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“Are you worried about how she’ll react to… all the things you’ve been through?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, she already knows about all that. She was great about it.”
My mouth slides open. “Seriously, you told her everything?”
“Don’t act so surprised. I know how to communicate.”
I stare at him for a moment. I’ve blamed him for a lot of things, but our communication issues have never been just on him. It’s not that I’m realizing that for the first time—hello, therapy—but it’s hitting me that those issues didn’t start when I got pregnant with Harper.
“I know.Wedidn’t communicate well.”
He nods. “Maybe that’s a downside of being childhood sweethearts. You don’t worry about stuff like that because you assume you already know how to do it.”
“That’s true. I always thought I could tell you anything… until the anything was hard stuff.” That’s when a confusing and unsettling thought hits. I was fully in love with and committed to Braden, not a doubt in my mind about that. But when it came to the hard stuff, Braden wasn’t the one I went to first. I went to Vince, usually without even thinking about it.
“Hey, you okay?” Braden asks, sitting down next to me.
My throat feels dry and cottony. “Um. Yeah. I just—well, I think I owe you an apology.”
His brow furrows. “For what?”
“I—I never realized I did this, but when those hard things came up, I’d go to Vince. I’d have those serious conversations with him. Sometimes before I talked to you, sometimes in place of it. I didn’t open myself up to you the way I should have, and I’m sorry for that.”
Braden nods, his eyes serious. “I appreciate that. I mean, I can’t say much. I just didn’t talk to anyone.”
I let out a little laugh. “Well, here’s to being better at communicating now.”
“Definitely.” He’s quiet for a moment before asking, “Does it come naturally to you and Vince? Talking through things?”
I shrug a little. “It’s not always easy, but yeah, I guess so. I—I don’t like leaving anything unsaid with him.”
“That’s how I feel with—well, I call her Firecracker.” He looks at me, already annoyed about the swooning I’m about to do.
“That’s so cute.”
“Shut up. Stay on topic.”
“Fine. Continue.”
“That’s how I feel with her. Like Ican’tkeep anything to myself.”
I gently elbow him. “I think that might be a sign that it’s right.”
“Maybe.” I can tell he’s hesitant to fully believe that. Like it’s risking too much this early on.
“I’m happy for you. I know I’ve said it before, but I love seeing you like this. Genuinely happy and enjoying life. I’d seen it on occasion before, but now it’s your base demeanor.”
He smiles genuinely. “It feels good, too.”
I laugh a little. “I just want to take a second and be proud of how far we’ve come. I mean, seriously. Think about where we were last year compared to where we are now.”
He smiles at me. “Are you suggesting that all the arguing, storming out, and fistfights weren’t fun?”
I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. “All I know is this is better.”
He picks up his sub, finally ready to eat. I lift mine off the wrapper as well. He holds his out to me. “Here’s to that.”
I tap my sub against his, then we both start eating in a comfortable silence.
I’m insanely proud of how far we’ve come. We worked through our issues, and now, not only do I have my best friend back, I know him better than I ever have before.
