Old Habits Die Hard

"I thought I shook myself free
You see I bounce back quicker than most
But I'm half delirious, it's too mysterious
You walked through my walls like a ghost
And I take every day at a time
I'm proud as a lion in his lair
Now there's no denying it, and no decrying it
You're all tangled up in my hair
Old habits die hard
Old soldiers just fade away
Old habits die hard
Harder than November rain." Old Habits Die Hard by Mick Jagger 

"Ok, what's up?" Jasmine asked me as we cleared the dining room table.

Jake and Malik went to pick up dinner. They figured that would be easiest since I agreed to extend an invitation to Jasmine's family so they can all see the place together. Jasmine wanted to get it over with and I really needed the distraction.

I went on Facebook myself and saw that the photos were no longer linked to Trevor's page, meaning he untagged himself. Sneaky, but too fucking late. It infuriated me even more. I was friends with Peyton, and her page only had pictures of her and Chris selfies together.

Trevor did text me back, saying he was out with friends and would call me later. I decided not to respond or to confront him.

Yet.

I needed to calm down. I knew no good could come from talking to him, so I didn't. I took a hot shower, changed into a comfortable, black fleece romper and prepared for our guest.

"I'm good." I told Jasmine, running a sponge over the table.

"Lily, you're scrubbing that table like it did something to piss you off." Jasmine commented. "If this is about my family-" She continued.

"No!" I quickly cut her off. "I told you, this is your place as much as mine now. It's fine."

"It doesn't seem fine." Jasmine said.

I put the sponge down and sighed. I pulled out my phone and showed her the text. She just scrolled through the pictures.

"That's Trevor's ex." I explained.

"¡A qué la chingada! {what the fuck}" she exclaimed.

My lip twitched. "Yeah, everybody understands that, but him."

Jasmine handed me back the phone. "What did he have to say for himself?" She asked.

"Good question. I haven't spoken to him yet." I replied.

"You are going to talk to him about this right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think something's going on between them?" Jasmine questioned.

I shook my head. "No, I think he feels guilty." I told her about running into Becca the night before and the whole, sordid history of Becca and Trevor.

As I finished, we heard a knock on the door. "You don't think he's trying to play y'all against each other?" Jasmine followed up as we walked to the front.

"No way. He's not that devious...or smart." I smirked as Jasmine opened the door. It was Jake and Malik with a ton of food from Pollo Salsa. The smell of the grilled chicken instantly improved my mood.

"Dining room!" Jasmine instructed them. "Dad, Jocelyn and Julissa are on their way!"

We followed them to the dining room and set up the food. I retrieved the brown sack of alcohol to get started on the drinks.

Jasmine and Malik bickered over frozen or on the rocks margaritas when I asked them which they preferred. I let them argue and went to the kitchen to make a pitcher of both.

Jake followed me into the kitchen. I didn't acknowledge him as I measured out the ingredients in the blender.

"You ok cariño?" He finally spoke.

"I'm good Jake." I said, emphasizing his name so he would call me by my name.

"My bad, Lily. Old habits die hard." He grinned. I started the blender, focusing on the drinks and not his sexy dimple. Old habits indeed.

By the time the drinks were ready, Jasmine and Jake's dad, Jose came with his wife, Stephanie. I greeted them both warmly and asked how married life was treating them. They said it was wonderful, and judging by their happy expressions, I believed them.

They were both so nice to me. They treated me exactly the same as when Jake and I were dating. I was surprised, but glad it wasn't awkward. Stephanie proudly showed me pictures of the wedding on her phone. It was beautiful.

I couldn't say the same about Julissa. Although she was never the friendly, outgoing type, I could tell she was uncomfortable around me.

Jasmine took them on a brief tour of the place before we sat down and ate. Jose and Stephanie asked me about the city of Addison, more specifically a street they had to drive to get to our place.

"They call it restaurant row. It's filled with bars and lounges too. I love it down there." I informed them.

"That restaurant Gloria's is in the same area Dad." Jake added.

"The Salvadoran place?" Jose asked.

Jake nodded. "That's the one."

"The pupusas there are outstanding. Have you been Lily?" Jose asked.

I ignored Jake's little smile as he drank his drink. "I have. I was surprised how good the tamales were."

"It's been forever since we went there. We should do that soon." Jasmine suggested to her dad.

My phone rang and I looked at it as they carried on their conversation. It was Trevor. I silenced it and continued to eat. I looked at my phone when it beeped, signaling a new message.

Trevor: Is the coast clear?  :-)

I texted back.

Me: Jasmine's family is here.

I hoped that would buy me some time to gather my thoughts without tipping him off that I knew.

Trevor: Is it cool for me to come over?

Dammit!

Me: Do whatever you want Trevor.

I put down my phone and answered Isaac's, Jake's nephew, questions about my xbox games. I told him about my Kinect and rock band. His eyes lit up when I offered to set it up for him and his sister if they were done eating. He looked at his mom, pleading.

"Don't put Lily out by getting too comfortable." Julissa scolded him.

"Really, I don't mind. I offered." I smiled.

"I'm sure you don't, but I do." Julissa smiled, tightly.

"Let the boy play Julissa." Jose butted in.

"They're kids: things tend to get broken or end up missing." She bristled back at him.

"The den is childproof. I babysit for my friend's kids all the time who are a lot younger. I can set them up in there." I added.

Jasmine gave her a look and Julissa nodded. "Be careful you two. Y'all don't have the money to replace anything." She warned.

I grinned. "That's fine. I take full responsibility. Jasmine, you can add that to the contract." I joked.

"What contract?" Jose asked as I led the kids into the den.

My phone rang, but I ignored it to get the kids set up. I showed them the games I had. I pulled out my phone while I waited for them to pick a game.

I had a miss call and another text.

Trevor: I'm guessing you saw the pictures

Me: Guess whatever you want Trevor.

"Can we play this one?" Isaac asked, holding up Kinect Sports.

"Sure!" I said, moving in front of the Kinect to set it up.

"We swear we won't break anything." Maryann promised.

I smiled at her. "Y'all are fine. This is your aunt's place now too. Get as comfortable as you want."

"Don't tell them that. You'll get them asking to sleep over." Jake smiled, joining us in the den.

I laughed. The kids wanted to play soccer so I showed them how to get to it. I stuck around, sitting on the couch next to Jake, making sure they got the gist of the game before leaving.

I responded to the last text from Trevor as well.

Trevor: Can we talk about it?

Me: Talk about whatever you want Trevor.

I listened to Jake coach them both playing the game. I playfully contradicted his advice. When my phone rang again, I saw it was Trevor and pressed ignored.

"What happened to fighting for things that are important to you?" Jake stated.

"Right now it wouldn't be a fight. It would be a homicide. I'm trying to calm down." I admitted.

"That bad?" He asked.

"I don't know yet. I'm just that mad about it. I have a tendency of ignoring my feelings or blowing up; trying to find some middle ground here."

"By going with the old ignore 'em punishment?" Jake commented.

I smirked, remembering how I ignored him for days during one of our first fights. "Old habits die hard." I repeated.

I looked at my phone when it beeped again.

Trevor: Can you come outside for a minute?

I groaned but headed for the front room. I grabbed my coat before telling everyone I'd be right back.

I went outside and saw Trevor in his car. I walked to join him.

"I'm sorry." He started, as soon as I closed the door.

"For what?" I said, turning to face him as Justine hopped in my lap. I put her back in the back seat. I wanted to be reasonable, but sorry wasn't enough without an explanation.

"For meeting with her. I just wanted to talk to her and tell her how sorry I was." Trevor confessed.

"I get that. What I don't get is why you didn't tell me." I said, crossing my arms, focusing on hearing him out before getting upset.

"I didn't think it would be a big deal. You were hanging out with Jake-"

"Yeah you did or you wouldn't have brought up Jake, like it's tit for tat. I asked you how you felt about Jake and Jasmine. I didn't go behind your back and do it."

Trevor sighed. "You're right. I just knew you wouldn't be ok with it."

"I wouldn't have agreed with you, you're right about that, but I wouldn't have stopped you either." I argued.

He looked at me, doubtfully. "Lily, you told me to let it go."

"Yeah, but that wasn't coming from a jealous girlfriend. It was coming from a place that I know how Becca feels. Obviously, she's still hurt."

"I know. I just didn't want to be some jerk that hurt her." Trevor said.

"Well sweetie, you are." I said, bitingly.

His face crumbled and I sighed.

"Look, all the apologizing can't change what you did. If you would have told me you were going, that's all I would have said. I wouldn't have stopped you." I continued.

He nodded.

"That doesn't make you a jerk. It makes you a person who made bad decisions." I finished.

"I know. Going over there was another one. I didn't even know they were taking pictures until I saw my Facebook. I didn't want you to find out like that-"

"I wouldn't have if Rocky didn't see it. By the time I got on Facebook, they were gone." I said, bitterly.

"Rocky told you?" Trevor said, his face turning red.

I cocked my head at him. "You should have fucking told me." Then it hit me. "You weren't planning on telling me." I muttered, quietly, looking down. That changed everything...

Trevor put his hand against me cheek, forcing me to look up at him. "Lilypad, I promise, I was going to tell you how it went. I was stupid; I should have told you before, but I would have never kept it a secret."

I nodded. I believed him. "Are we done with Becca?" I questioned him, warily.

"Yeah, I'm done. I thought we were ok till I saw the pictures with Justine. She did that to cause problems."

"I know. I gave her a pass on throwing the drink on you. I'm not excusing this one. If I see her, I'm punching her in the face."

"Don't baby. It's not worth it."

"She took a selfie with my dog. That's my baby. It's going down if I see her. There's only one get outta jail free card." I warned him.

Trevor chuckled. "Pretty sure there are two cards..."

"You betta take my threats seriously." I said, holding back my smile.

"I am. What can I do to make it better?" He said softly, playing with my hair.

"A bath for Justine number one. And a trip to the groomers."

"Done." Trevor smiled.

"Next, we get to go inside and make nice with Jake's family." I smiled too.

"Urg, fine."

"And I will be buying a flogger. You won't be able to sit for a week." I threatened.

"You might want to skip that if you're trying to punish me..." Trevor said, kissing me against the lips.

"Shut up and come on." I laughed, as I got out the car.

We went back inside and I introduced Trevor as my boyfriend to everyone. Jocelyn and her daughter Isabella made it. I knew how awkward the situation could have been, but it really wasn't. Jose even grilled Trevor, stating that he needed to know about anyone spending time with me and therefore Jasmine. Trevor took it in stride, and it was actually kinda funny.

"It's good practice for your dad." Trevor winked at me. I snickered.

"That was foreplay compared to my dad. He's going to hate you." I informed him.

Everyone laughed while Trevor looked confused.

"Why? We met before."

"Not as my boyfriend. Now you have to give him a reason to like and trust you. No such thing as benefit of the doubt with him." I said, truthfully.

"{Good thing you never got that far, huh Jake?}" Jocelyn asked Jake in Spanish.

My mouth dropped. Trevor didn't understand what she said and he looked at me in confusion when the room went silent. Jake just glared at her but didn't respond

"Tell me about this stalking clause." Malik asked me, changing the subject, holding up the contract on the back the menu.

"Let me tell it. Lily likes to gloss over the details." Trevor smiled. He had everyone laughing at the way he retold my antics, complete with reenactments. Even Jake was smiling.

"Wow Lily." He said, shaking his head at me.

"We just broke up. I was in a bad place." I defended myself.

"Yeah, hiding in bushes!" Trevor added.

"Shut up, I was never in bushes." I laughed with everyone else.

The rest of the night went great. The only hiccup was when Isabella threw a fit over the game; she didn't want to share the rock band microphone with her cousins. Jasmine threatened to put her in time out in her room. That only made things worse.

Trevor solved it, convincing her to perform karaoke for us instead. I smiled as I watched him charm her out of her tears and into a cute performance of "Problem" by Ariana Grande. I couldn't help thinking about what a great dad he would be.

"Are you gonna sing with her? I know how much you like Ariana Grande." Jake teased.

"Why do you want me to upstage your niece like that?" I responded.

"She hit more notes than you did."

"I was dancing too!"

"Excuses."

"$20 bucks says I can sing the next song perfectly." I wagered.

"You're on."

I went next and tuned on the autotune and sang Daft Punk's "One More Time"

"Cheater!" Jake said when I was finished.

"Whatever. I want my money pronto." I held out my hand.

"I'll get you later."

We hung out, playing karaoke and drinking until the early hours of Sunday morning before everyone left. We slept into the afternoon and woke up to Jasmine making enchiladas with the leftover chicken.

"This is my thank you for putting up with my crazy family last night." Jasmine said as we joined her.

"Jasmine, stop. This is your apartment too." I chided her.

"Yeah, it was fun." Trevor agreed. "The only weird thing was when Jocelyn said something in Spanish."

"Oh, right." I told him what she said.

"She was making comments like that the whole night and wonders why I don't want to live with her." Jasmine rolled her eyes.

"Besides that, it was all good. I'm serious, you can have them over whenever." I added.

"Don't worry about that." She murmured.

I sighed. "You really don't know how good you have it. I would kill to have family like that growing up."

"What was it like growing up with your family?" She asked.

"It was just my dad and brother. My dad was all about order and structure. No time for craziness or fun." I told her.

"What about your mom's side? You're close to your cousin right?" Jasmine pressed.

"We met 3 years ago. I didn't know them growing up. I found them when I was searching for my mom." I explained.

"Did you find her?" Jasmine continued.

Fuck, how did I answer did? I found out enough that made me never want to find her.

"No." I said, simply.

Jasmine gave me a little smile. "You can borrow my family whenever you want. Trevor, I'm teaching you Spanish!"

"Uh-uh. English is hard enough." Trevor joked.

"English is the hardest language to learn. Besides, how are you gonna feel if you kids speak Spanish and you don't?" Jasmine declared.

I choked on the enchiladas I was eating. Trevor grinned, rubbing me on the back.

"Jasmine!" I exclaimed, after I swallowed.

"What, y'all don't want kids?" She said, as she began to clean.

"It's too soon for that-" I started.

"As many as she'll give me." Trevor answered at the same time as me. I looked at him, in disbelief.

"You can teach them Japanese after you learn that too." He winked at me.

"I'm sure your granny will love that. It's bad enough they won't have blond hair and blue eyes. She'll probably disown you if they spoke anything other than English."

Trevor just laughed, but I was dead serious.

After eating, we gave Justine a bath. Bathing Justine was never a fun task, but it was easier with Trevor. We were both exhausted afterwards and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and watching TV together.