Page 10 of Addiction

I think I may need to speak with Theo sooner than expected.

Latching my eyes onto the tree house at the bottom of the garden, my mind flashes back to Nora and all the years she spent up in that thing. It had been her sanctuary and her comfort, and on many occasions her resting place as she’d fall asleep.

I’m yet to see her, and a part of me is unsure if I even want that today at all. That’s not me being a dick, it’s me wanting to remain strong. I’ve already crumbled to my knees in front of my mother; the last thing I want my sister to see is that I’m vulnerable. It will only lead to a thousand questions, and the truth is, they’re ones I don’t wish to answer right now. But Nora being the young, intriguing, loving sister that she is will have other ideas. People’s problems are not their own when she is around. Grayson had fallen victim to that after his mother died. Caught up in his own guilt, he’d bottled that shit up until Nora saw right through him.

That’s another thing I failed at. My friendship with him. Thankfully, he’s not turned his back on me like he had every right to, and I’m more grateful to have him in my life now than I ever have been.

“They’re here,” Mom says, walking into the kitchen quickly, now with a look of excitement in her eyes after freshening herself up.

I smile at her response yet my stomach is twisted and my heartbeat is frantic.

"Mom. You here?” Nora shouts.

"In the kitchen, darling."

Nervous energy races around my body at the sound of my sister’s voice, and I can’t help the smile when I hear her nagging at Grayson about something. "All I'm saying Grayson is that you could have just—"

Her words are cut short when she enters the kitchen and her eyes land on me. She stops dead, as if she's trying to work out what is going on. Her hot-toffee hair hangs down over her shoulders, a little shorter than I remember. Her bright blue eyes—now glistening with tears—hold me captive as Grayson stands behind her with a shit-eating grin.

I swallow hard. “Hey, sis.”

Without a second thought, she drops her purse and runs toward me, jumping into my arms for me to catch her, her tears now falling.

We've come a long way in the past nineteen months and, in many ways, we have become closer than we ever were.

"You're really here?" she cries, pulling back to look at me.

"I'm really here."

"I've missed you so much."

She holds me close again, as if she’s afraid of letting go, and I keep her secure in my arms, not wanting to let her go as I try and get to grips with my emotions.

Mom’s eyes glisten with tears and Gray nods his head in greeting, smiling just as hard. This welcome has been better than I had imagined, and for the first time since I woke, I can finally say it feels good to be home. Putting Nora to her feet, I welcome the acceptance of Gray, wrapping my arms around him.

“Glad to finally have your pretty face home.”

“Glad to be home.”

“When did you get back?”

“A few hours ago. I had Twilight pick me up. I didn’t want to cause a fuss in case it didn’t go as planned.”

He nods, holding my stare and I know he can read my every thought.

“You should have said. We’d have collected you,” Nora says, wiping her eyes.

“But then he wouldn’t have been able to pull off a surprise like this,” Grayson adds, kissing her on the head.

“It’s true, darling. He even had me speechless when I opened the door to find him standing there,” Mom adds.

“I guess I can let you off. You look well by the way. And look at these guns.” She grabs my biceps. “No guesses for what you’ve been doing all this time.”

I chuckle. “You look good yourself considering you’ve had a baby. I was expecting you to be a total airhead with dark circles under your eyes and food down your clothes.”

“That’s only on the weekends,” Grayson adds, earning himself a punch from his fiancée.

“Talking of your niece, would you like to meet her?" She grins.