The café hummed softly with clinking cups and low chatter, warm lights casting an atmospheric glow to the evening.
Jett stepped inside, immediately looking around for Matt, they had a meet up that evening. Soon he spotted the table at which his friend sat and began to walk to him, but he had barely taken three steps before he stopped dead.
Matt was sitting at one of the tables near the window, a half-empty mug in front of him. That wasn't the problem.
The problem was the person across from him, legs tucked up casually, hands animated as he talked, mouth pulled into a laugh so unguarded it irritated Jett on sight.
He was laughing at something Matt had said, shoulders shaking slightly, eyes bright, highly amused at what whatever Matt was saying to him. He didn't know what they were taking about, and that somehow made it worse.
Jett's jaw tightens.
He hadn't come here for this.
He was here to see Matt. That was it. Not get distracted by that walking rainbow with a sharp mouth and a face that pulled attention whether you wanted it to or not.
Annoyance flared hot and fast.
Before he could talk himself out of it, Jett stalked over, chair scrapping loudly as he dropped into it with enough force to make the table rattle. His sudden appearance cutting off their conversation. Jamie's laughter cut off mid-breath.
He angled his body toward Matt, deliberately ignoring Jamie like he wasn't even there."Why is he here?" Jett asked flatly.
Matt blinked. "Uh…what?"
"Don't play dumb." Jett said, eyes still on Matt. "Why is he here?"
Matt glanced between them, already sensing the tension. "We ran into each other. It was a coincidence. I was getting coffee, Jamie showed up. That's all."
Jett let out a humorless scoff. "Well, coincidence's over."
That got Jamie's full attention.
Jett finally turned his head, eyes hard. "You can leave now."
For a second, Jamie just stared at him, like he was trying to decide whether this was a joke. Then he laughed, short, sharp, incredulous.
Jamie leaned back in his chair, arms folding, sharp eyes glaring at Jett. "Excuse me?" Jamie said.
"You heard me."
Jamie leaned back in his chair slowly, crossing his arms. "You don't get to tell me where I can sit, and where I can't sit "
"You weren't even supposed to sit here anyways, this was supposed to be between me and Matt." Jett shot back.
"And Matt didn't seem to have a problem with me being here." Jamie replied coolly. "Do you always walk into places acting like you own them?"
Matt shifted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, guys, let's chill-"
"I didn't come here to deal with you." Jett cut in, gaze never leaving Jamie.
Jamie's eyes narrowed. "Then maybe don't start shit with me."
Their eyes locked in a heated gaze, Jett's face radiated pure annoyance and irritation while Jamie looked more as if he didn't give a damn why Jett was angry. Jett's jaw tightened, irritation curling into something darker, something he didn't want to name.
Jamie didn't look away, not even for a second, it made his blood boil even hotter. He'd never met someone who got on his nerve as much as Jamie did.
It was like a talent, all he just had to do was appear with that perfect face if his and Jett would be already angry. That wasn't even the worse thing, it was the fact that Jamie kept appearing in every single places he went to. Except the boxing club. They lived in the same neighborhood but that still doesn't make it okay.
Matt sighed, staring into his coffee like he wished he could disappear into it. "You guys really need to stop." Matt said, glancing back and forth between the two of them.
"No, he needs to leave. I can't stand the sight of him." Jett gritted out.
"What the hell is your problem?." Jamie finally lashed out.
"You're my problem, that's what." Jett shot back.
"No. You're the problem here and you just don't realize it. You literally called me a kid the other day at the mall because of the way I looked. But the actual immature dumb as fuck motherfucker here is your stupid ass self who think the world revolves around him. We'll guess what, it doesn't. You're just a self centered bitch who doesn't know how to let go of a very simple malice. All this heated rivalry over a stupid cup of milkshake I dumped on you, unintentionally. I even apologized, but your ego is as big as the Pacific ocean, I don't give a fuck about you, so don't fucking think you can walk over me and get away with it. Keep holding grudges like a fucking toddler, you do you, go nuts." Jamie thundered.
He stood up immediately, anger still very evident on his face as he packed his bag.
"Bitch!." He spat Jett's face as he stormed out.
Jett sat in shocked silence, processing everything that just happened. He didn't expect Jamie to burst out like that, maybe he hit a nerve.
He looked at Matt who was already looking at him with do much disappointment in his eyes.
"Don't fucking look at me like that man. I didn't even do anything." Jett defended.
"You didn't do anything?." Matt asked in disbelief. "You were an assole just now, you were behaving as if he's a pest." he fummed. "You need to apologize."
The statement made Jett scoff out loud in total disbelief. "I'm not apologizing for shit." He sneered.
Matt nodded, lips lifting at the corners like he knew that was exactly what his friend was going to say.
"You know what?. Maybe Jamie was right. You're such a fucking baby. He already apologized for dumping the milkshake on you, so why are you still picking on him at every chance you get?." He asked, looking at Jett expectantly, waiting for a reply, but Jett didn't give any, he just looked away, keeping his silence.
"Look, like I said, you need to apologise to him. Jamie might have his rough sides, mean looks and sometimes act out of the blue but he's a good person. I trust him to take care of Charles whenever I'm not around and that makes me respect him so much. Meeting up here was really a coincidence, he decided to keep me company because the person I was waiting for was running late, I'm sure if he knew it was you he wouldn't have stayed, and that alone explains how much you're the problem here." Matt ranted out.
Jett sighed, as if finally realizing he was in the wrong. But Matt couldn't really tell if that was what was truly going on in his head, Jett was unpredictable.
"I was just not in a good mood man."
"That doesn't give you the excuse to behave like that. He's a human being with feelings too." Matt argued.
"Jeez yes I fucking know that. I know what I did was wrong, you don't have to lecture me like this."
"I know. Just don't do that again, and maybe apologize?" Matt proposed.
Jett scoffed at the thought. "I'll think about it."