[Modern Family] Ch: 15 [The Big Question: Alex or Haley] (Patreon)

[Restaurant]

They picked a table outside beneath a huge umbrella near the edge of the patio. They could see the ocean beyond the nearby shops. People moved along the sidewalk with ice creams, shopping bags, and beach towels.

A waiter brought their drinks first.

Haley had ordered a strawberry-lime mocktail with crushed ice, fresh strawberries, and mint. Jason had gone with a mango cooler that came in a short glass with a slice of orange resting against the rim. 

'Don't know why they added orange to a mango cooler? They could've just added a slice of mango,' Jason thought. 

Haley looked at both drinks, then picked up hers with a satisfied smile. “Mine looks better.”

Jason looked at his glass. “Mine has mango.”

“Mine has strawberries, lime, and mint. It looks like summer.”

“Mine looks like a drink.”

Haley laughed before taking a sip. Her eyes widened a little. “Okay, this is really good.”

Jason tasted his own drink and nodded. “Mine’s good too.”

Haley leaned over and looked at it. “Can I try it?”

“Go ahead.”

She took his glass, sipped through the straw, then handed it back. “It’s nice.”

“That sounded painful for you to admit.”

“It was.” Haley picked up her mocktail again. “But mine’s still better.”

Jason smiled. “You decided that before you even tasted mine.”

“Yeah, and I was right.”

Their food arrived a few minutes later.

The waiter placed a wide bowl of crab risotto in front of Haley. The rice was creamy and pale gold, mixed with pieces of crab meat and topped with grilled shrimp, parsley, and a lemon wedge. Jason had ordered blackened fish tacos with avocado, cabbage, mango salsa, and a side of fries. They had also ordered fried calamari for the table, served with lemon wedges and a small bowl of spicy sauce.

Haley reached for her spoon, then stopped.

“Wait.”

Jason looked up. “What?”

She had already pulled out her phone. “It looks really good.”

“It’s risotto.”

“It’s good-looking risotto.”

Jason leaned back in his chair while she took a few pictures. Haley moved her mocktail closer to the bowl, adjusted the angle of her phone, then took another picture.

“You’re arranging your drink now?” Jason asked.

“I’m not arranging it. I’m making the picture look nice.”

She checked the photos, smiled, and slipped her phone back into her purse. “Okay. Now we can eat.”

“Thank you for letting me.”

Haley ignored him and took her first bite.

She paused with the spoon still in her hand, then took another one right away.

“Oh, wow.”

Jason looked across the table. “That good?”

She nodded quickly. “Try it.”

Jason reached for a clean spoon, took a small bite, and nodded. “Yeah, that’s really good.”

Haley smiled like she had made the choice personally for both of them. “I know.”

“The crab’s good.”

“The whole thing is good.” She took another bite. “It’s creamy, but it doesn’t feel too heavy. And the shrimp is actually cooked right.”

Jason picked up one of his tacos. “That sounds like you’ve been disappointed by shrimp before.”

“More than once.” Haley pointed her spoon at him. “Some restaurants act like they can cook seafood just because they put lemon next to it.”

“Yep, not everyone can cook seafood properly.”

She looked toward his plate. “How are the tacos?”

Jason took a bite before answering. “Really good. The mango salsa works.”

Haley looked doubtful. “Mango on fish?”

“You should try it.”

She reached across the table, took one of the tacos, and pulled a small piece from the end. After tasting it, she looked at him with surprise.

“Okay. That’s actually good.”

“You sound shocked.”

“I thought it would be weird.”

“You judged it before trying it again.”

“I have good instincts.”

Jason picked up a fry. “You have very fast opinions.”

Haley smiled. “Same thing.”

They shared the calamari while they kept talking. Haley dipped a piece into the sauce, tasted it, and nodded.

“This is good too.”

“You’ve said that about everything so far.”

“Because everything so far is good.” She leaned back in her chair. “You picked a good place.”

Jason looked at her. “I’m glad.”

Haley took another sip of her mocktail. “I like it here. The food’s good, the view’s great, and..." She looked at him with a little smile. "...the company is awesome."

Jason leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. “That’s a strong review. Should I put it on the restaurant’s website?”

Haley laughed. “No. Then they’ll make me pay for advertising.”

“You’d probably negotiate free risotto.”

“Obviously.” She lifted her spoon again. “I’m not doing public service for nothing.”

Jason picked up another piece of calamari. “That’s fair. So, what kind of food do you actually like when you’re not taking pictures of seafood?”

Haley looked offended for a second. “I don’t take pictures of every meal.”

Jason raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, I don’t take pictures of every meal anymore,” she corrected. “It depends. I love pasta, fries, pizza, tacos, anything with a lot of cheese, and breakfast food. Breakfast food is always good.”

“Even at dinner?”

“Especially at dinner. Pancakes don’t care what time it is.”

Jason nodded seriously. “That might be the smartest thing anyone has said today.”

Haley smiled and pointed her spoon at him. “Thank you. Alex would hate that.”

“Why?”

“Because she’d explain that pancakes have too much sugar and then talk about blood glucose for ten minutes.”

For a while, they stayed at the table beneath the umbrella, talking without rushing through anything. The conversation moved through small, easy subjects. Haley told him about things she liked, places she wanted to visit, and a few random stories about her family that made Jason laugh. Jason shared enough about himself to keep her interested without turning the afternoon into some long speech about his life.

The longer they talked, the more relaxed Haley became.

She had a way of making ordinary things entertaining. Even when she talked about something simple, she added enough confidence and drama that Jason could not help smiling. She also had a habit of watching his reactions closely, like she wanted to know whether he was genuinely interested or only being polite.

Jason was interested.

At some point, the conversation shifted toward college.

"Well, I got kicked out of college because I messed up.” Haley let out a small breath before continuing. “There was a campus party. Everyone was drinking, people were loud, and I thought it would be fine because it was college. I mean, everyone acts like college is this place where you suddenly become an adult and nobody cares what you do.”

She gave a short laugh, though it did not sound very amused.

“Then the police showed up.”

Jason rested his arms on the table and listened.

“I panicked and tried to leave through the fire escape,” Haley said. “There was a cop below me, and he told me to raise my hands. So, I did.”

'It's season 4? But things don't add up? It's 2009. It should be season 1. Oh well, it's an alternate reality anyway. I wonder what else is different and what other realities are mashed up alongside Modern Family,' Jason thought as his mouth twitched. "That doesn't sound good."

"Yeah, I fell directly on top of him.” Haley covered part of her face with one hand. “Then it became underage drinking, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer.”

Jason already knew this event from the show, and it was hilarious. He tried to hold his laugh.

Haley noticed immediately. “You’re laughing.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“You should try harder.”

“I am,” Jason said, smiling despite himself. “It’s just a very funny story.”

She stared at him for a second, then started laughing too. “That’s rude."

“A little.”

“It was horrible,” Haley said as she shook her head. “Then I had the disciplinary meeting. My parents were there, Uncle Mitch was there, and everyone was looking at me like I had ruined my whole life.”

“What happened?” He asked.

Haley groaned and leaned back in her chair. “They asked me questions, and I told them everything. I admitted I skipped morning classes, drinking at parties, and I didn’t know the college mascot.”

Jason blinked. “You didn’t know the mascot?”

“I still don’t know the mascot,” Haley said. “It probably had something to do with a bird or a color. I don’t know."

That made Jason laugh again, though he kept it quieter this time.

Haley gave him a look. “You’re enjoying this too much.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re not.”

“No,” Jason admitted. “I’m not.”

Haley sighed, but there was a faint smile on her face. “Anyway, they kicked me out. So now I’m trying to get into community college and figure out what I’m supposed to do next.”

Jason looked at her for a moment before speaking.

“Well, a little lie could’ve saved you, but you didn’t. You took responsibility for your actions. I like that.”

Haley blinked.

“That is not what people usually say when I tell them that story.”

“What do they usually say?”

“They ask how I could be so stupid.”

Jason nodded slowly. “You made bad choices. Everybody does at some point. But you didn’t blame anyone else, and you didn’t make up some fake excuse when you got caught. You were honest, even though it made things worse for you.”

Haley looked down at her hands.

“It definitely made things worse.”

“Maybe,” Jason said. “But it also means you owned what you did. That matters.”

She stayed quiet for a few seconds. The usual confidence in her expression softened, and Jason could see that the story still bothered her more than she wanted people to know.

“My parents were really disappointed,” Haley said quietly.

“I’m sure they were. But ever wondered that they might be a little proud because you didn't lie?” Jason replied. “And you’re trying again now. You’re looking at community college, and thinking about what comes next. That’s better than giving up and pretending none of it happened.”

Haley looked at him. “You really think I can fix things?”

"It all depends on what you do after you get back into college. You can either repeat the same mistakes or be a little serious about what you do next. It's as simple as that," He said with a serious expression.

“Are you always this direct?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Anyone in your place would've praised me and said, yeah, I can do it and all that stuff. But you... Haha..." She chuckled a bit. "You're... interesting."

“I can stop.”

“No,” Haley said immediately. "It's hard to find a guy who doesn't beat around the bush and just tell you the truth directly without sugarcoating."

Jason smiled. “Then I’ll keep going.”

She looked down at her glass, trying to hide the small smile on her face.

For the rest of the meal, the mood stayed lighter. Haley seemed more comfortable after telling him the truth, and Jason was glad she had trusted him enough to say it. She still made jokes, still gave him that confident look whenever she caught him staring, and still acted like she had the whole day under control.

But Jason could tell there was more to her than the version people usually saw.

By the time they stood from the table, the sun had shifted lower over the water. The sidewalk was busy with people heading toward the beach, and the ocean breeze carried the smell of salt through the air.

Haley adjusted her purse over her shoulder and looked up at him.

“I had fun today.”

Jason smiled. “Me too.”

She bumped her shoulder lightly against his arm as they started walking back toward the car.

"So, what's your plan? Date both of us together?" Haley asked as they reached the car. She leaned her back against the car. 

"You think that'd work? I mean, you and Alex are the only girls I've been out with and spend this much time with and I don't think I can say no to a girl," Jason said after thinking for a bit.

He imagined having his own harem, but he knew that imagination is different from reality. However, this is an alternate world, and God has given him many cheats to make his life easier. So, what are the odds that God has a harem planned for him? 

'Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes...' He kept repeating that in his mind like a parrot.

'OMG, did he just ask me that? Alex and me together? I mean, it's wild and insane and I love wild and insane. We could do a little experiment, yeah? I really like him a lot, and I don't want to lose him at any freaking cost. I mean, look at him... he's so handsome, sexy, hot... virgin! And look at his arms... looks so strong. I wanna climb him like a tree and just... Shit! Okay, Haley. Calm down. I can say yes, but what about Alex? What if she thinks that I'm some kind of freak? Okay, alright, I need to talk to her about this,' Haley froze for a moment as countless thoughts ran through her head.

It took three minutes for her to recover.

"Ahem! I'll talk with Alex and then let you know," She said with a little nod. 'Okay, I said it. There's no going back now.'

"Okay," He narrowed his eyes. He was so nervous that his heart was beating like a jackhammer. The thought of botching up the start of a good relationship just because of his harem dream felt like a nightmare to him. 'Did that work?' 

"By the way, you said you can't say no to a girl, right?" Haley asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, as long as you ain't asking to sell my kidneys or take my money," Jason replied with a shrug.

Note: This might be the fastest harem intro in any of my fics. 🤔😬