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Maddie slaps his stomach, but laughs and I roll my eyes.
“I don't need to tell Lucy no because I actually like doing things with her.”
“Are y'all going to bicker or can I get some water now?” Lucy says as Winston opens his mouth to respond. Without waiting for an answer, she takes my hand and pulls me over to the table with snacks and bottles of water. Once she's rehydrated, she smiles at me. “Thanks for doing this with me. I'm proud of you too.”
“Think you may want to do another?”
She laughs. “No. I don't really like running, but now I can at least say I tried.” Lucy takes a step closer to me with a wide smile, so I wrap an arm around her waist. “You're sweaty, Grant.”
I chuckle. “You do know that most people find sweat gross, right?”
Lucy shrugs. “Sometimes, it is. I love you,” she adds, lifting her chin a bit as she leans in to kiss me.
“I love you too.”
Not much has changed since we first slept together. We've gotten closer, and Lucy will tell me those three words every chance she gets. Sometimes, I think that she learned to tell her loved ones that often because she knows they might not always be here. She reserves it for those who deserve it, and then she says it with every parting, and any other time she wants to remind you of her love.
Our future together looks bright. We have another year of college together before I graduate and Lucy has one more after that. Instead of going to see her grandparents, she's going home with me for spring break to meet my parents. I can't wait for them to meet her. I kind of wish we were having a big family reunion so I could show her off to everyone.
“Hey, we're going to eat. Want to come?” We turn at the sound of Maddie's voice.
“Of course,” Lucy answers, tugging me towards Maddie and Winston.
She can drag me anywhere, ask me to do anything, and I'll always go and do whatever she wants. It's worked for us so far, so why stop? I can't help but wonder what the next few years will bring. I'm looking forward to it because the future seems even more exciting with Lucy by my side.
MADDIE HAS BEEN seeing a counselor, working through her issues. Things got worse before they got better. It was like acknowledging it made her even more conscious, and she snuck around to overexercise. We argued a lot over it, too. I would catch her at the gym, drag her away, and it always ended with her being angry and hurt. After a huge argument and her passing out from having not eaten enough on top of being dehydrated, Maddie started being more cooperative.
She scared me to death, enough that I didn't want her running the 5K today because she would've stop training for it then. We compromised instead. She stopped exercising at the gym and only ran a certain amount four days a week, and I had to be with her. Maddie didn't like me shadowing her though. I had to start running with her so it would feel more like I was doing it with her and not watching her.
Since the incident and since Maddie has accepted that she needs help, she seems happier and most definitely healthier. Her sessions are better, more helpful, and she took me with her for a few sessions. It allowed me to understand her better, even though I never spoke a word. She wanted me there as a quiet support, so I was. After that, she felt good going on her own, and she didn't want me there anymore.
With the 5K over, her exercise routine will cut back to three times a week, including running because of how much she ran. The counselor has even introduced her to another person with similar struggles, and they workout together in a healthy way. Her new friend and counselor often support her in ways I can't because I don't understand. I always know when she's going to talk to either of them because Maddie says, “I want to talk to someone who gets it, Winston.” One day, she'll hopefully feel like I “get it” enough for her to talk to me more than she does. It's working for her, and that's all that matters.
She's also learning that she can eat whatever she wants, in moderation as she constantly reminds me, and still be fit. Skinny is a word she doesn't use anymore. So is fat. Maddie wants to be fit and healthy instead. Her mindset has finally turned, and she is learning how to adjust to that kind of lifestyle.
The Kennedy brothers haven't been bad roommates either. Grant and I teach kids hockey at a local rink, and it pays the bills for us. If I thought Neil and Bo were private, they have nothing on these brothers. They share nothing of importance, only small talk about sports usually, but it works. I'm not buddies with them or anything, so I keep to myself most of the time. Grant can be the social one of the two of us.
“I kind of want an ice cream,” Maddie says thoughtfully, glancing at me. We've just finished lunch with Lucy and Grant. Desserts and junk food are the hardest for Maddie, so anytime she says she wants some, I give her the same answer.
“We can split one, if you want.”
“Mm, I think I want one too,” Lucy adds. With Lucy ordering one, it helps Maddie do the same. Sometimes, it's hard for her to even say she wants one, much less order it herself. It makes me proud to watch her order us one to share. “Are you coming to the game tonight, Maddie?”
“Yeah, my brother is coming up to watch, and I'm going with him.”
Dave and I have slipped back into our friendship, but the details of my relationship are off limits at the request of them both. She doesn't want me telling him, and he doesn't want to hear most of it. Maddie hasn't really spoken to him since he showed up last month, but she wants to make amends between them and go back to normal.
We only have a few games left this season, and instead of getting that end-of-season tiredness, we're more pumped than ever. Coach has been giving us great pep talks, Neil has been playing even better than he has all season, and we feel unstoppable. It's a good feeling to have with the season coming to a close. What's even better is that Maddie is mine, she's healthier, and I still have my best friend.
MADDIE AND DAVE hug awkwardly. She asked me to stay, in case she needed a quick escape. We're about to all ride over to the game together and Dave just arrived.
“Can we talk first?” Maddie asks him.
He glances behind her to me where I'm leaning against the driver's door to my car. “Yeah, of course.”
“I w
ant us to go back to normal. All of us,” she adds, looking back at me. “You're still my brother. You don't need to be cautious over what you say. Be sincere and nice and we'll be fine. I want you to stop treating me like a kid. Be my brother, Dave.”
