Chapter 16

Conflict Unresolved

"We need to talk."

"Why?" Haven asked as he stood in Wddzillas and glared at Archer as he turned and had the audacity to lock the door he'd just slammed through. "And what the fuck are you locking the door for?"

"So we won't be interrupted."

"And how is that supposed to stop folks from popping in through the gas station side?"

"Point taken," Archer said, only instead of unlocking the door, he stalked past Haven into the gas station just as a trio walked through the door. While Haven waited patiently for them to get what they needed so he could ring them up, Archer was a whirlwind of frustrated emotion, glaring and drumming his fingers on the glass countertop until one of the guys paused and stared him down.

"Dude, what's your problem?"

"People who go into places without knowing what the hell they want," Archer shot back. "It's a gas station, I'm sure you've been in dozens of them and every one of them pretty much sells the exact same thing, so stop wasting people's time fucking around with what soda to get, pick one and go."

"Ya know what, forget the soda," the guy said before turning to look back over his shoulder while he addressed the other two. "You guys leave that shit and let's go! We'll come back when the hot chick is behind the counter."

"The hot chick is my sister, and she's got two kids and a dead husband, asshole, so maybe you'd be better off not coming back at all."

"You need to chill, brah, he didn't mean anything disrespectful," the blond with the surfer cut said.

"Then maybe he should think before he opens his mouth," Archer. "Reducing someone to a piece of meat to be stared at because you like the way they look is the height of disrespect. That you don't seem to get that point any more than he does means you both needs to find a better class of friends."

"Whatever man," the two said, leaving their stuff on the counter and stalking out. The third handed Haven a twenty, told him they needed gas on pump one, then scurried out after the other two.

Archer took the opportunity to lock that door and flip the closed sign, which was sure to set Meadow off when she found out about it. Haven would tell her too, if only so she didn't think she couldn't trust him to watch the place

"Alright, now you're just costing everyone money," Haven said. "Say what you came here to stay so I can get the shops open again, though I find it funny that you have anything to say to me at all when you couldn't be bothered to come see me when you were living six miles away from where I was locked up!"

"I had a lot of shit to work out," Archer pointed out.

"For both of our sakes, I hope you did a good job of it."

"Good enough to have learned a trade and finally come to understand the importance of hard work and earning what you want instead of trying to get it the easy way," Archer admitted. "The best thing about buying a stake in Maddox's company was knowing that every cent of what I gave him for my share, I worked my ass off to get."

"Goody goody gumdrops for you, now what's your point?"

"Look, I get that you're annoyed with me for not coming to see you, but the last thing you needed was anyone to spot us together in that place," Archer said, sighing heavily.

His brother no longer looked brash and pissed off. There was actual contrition there as his shoulders slumped and he dropped his sunglasses on the counter, allowing Haven a look at the sadness in his eyes.

"I pissed off a lot of people," Archer admitted. "A few of them were up there because of shit I'd gotten them involved in. It would have made you a target if people knew you were my brother. I'd already fucked things up bad enough for you, no way was I making it worse."

"Fine, whatever, now what do you want?"

"You to stay away from Jeremy."

"Fuck you. You don't get to tell me who my friends should be," Haven growled. "You lost that right when you let me go to prison for you. So, if that's all, you can fuck off now."

"Look, I know all about the relationship you two had and it was only going to land you in the same place the longer it went on."

"Really? Then why did I never see Jeremy's face on the cell block?" Haven asked. "You know where I did see it though?"

"Where?"

"On the other side of the plexiglass as often as he could make it up to Acacia City, which is far more than I can say for you and you were fuckin' living there!"

Archer looked shaken at that, his eyes widening as he slumped against the counter. "He visited you?"

"Often," Haven admitted. "He and his old man also put money on my books so I could get stuff from the commissary, something you never thought about."

"I barely had enough to survive on, especially those first few years when I was trying to get my life straightened out."

"And after that, when you were becoming a bigshot businessman, what about then?"

Archer hung his head, but not before Haven saw a flush of shame darken his cheeks. "I guess I didn't think about it."

"Of course you didn't. Out of sight out of mind is easy, especially when you've got a guilty conscience."

"I can't deny that."

"Thank you for not trying to," Haven said. "Now are we done here?"

"I just want you to be careful. Now that you're home, don't go falling back into old patterns. You know his old man's reputation and the things that he was into."

"Yeah, and I'm grateful for it every single day, ‘cause when you were hanging me out to dry, he was the one who reached out to find people to look out for me," Haven admitted. "First in juvie and again after I got moved. If it wasn't for them, I'd have probably gotten myself shanked or indoctrinated into some shit I'd have never been able to get myself out of."

"Wait…what?"

"Chaos arranged for me to have his road dog for a cell mate," Haven said. "That dude kept people from using me, stealing from me, or trying to turn me out, which they did attempt. I owe them both a lot, and Jeremy too, because it was his friendship that made his old man willing to help me. So no, I won't be steering clear. They're helping me track down the parts for the Electra Glide and Jeremy and I have plans to take the dirt bikes out the next time we both have a free weekend. You might be my older brother, but you gave up any right to tell me how to live my life when you dropped out of it. So what if you couldn't come see me, you could have written."

"And risk someone intercepting one of the letters?" Archer asked. "I wasn't willing to risk that either. Whether you are willing to believe it or not, I had your best interests at heart."

"If that were true, you never would have thought it was a good idea to have me take the rap for you," Haven said. "If you really wanted me to be okay, then you'd have owned up to what you did, or taken off and made sure no one ever caught up to you. Instead, you got to live your life, and I'm out here now trying to figure out how to live mine. You don't get how much has changed for me, or how hard it is to have people treat me like a fuckin' pariah. They think I crippled Andy. Half of them look at me like they're just waiting for it to happen again while others are halfway hoping it will be them I get into it with, just so they can prove that they are tougher than I am."

"If anybody gives you shit…" Archer began.

"I'll walk away. Period. That's the only thing that needs to happen."

"You shouldn't have to deal with people giving you shit about the past."

"Do you not remember what it was like growing up here?" Haven asked. "The past is all anyone ever talks about, well, that and the latest rumor."

"Which is why I don't want you to become one."

"Exactly who are you trying to protect right now? Me, or yourself and your new business?"

"If I was worried about your reputation hurting our business, I never would have suggested Maddox look here as a potential location place."

"Why did you suggest Foggy Basin? You were gone. You never had to think about this place again if you didn't want to."

"But I did think about it," Archer admitted. "And then I started to think about all the things I threw away when I left. I wasn't here for Meadow and River when they needed me. It sucked, but more than that it made me think about how close we were as kids. I know that I'm the one who ruined all of that, so I came home to try and make it right."

His brother's voice was a mix of regret and sincerity, and Haven could see the sadness in his eyes as he spoke. Archer wanting to make amends was a good thing. Haven wanted to trust it, but right now it still felt like his brother was hiding something and that always led to trouble.

"What does any of what you want have to do with Jeremy?" Haven asked.

"He was always a distraction for you," Archer said. "He pulled you away from a lot of potential friends, even if you never wanted to see it."

"Did you ever stop to think that I didn't mind? That maybe I loved hanging out with him? It was better than chasing after you and trying to get you to hang out with me. He wasn't blood but he treated me like more of a brother than you did sometimes, which sucked, even when I was grateful that I had him in my life. He was my first love and even if we didn't fully mesh that way, there were things that we got to explore together that helped us know what we were looking for."

"And that was then. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't go looking to pick up where you left off."

"I'm not. I'm falling for your boss and definitely planning on fucking him in the very near future."

"Seriously. That's TMI right there, I don't need to hear that shit."

"Are you really gonna say that to me after all the descriptions you shared of your nights with Mindy?" Haven shot back. "I hear you've been hooking up with her again. Isn't that falling back into old patterns."

"She's changed. We've both grown up a lot since the last time we were together."

"And? Don't I deserve the same chance to pick back up with one of my friends?"

"Not when it's Jeremy."

"Does he have something on you?"

When Archer's eyes narrowed, Haven knew he'd touched on something that his brother didn't want him to know about.

"Are you going to tell me what it is, or do I have to ask him?"

"Leave it alone, Haven, I'm warning you, just leave it be."

"Why? So it can come back and bite me in the ass later, like not telling anyone that you'd been gambling and doing favors for people you shouldn't have been involved with? Maybe if I'd spoken up Pops would have stopped you and sent you someplace where you could have gotten help before you decided to try dealing hard drugs to make the money you needed to repay the people you owned."

"And I'd have been done with all of that if Andy had just paid me for what I'd given him."

"You never give anyone anything without getting the money up front," Haven said. "If you weren't smart enough to do that, then you were destined to get busted or killed."

"I didn't think my friend would fuck me over."

"And I bet he didn't think you'd put him in a wheelchair."

"I never meant for it to go that far."

"That's the thing about intentions and actualities," Haven said. "Sometimes they can be galaxies apart."

"I should have listened to you when you tried to stop me."

"But you didn't."

"I can't change that."

"No, but you can drop whatever this issue is with Jeremy and let me live my life the way I want to from now on. You owe me that much at least."

"I owe you much more than that."

"Then show it. And if you can't stay the fuck away from me."

Sighing, Archer ran his fingers through his hair. "So…you and Maddox, that's a thing now?"

Hands on his hips, eyes narrowed, Haven stared down his brother and dared him to say something negative about that relationship too. "Getting there."

Haven was shocked when Archer nodded, and a small smile lifted his lips. "Good for you. He talks gruff and he can come across as an asshole sometimes, but he saved me from myself and gave me a life I'm starting to be proud of. You'll be in good hands if you're with him and I know he'd never hurt you or take advantage of you."

"That's high praise, coming from you," Haven admitted. "I figured you'd shit all over it like you've been shitting all over Jeremy."

"One has nothing to do with the other. Maddox is a good man with a fucked up past who will never hold yours against you."

"Only it's not even my past that people are judging me for, it's yours," Haven reminded him. "Sometimes, when you talk, it's like you actually believe the lies we told. That's what's making it so hard to trust anything you say right now. It's like you're living in some illusion you've created and you're terrified that someone is going to come along and pop the bubble. Maybe it would just be easier if we finally told the truth, at least to River and Meadow. River's been asking questions. He's certain that I took the fall for someone. Wouldn't you rather he finds out it was you from you, so maybe we can mitigate the damage?"

"We can't do that," Archer snapped, body ridged as he stood to his full height. "There's no undoing that lie. We can't expect them to handle it any way but negatively. You being home means we have the chance to hit the reset button and start over from scratch with everything. The way we were close as kids, I know we can get back to that, but not if we open another rift between us. It was my crime, but it was your lie and you've maintained it this long. You can't just walk it back like it never happened. They are going to be just as furious about the way you looked them in the eye and lied as they'll be if they find out I'm the one who beat the hell out of Andy."

"Why is it that when you say shit like that it still sounds like you're more interested in protecting yourself than you are with protecting me?"

"All I'm interested in is a fresh start," Archer declared as he snatched his shades off the counter and headed for the door. "I know I can't stop you from spending time with Jeremy, but be careful, please. He doesn't have anything on me, but there is someone gunning for Chaos, someone tied up with everything that happened between me and Andy. They wouldn't hesitate to hurt Jeremy to get back at his old man and if you're with him, they'd hurt you too, just to make me suffer. I love you, kid. I know you might not believe that anymore, and I'm sorry for that. I was a shitty big brother. I really dropped the ball when it came to looking out for you. I'm not gonna let you get hurt any further by my stupid shit."

"Just promise you won't do any new stupid shit and maybe we can move forward from there."

Where before, Archer had been meeting his gaze, now he ducked his head again and his shoulders slumped.

Haven groaned and wished like hell he'd grabbed a pre-rolled blunt from the dispensary before the start of this conversation. "Oh my god, what have you done now?"

"Nothing. I swear," Archer blurted as he shuffled from one foot to the other. "But I thought about it. I threatened to hurt Jeremy as bad as I hurt Andy if he didn't stay away from you."

"What are you, stupid? Are you trying to get yourself killed? You fuck with him and Chaos will fuck up your entire existence."

"I won't have a choice, that's what I'm trying to tell you."

"There are always choices, you just make the wrong ones."

His brother had always had this thing about twisting the ends of his hair when he was worried about something. Even with it the shortest Haven had ever seen it, Archer still found a way to wrap several strands around his finger.

"Spit it out already," Haven growled. "I can already tell I'm not going to like whatever the hell it is. You might as well just dose me in gasoline and light me on fire before whatever shitshow you've got going on has a chance to steamroll over me.

"That night, with Andy, I didn't hurt him like that because of the money. The fight was because of it, but not the way I let you think. Aside from the money he owed me, Andy owed money to the bookies, just like I did. They had this thing, sort of like a fight club, where they pitted two guys against one another, made bets and wiped your debt if you won, as long as you won them more money than you owed them. The more brutal the beatdown the better. There were even bonus points for doing various levels of damage."

"Which I'm guessing you were awarded."

"Yeah, I…I'd already decided that I was leaving, but I didn't want my past following me and I sure as hell didn't want to give them any reason to go after you guys, which they would have done if I hadn't fought. I know Andy was fighting for the same reason. They threatened his mom. She was all he had. Neither of us could back down. I was just the better fighter, but I swear I didn't mean to hurt him that bad. I just wanted the bonus points. It wasn't until I heard what the charges were that I knew how bad I'd hurt him and by then, we'd already lied."

"Which is when you panicked and took off."

"If I'd stuck around, I would have told the truth."

"I wish you had."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, even when leaving disasters in your wake."

"Haven…"

"Go somewhere. I don't care where, just get the hell away from me and stay away for a while," Haven demanded. "That should be easy for you. You've had plenty of practice."

The bells tied across the bar in front of the door jangled and clattered when Archer finally shoved it open, but only after forgetting he'd locked it and walking face first into the pane. Giggling at the kick in the ass karma had just dealt his brother, Haven watched him go, his brother's admission still playing on a loop in his mind.

He truly believed his brother when Archer said he wanted to start over. Maybe he hadn't planned on it, but what he'd just done by telling Haven the truth of what had taken place, was going to allow Haven to keep Jeremy and Archer safe, along with the rest of the people they loved. He just needed to pass the information on to Chaos and trust him to take it from there. Haven's days of trying to clean up messes himself were over. He'd learned the hard way to leave shit like that to people bigger and badder than he ever wanted to be.