Council and Defence

Tracy had focused on her task of making pancakes and calmly stirred the mix as the two men bickered about the discussion they had just ended. Chris with his arm around her and Felix seated across from them; both now scoffing down the pancakes as their banter went back and forth. "How was the party last night?" she asked, breaking her silence and directing the topic away from their bickering and towards something she was actually interested in hearing.

"It was great." Chris answered, "The food and music were really good. You should have been there, Max killed it with his set." He paused to take a sip of orange juice before turning to Felix, "But you left early." He pointed out with an inquiring gaze, "What happened? The guys were looking for you."

"Yeah… about that…" Felix trailed off, his head hung back putting his Adam's apple on full display as he scratched his nape in an effort to piece together an explanation, "I was going to stay until the end but Becky and I got into a little debate so I ended up taking her home."

"A little debate?" Tracy cocked an eyebrow.

"Well it may have been more of an argument." He admitted.

"I thought you two have been doing okay these days." Tracy chimed in, "What happened to patching everything up?"

"It's not like we planned to argue." Felix began his defence, fixing his posture as he elaborated the circumstances that lead to his early departure.

Tracy had finally finished the last batch of batter and now sat down beside him to eat her breakfast. Chris, who had taken over from her was frying up the last batch for them. However, both listened attentively as Felix gave his story. Hanging on his words while making sure to not erupt with comments until he was done.

"That guy was bluntly hitting on her in front of me, yet she expected me not to do anything about it while she flirted back like I wasn't even there." His voice rose slightly as he came to the end of his story. The anger he had felt only a few hours ago starting to bubble up again as he recalled the events of the night. "I pushed his hand back when he tried to touch her but she got upset with me. Even after he made it obvious he was interested on her. What's up with that?"

"You did the right thing bro." Chris said coming to the counter and scooping the final pancake onto a plate. "I know I would react the same way if I was you."

"You see!" Felix's eyes widened, elated to have someone agree with his side of things. "I'm not wrong for this."

"Definitely not." Chris replied, "Especially given her hi..."

"But this isn't about who is wrong is it?" Tracy interrupted, shooting Chris a quick glare before he could imply anything more, "I agree that what you did was right and I support you being protective over her, but if you want to know why she got mad you have to think of it from her point of view too." She proceeded to elaborate how she thought Becky saw the situation.

"You said she already knew him before right?" she asked

"Yeah. So?" Felix responded

"To her she was catching up with an old friend. She probably only got mad because the conversation made it look like you don't trust her."

"Yeah but that's still not an excuse for why she didn't say the two of them were dating." Chris pointed out. "She left it out knowingly and proceeded to let some guy flirt with her right in front of her boyfriend."

"And I agree that she is wrong for that. I just wanted to highlight what could have been going through her mind." Tracy responded, "Or at the very least a theory on why she thought she did nothing wrong."

"She was also quite drunk." Felix murmured

"You were both tipsy!" Chris interjected not allowing Felix to rationalise Becky's actions as alcohol induced, "That is not an excuse and you know it."

"How did you resolve things?" Tracy asked. The question was met with silence and wandering eyes when she looked at Felix. "You didn't?"

"We pretty much just screamed at each other after I dragged her out of the venue." He was red-faced as he admitted.

"You dragged her out!?" Chris looked at him in shock.

"She didn't want to leave so I pulled her by her wrist, then we ended up fighting in the front yard. We said a lot of stuff and it ended with me taking her home."

"Oh God." Chris called to a higher power as he brought his palm over his face.

"What do you think about all this?" Felix looked to Tracy for answers.

"I think you both need to apologise." She answered after giving it some thought, "Becky is definitely in the wrong for her actions and what she didn't say last night; but the way you handled everything doesn't help your case either." She laid out her thoughts on the events of the past night hopeful they may be of some help, "You're right for addressing it but I just think you could have handled it without the dragging and screaming"

"What about you?" Felix asked Chris in turn.

"I agree with Tracy that you did not handle it perfectly, but I can not think of another way I would have handled things if I was in your position." Chris began, "I also maintain that Becky was wrong for not saying anything to that guy. So I think you both need to talk out what happened and decide if you're willing to apologise."

His friends had given their opinions, now it was up to Felix to take them or leave them. His mind raced through the possibilities of what could be done trying to decide what mattered in this situation. What did he want at the end of everything and what would he have to do to get there.

As he continued to rake through the web of possibilities in his mind he felt a sense of warmth on his shoulder that snapped him back into reality.

"What do you want to do?" Tracy had placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a reassuring hold that she would side with whatever he decided, "Do you want to make up and stay together? Or do you really believe that this is something the two of you can't forgive and forget?"

Felix forced his mind to come up with an answer. Where did he see his relationship with Becky after this? and was it a future he wanted to be part of? On one hand, he wasn't sure how many more fights he could take and whether the two of them would ever see eye to eye on some matters. On another he knew how he felt towards Becky. She was his girl and he wanted to stay by her side. He wanted to continue loving her.

"I think I know what I need to do." Felix finally answered, "Thanks for breakfast." He added as he got up from his seat. Felix hurried out of the kitchen without saying anything further. While Tracy and Chris watched without question as he disappeared down the hallway.