Who: Jared & Sadie What: Random encounter in the wild Where: Grocery shopping When: Thursday 10/12 Status: Complete
Grocery shopping was such a mundane thing but ever since coming out it had been a bit interesting for Jared. This week five people had honest to God walked up to him to express their opinions on his relationship with Ty and while most of it was pretty positive it amazed him that they felt the need to tell him about it, like it mattered to him what they thought. They weren't even people he knew very well beyond a friendly greeting but still. Fortunately none of them had been too bad about it but Jared had a feeling that was bound to happen. Maybe he'd run into Ty's mom one of these days. So, shopping now was not too mundane and he felt a little more wary than he usually did as he strolled down the aisle and dropped groceries in his cart.
His wariness changed into a somewhat sinking feeling when he spotted Sadie as he rounded a corner. He had no good news for her. They still hadn't found Danny, not a trace, and maybe she'd heard about his new relationship by now. It really was anyone's guess how she'd react and Jared steeled himself a bit before plastering on a warm little smile. "Hey, Sadie," he murmured and had a weird memory of handing her things from the top shelf, feeling like a damn provider.
Sadie's mind was elsewhere so she hadn't seen Jared coming down the aisle toward her until he said her name. His voice startled her out of her thoughts and she managed a sheepish smile at her reaction, already feeling the intense awkwardness start to seep in. She had heard about Jared and Ty's relationship already. Her sister's boyfriend had been at the karaoke bar the night the two men... came out? Went public? Whatever it was. It hadn't taken Tatum very long to call Sadie about it, and even if she hadn't, most of the town knew by now anyway.
It stung a little that she'd had to hear about it from other people, even though rationally Sadie knew Jared didn't owe her a thing. But they lived in the same town and people liked to talk and it only made sense that Sadie would get dragged into the gossip surrounding her ex-husband's new boyfriend. So she smiled at him, and hoped her voice didn't sound overly cheery as she greeted him. "Hey! How are you?"
She knew. Jared couldn't even explain how he knew that but they had been together for years and he knew her. "I'm alright," he said softly, unsure if he should bring up Danny at all or not, he was probably constantly on her mind and she didn't need that depressing reminder. "How have you been?" It was small talk he could do without but that was what their relationship had kind of been reduced to.
Sadie didn't want to talk about Danny. There had been nothing new in a long time and she was beginning to resign herself to the fact that he was gone. Either by choice, or otherwise. It was difficult for her family, and she felt terrible for everyone, but what more could she do now? "I've been pretty good," Sadie said with a nod, her gaze shifting back to the canned soups before she reached out to grab one, not even quite sure what it was as it fell into her basket. "Just keeping busy." Honestly, Sadie hated small talk with anyone, though she was used to it, being a teacher. It was made more difficult knowing that there was this huge Thing between them - Ty Solomon - and Sadie wasn't exactly sure how to broach the subject. She lifted a brow, still trying to seem casual. "How's work?"
"Interesting," Jared said with a little nod of his own, his lips quirking into a small smile as he searched her expression. "You've heard, haven't you," he then asked cautiously and maybe this wasn't the best place to talk but it would feel even weirder not to talk about it at all. "I'm seeing someone." He didn't feel guilty about it but he wasn't sure what else to call that feeling that bloomed in his his stomach, a bit heavy and strange. Sadie had left him, he'd waited a long time before he moved on and he still felt like he had betrayed her somehow.
There was relief when he finally said it, because that meant they didn't have to dance around the subject with awkward, painful chit chat. Sadie shifted the basket in her hands again and nodded, a small smile forming on her lips. "I heard, yes. Deputy Solomon," she said with a raise of her brow. "It's strange that you can be married to someone for so long and never quite know them." Sadie didn't care that Jared was apparently bisexual. It was something of a shock, yes, and she hadn't really believed it at first when Tatum told her, but now that the news had settled a bit, she was more bothered by the fact that she'd never known it,. Maybe he hadn't either, but still.
He could say the same about her and he had, when she left, but he wasn't going to rub that in. "I didn't really know either," he said with a little shrug. "I had you, that was enough." So much for not rubbing it in, it wasn't his intention but it could be hard to steer away from past bitterness when talking about their relationship. It had ended, he'd been hurt for a long time, that didn't just go away even if he was happy now and had long since forgiven her. It was in their history now, a part of them. "I hope people aren't giving you a hard time about it."
Sadie had grown to accept the occasional cutting remark about their relationship, regardless of who it came from. She knew the breakdown of their marriage had been her fault and she still harbored guilt over it, mainly because she did still care for Jared and she hadn’t wanted to hurt him. But he had someone new now, and from what she had been told, he was happy, so Sadie was hoping that maybe the lingering bitterness could finally fade. Even so, the familiar sting of guilt pierced her chest and Sadie bit back on the sigh, but managed a small smile instead. “No one is giving me a hard time. I’m sure some people are quite smug about it, but nothing has been said to my face. And if it eventually is, it’s nothing you need to worry about.” Her smile relaxed into something more sincere. “Are you happy?”
"Hey," Jared told her firmly. "We're still friends. If someone gives you a hard time you tell them to come say whatever's on their mind to me. Tell'em I said to do so." He was sure he'd told her that a while ago too but he could understand why she wouldn't do it. Sadie was fiercely independent and always had been, maybe that was what had played a part in their breakup. Jared knew he was clingy and overprotective and the divorce had kind of made him feel insecure about those aspects of himself but it was healing now as Ty let him be those things. The worry didn't go away though, that it would be too much again but there was really no way of knowing without going right through.
"I will," Sadie promised, even if she didn't really mean it. She was hoping that people would just let it go. The divorce had been final for months and the gossip had died down. Maybe this would reignite talk for a while but Sadie wasn't terribly worried about it. She had a feeling Jared and Ty would be the focus here, not Sadie. "How are things going? You're not getting any trouble, are you?" Most of the people she knew were pretty open minded, and Point Pleasant seemed to be a close knit community, but every town had their assholes.
"Nothing serious," Jared replied and from what he could see she didn't seem too bothered by it but who really knew. "I had one lady tell me I was living in sin but it felt more like when someone tells you your fly is open. Very polite, hesitant even." He chuckled and shook his head. "My boss is cool with it and he's the only one who could really cause me problems so it's all good." It was just like her to worry about him instead of holding a grudge and a little bit of that old affection sparked in his chest. "How's the family? Lucy doing okay... she's with your aunt, right?"
Sadie smiled and then exhaled slowly before shrugging. "To me, living in sin means you're living," she said. "And you should enjoy every second of it that you can." It always amused her, the judgmental and righteous who felt like they had the right to condemn people to their face. In this town, if living in sin meant Hell, everybody in Point Pleasant would have a one way ticket to the bad place, she was sure of it. Still, Sadie was happy to hear that it didn't seem to bother Jared any. He knew how to deal with the public and he'd probably had plenty of practice after their divorce. "Lucy is as good as can be expected. She's with some family in Portland. Tatum and Kyle are still together. They actually saw you and Ty at the karaoke bar..."
Jared hadn't seen Tatum and Kyle at the bar but then he had been pretty preoccupied by Ty the whole night, maybe more than was normal. A blush crept up his neck and bloomed in his cheeks at hearing they had been there since that was probably how Sadie had found out in the first place. Weird rumors, Jared and Ty serenading each other on stage in a karaoke bar. It had been an amazing night but much like being drunk it was a little embarrassing afterwards. Nothing had happened as such, it wasn't like they had kissed or anything but it had still been fairly obvious. "Guess you heard it from them first, huh?"
The blush wasn't exactly subtle, not that Jared could help it, and Sadie lifted a brow while trying unsuccessfully to suppress a smile. "Yeah. Tatum called me about it. I was just sort of waiting to hear it from you. Not that you owe me an explanation or anything, but I didn't want to get caught up in rumors that might have had no basis in fact." But if Sadie had begun to date someone, she probably would have wanted to tell Jared first before the gossip began. But that made more sense, given Sadie had been the one to walk away from their marriage. It didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. She knew now, and it was fine. She just wanted Jared to be happy.
"I didn't tell a soul," Jared muttered a bit sheepishly. "It was all very hush hush for a while there, Ty was in the closet so..." She had probably guessed. Jared was rarely shy about his personal life but then this wasn't like anything he'd gotten up to before so maybe she had no way of knowing. "You probably should have heard from me first, it just got away from us." He didn't think he owed her an explanation either but they were friends, or at least friendly, so he could have given her a heads up.
Sadie was not unaware of the implications that came with Ty 'coming out' for Jared. It told her that their relationship was no longer casual, if it ever had been. "It's really okay," Sadie assured him. "Hearing it from my sister was maybe the next best thing. I'm not sure what I would have done if some lady had come up to me to tell me my ex-husband was living in sin." She smiled softly. "If you're happy, Jared, I'm happy for you." Ultimately, that was all that mattered, right? Maybe some of that lingering guilt she'd felt at ending their marriage would finally disappear, with Jared moving on.
"Thanks, Sadie," Jared said softly and was overwhelmed with the urge to hug her for that. The only reason he didn't go ahead and do it was that he knew it was not a good idea for a guy his size to tackle-hug anyone without asking. He raised his arms a little and tilted his head, knowing full well she understood that simple unspoken request and would even if they hadn't been together for years.
Sadie chuckled once and then moved her basket out of the way so she could step forward and hug Jared with her free arm. There were probably some people who would see and speculate, but that was okay, let them. She squeezed him tight, remembering how nice it was when Jared hugged her. He was always so solid and warm. It was one of the things she occasionally found herself missing. "We're okay, right?" she murmured, lifting her face up to look at him.
It hadn't been that long ago that this had been his happy place, anywhere where he could hug Sadie to his chest while ducking down to smell her hair. He would feel more sad about it if he wasn't finally moving on and now it just felt bittersweet. When she looked up he smiled and nodded. "We're okay," he promised. "Just different now." No longer lovers they'd probably never be close friends but he still cared about her and that had to count for something.
They had been 'different' for a long time, but it felt like maybe now they could be friends. Maybe not close, but it would be nice to be able to let go of past hurts and guilt and just move forward. If they were going to continue living in the same small town, Sadie wanted Jared to know she had his back, and hopefully he had hers. She smiled at him and pressed up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek before pulling back. "I'm glad I ran into it. An aisle in the grocery store isn't exactly the most ideal place to have this conversation, but... I'm glad we did."
Jared looked around with a little grin, eyebrows arched. "What do you mean?" he murmured. "This is the perfect place for a conversation like this." At least the store wasn't busy, they probably wouldn't have talked at all if there were a lot of people around. He also didn't feel right visiting her at home to tell her about Ty so this had, all joking aside, been kind of perfect. "So what's going on with you? Not seeing anyone yet? Might be time to move on." He had a sudden need for her to know that he was okay with it now, that he was finally in a place where seeing her with another man wouldn't make him feel bitter and angry.
Sadie chuckled and pulled back from Jared to shift the grocery basket from one hand to the other. Honestly, she was hoping some people had seen them being friendly. It would be nice to squash any "bitter ex" gossip from the get go. "Other than the obvious, there's not much going on," Sadie explained. "Coaching the girls at school, work, spending time with my aunt and Tatum." Her smile widened a bit before she shook her head. "No, I'm not seeing anyone. If someone comes along that catches my eye, I'll be sure to let you know. I'm just enjoying life as it is right now." As much as she could, anyway.
"That's good to hear," Jared said about her enjoying life. He really hoped she was whether she was alone or not. He knew he shouldn't care at this point but there was something validating about her not wanting to date yet, that she hadn't ended their marriage to be with someone else but just because she needed her own time and space. He hadn't understood that at all for a while but now he was weirdly glad for it. At the same time he wished he had better news for her. They'd stopped the search for Danny as it was pointless after so long and all they had were the notifications in hospitals and police station statewide but that hadn't gotten them anything either. "If you hear from Lucy let her know I'm here for her if she needs anything. She'll always be family."
It wasn't necessarily that Sadie didn't want to date. She just hadn't found anyone worth dating yet. But it was true that she had needed her space, and to be on her own, and she was glad that she and Jared could finally put that behind them. Maybe all he'd needed was to find someone else to finally move on, and she was happy for him. Obviously there would be some people who would think differently, but Sadie couldn't help how everyone else perceived their relationship. "I'll let Lucy know," Sadie promised. "You should send her a text soon. I'm sure she would love to hear from you." A small smile played at her lips as she glanced down into her basket. "I should probably finish up and get going."
She was right, Jared should just text Lucy. Just because she had left town that didn't mean he couldn't do anything for her and she'd probably appreciate knowing that. "It was good seeing you," he said and meant it. Letting go of his bitterness did his heart good and he hoped they could remain friends. "If you need anything you know where to find me."
“Always,” Sadie said with a smile. “Thanks, Jared.” She reached for his arm to rub it gently before turning to head back down the aisle. She couldn’t even remember what else she needed, but that was okay. She felt better now than she had when she first arrived, so that was something. Maybe things were finally starting to turn around for the both of them.