Marlin

**THE LAST CHAPTER "SHOPPING" HAS BEEN ALTERED. IF YOU'VE YOU ALREADY READ IT, I ADVISE YOU REFRESH AND REREAD THE LAST HALF OF IT AGAIN AS IT HAS BEEN CHANGED.**

Despite being up late, I woke up at nine. I wanted to make breakfast for Jade but didn't have anything to make in my fridge yet. Grabbing my jeans off the floor, and putting them on, I decided to run to her friends coffee shop and grab some food.

Ten minutes later, I stroll into The Busy Bean, and approach the front. Dammit, I'm not sure what Jade would want, I was hoping her friend Zara would be able to help me out. The guy behind the counter greets me, "Hey, Welcome to Busy Bean, what can I get for you this morning?"

I rub the back of my neck unsure, "Is Zara here?"

He cocks his head, "Yeah, I'll go get her." He disappears and a short time later, Zara exits the back room. "Well hello there Victor, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hey Zara, um, I want to bring Jade some breakfast but I'm not sure what she likes." Zara smiles wide, "I got you." she winks and gets to work on bagging up some pastries. "Anything for you."

"I'll have some coffee, black and whatever you're bagging up for Jade."

"Where is my sweet friend this morning?"

"Ah, she's still asleep."

Zara twists to face me, her skinny eyebrow arching upward. "She stayed over. It was a late night."

She hums and moves to the register, "You tell my friend to call me then, mm'kay?"

"Sure."

I pay for our order and head back home. Trying to be quiet so I don't wake Jade is futile because she's standing in my kitchen looking through the cabinets. She's wearing my shirt and a pair of my boxers. The look does something to me. I really like my clothing on her.

She turns and greets me, "Hey there you are!" her eyes widen, "Oh my gosh, did you go to The Busy Bean?" she rushes forward and grabs the bag from my hands.

I place the cup carry onto the counter, and remove both cups. Jade pulls out a large, what looks like strawberry, pastry. Taking a large bite and moaning over it, "Zara has the best strawberry turnovers."

I grab the bag and pull out the other turnover, not hesitating to see what the fuss is about. The sweet, flaky pastry is everything that Jade expressed and more. It's delicious. "It's good right?"

I nod my response and keep eating, devouring it in four bites. I grab my coffee and take a sip. The coffee seems even better, it's deep and rich. I'm definitely going to have to start making my morning trips there.

Jade cups her cup, taking small sips, "So what's left to do?"

I shrug, "You don't have to stay and help, you did so much last night."

"I have no plans. I have to work later but that's about it, so I don't mind."

Jade helps decorate with the items we purchased yesterday, it's not too girly or overdone, but it definitely looks more like a home.

"Alright, I better get home and get ready for my shift." She disappears to my room, and reappears a minute later, still wearing my shirt but with her shorts. "I'm keeping your shirt." she winks and saunters out of my house.

It looked better on her anyways...

xxx

The very next day, the loneliness begins to make me question my decision to get my own place. Sure, there wasn't really room for me at my brothers but all this quiet shit is making me think. It's making me miss my old life. Living with someone and having them constantly with you, you become comfortable with their presence. There's someone to greet you, to talk with, discuss your day and in return theirs. There's a constant conversation and presence. I feel more lonely than I have in a long time.

Well other than the fact that my phone is continuously going off. Melissa's desperate attempts to speak with me have gone into overdrive. I know I need to put this to bed, sooner rather than later, but I don't want to see her. She won't stop until I agree to meet with her but just thinking about seeing her face again makes me want to punch something. She's like a poison. She pricks you and slowly seeps into your veins, taking over your body. I'm so close to being completely rid of her.

I decide to text my brothers to see what they're up to, but the person I really want to reach out to is Jade. She answers after two rings, "Hey Stud."

I chuckle at the nickname, "Jade, what are you up to?"

"Working on this most fascinating paper."

"That sounds titillating."

"You know it."

"You need a break, come over."

She hesitates, "I really need to get this done."

"C'mon, I'm going out of my mind with loneliness. Come over, I'll help you with your paper."

"Okay, but I HAVE to finish this."

"We'll have it done in an hour!"

"Deal! I'll be right over."

Ten minutes later, my door opens and Jade waltzes in with her backpack. We set up on my coffee table and true to my word, within an hour, her paper is finished. "Oh my goodness, I've been working on this paper all damn week. How you managed to finish it within an hour is impressive."

"Well you had most of it done already."

She eyes me, "Riiigghhtt. You're some kind of nerd aren't you?"

I chuckle and shrug, "I did well in college."

"I cannot wait until I'm done."

"When is that?"

"After this semester!"

"Really? That's awesome Jade!"

"Meh, it's nothing."

"Don't diminish this accomplishment, this is so great!"

She waves her hand, dismissing my compliments. "I know you didn't call me to just spend your Sunday working on my paper."

"It's lonely here. For the last few years, I've always had someone. Whether it was back home, at college, with my ex, there was always someone. It's too quiet. I'm having a hard time. How do you do it?"

"I'm use to it." she lifts a shoulder, "It's always been just me and Drew for the most part." Her eyes widen, "I have an idea." she shoots up, and moves to the door, when she looks behind her and sees me still sitting on the couch, she yells "C'mon!"

Once in her car, I finally ask where she's taking me. "You'll see." is her answer. It's not long until she pulls the car into the parking lot of an animal rescue.

"Jade."

She ignores me and gets outs, I follow behind wondering why the fuck we're at an animal rescue. How in the world did our conversation lead to this? She strolls in and approaches the desk just inside the door, a lady wearing a shirt full of cats heads on it smiles when she sees Jade.

"Hi, we're interested in adopting a cat." Jade spouts and my head snaps to the back of her head because that's all I can see. I tug on her shirt, she swats my hand away.

The lady lights up, "Oh how wonderful! We have so many amazing felines waiting for homes. Let me get some paperwork for you to fill out." She grabs some papers and places them on a clipboard, then handing it to Jade. "Do you have anything in particular you're looking for?" the lady asks.

"No, not really. Actually what cat has been here the longest? We'd like to see them!"

"Oh my god, I'm going to end up with the meanest cat." I mutter causing Jade to elbow me.

"Oh, Marlin! He's an old man. A lot of families come in wanting kittens or young adults. Poor Marlin has been here for a few years. He's fifteen now but healthy as a horse!"

"Awe. How sad. He'd be perfect for this old man." Jade points her thumb at me causing the cat lady to laugh.

"I'll get a room ready, if you can just fill out those papers. I'll be right back!"

Cat lady disappears and Jade moves to sit in a nearby chair, "Jade what the hell?"

"A cat would keep you company."

"Cats don't talk." I point out.

"You'd be surprised, they're awesome pets. They're self sufficient, just clean their box, feed them, love them and you'll be their favorite human. I talk to Emmy all the time."

Jade continues filling out my paperwork, throwing out a question here and there. The lady returns, "Okay, Marlin's ready to meet yous!" She leds us down a hallway and into a small room, where a fluffy gray cat sits, just staring with vibrant green eyes.

"Oh my gosh, he's so pretty!" Jade squeals.

We're ushered inside and Marlin rubs up against the fold up chair inside the room, he doesn't move toward us though. Jade sits down on the floor, and then grabs my hand and pulls me down next to her. We sit cross legged and she makes some noises to try and get him to come to us. He brushes against the chair again, acting almost shy, and then meows. It comes out very deep, deeper than I expected. It fits his appearance and name.

"I'll leave you guys to spend some time with him." Cat lady disappears.

"I don't know about this Jade."

"It's fate! This guy needs a home! Look at him! No one wants him. You have to take him." Just then Marlin comes over to me and nudges my hand. "Hey guy." I greet him and rub his soft fur. There's so much fluff!

"I don't have anything for him."

"So we get it!"

I sigh, my resolve budging. I do like Emmy, Jade's cat, and maybe Marlin will help keep me from getting too lonely. "Okay. Marlin you want to come home with me?"

Like he knows exactly what I'm saying to him, his head tilts upward and a deep meow exits his mouth.

Awe. Marlin <3 I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I was hoping to have a bunch of updates for you all this weekend but I was so busy! I've been working heavily on getting Labeled ready to publish. It's time consuming but once that's done. My full focus will be on Victor's story!

I have this weekend off too so I definitely plan to work on more chapters!