I was almost done when I heard my other gate open and close. I looked up, and I found myself wishing it was Dexter, but it wasn't... it was Cash.
"Hey." he said and sat beside me.
"Hey." I said and he hugged me.
"Johnny said you might need a friend." he said and I chuckled.
"That's one way to put it." I said and he smirked.
"I'm sorry that creepy bastard treated you like that. I guess we all kind of thought you knew about his past." he said and I looked at him surprised.
"Seriously, did everyone know, but me?" I asked him and he shrugged. I felt like the biggest idiot now, because apparently I was just out of it. How did everyone know, but me.
"How did you all know?" I asked him.
"He used to party in St Augustine all the time. He was in every bar and taking home women left and right, even when he was supposed to be married. He was the whore of the town. It's a small town, J." Cash said and I sighed.
"I guess I don't go out enough to know this shit." I admitted and he chuckled.
"That's not a bad thing, darlin." he said and I smirked.
Cash talked to me for a little bit longer before he had to get ready for tonight. Becky was coming over soon, and I needed to make sure my house didn't look like I had slept on the floor last night. I walked inside and saw a picture of me and Dexter that we had taken the night of the event at the college. I couldn't even smile at it anymore as I put it in the desk drawer.
Johnny POV
Elias told me to take tonight off since it was slow and we had Braun and Moss for security. Dexter wasn't scheduled tonight, and that was probably a good thing. I told Candace I was going to check on him since we knew that Jodi had left him last night. I walked up to his house, and saw his car in the driveway. I knocked on the door and waited. I was about to leave when the door cracked open.
I pushed it open to see Dexter walking back towards his backyard in just his shorts. The house looked like a mess as I stepped over a picture of him and Jodi. I walked out there as he tossed me a beer. He sat down and picked a cigar back up. I sat the beer down and sat down across from him.
"If you are here to check on me then you can see I'm fine." he said and I nodded. Jodi was somehow taking this better than him.
"Right... what happened, Dex?" I asked him and he sighed.
"My father and ex-wife proceeded to tell Jodi that I was a man whore, abusive, mean, and anything else you can think of to make me look like an absolute piece of shit to Jodi. She got upset because I hadn't even told her about Christi." he said and I nodded.
"Where you going to tell her about Christi?" I asked him and he shrugged.
"If the information seemed relevant, then yes, but it never needed to come up." he said and I looked at him surprised.
"Dexter, you knew you were going to run into her eventually, and that was kind of something she needed to know... and I don't know how she never heard the rumors about you sleeping your way through St. Augustine." I told him and he shook his head.
"I didn't actually sleep with most of them. I wanted to, but it didn't work." he admitted.
"So why not squash the rumor?" I asked him, and he gave me a 'really?' look. He was right... it s a rumor and it would probably never die.
"Dexter?" a female voice called out and I felt my jaw drop... he had brought home a whore already. He looked at me and sighed.
"Back here." he said and I waited to see what this whore looked like, but was kind of surprised to see my wife standing there.
"Not a whore." Dexter said as if to read my mind.
"Candace?" I asked her and she sat down next to me.
"He called me and asked me to check on Jodi." she said and I nodded. He really did care even if he had gone about it all wrong.
"She told me to come over and hang out with her and Becky tonight." she said and he nodded.
"Thanks." he said and she nodded. We all knew that he was taking this hard even if he was hiding it with apathy and alcohol.
