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I never really knew how badly I needed my brother until now that I don’t have him. I guess that old saying is true.
We pull up outside the bar. Crowds are filling the parking lot and loud music is blaring from inside. We manage to get by without anyone seeing us because I just want to hide away from everyone and hope that by morning, my brother will actually talk to me and not look at me like he did tonight, like I'm the cause for everything.
Riley and I make it up to our apartment, leaving our bags in the car to get tomorrow. He turns the key and swings the door open for me to enter and I walk on numb legs through the darkened apartment, running my fingers through my hair, but I don’t walk into either bedroom. I walk into the bathroom, feeling Riley’s eyes on me as I step into the shower, turning it on until the cold water hits my face.
I gasp, happy to be feeling something other than the ache inside me, but the hurt remains. I feel Riley’s presence as he stands in the doorway, but he makes no move to speak or to pull me out of the water fully dressed. He understands I need this, so he lets me, staying there so I know he’s there, always there.
I rest my hands on the wall of the shower, my face stinging from the cold water until I lower it, hanging my head until my hair is sticking to my head, my clothes clinging to my body.
I shake my head, speaking into the spray. “How did you do it?”
Riley stops forward, knowing that I’m talking to him. “Do what?”
“How did you handle it when your brother hated you?” I ask again, tilting my head to look at him, thinking of last year when he and Conner’s relationship was stilted.
He thinks. “It hurt, but he also didn’t know why I left. Siblings are close, but as we get older, it becomes clear that we don’t know everything about our siblings’ lives like we thought we did.” He sighs. “I don’t know what Hunter said to you, but it is clear he has some shit to sort out. Give him time and space to do that. He knows you’re there for him and when he is ready, he’ll come to you.”
“How do you know that?”
He shrugs. “How can he not?” He gives me a small smile before extending a hand to me. “Come on, we can go to bed.”
He gets me out of the shower, turning off the water, stripping me down and drying me off. After quickly running to get some clothes, he returns with one of his shirts. I instantly hold it up to my nose, loving the smell of him and the comfort it brings me, as he leads me into his bedroom and stop, just in the doorway. “Can you hold me tonight?”
Seeing the desperation in my eyes, his soften as he takes my hands in his. “Always.”
And that’s how we sleep, in each other’s arms.
CHAPTER 46
RILEY
Ionly last a few hours lying in bed, feeling Mia’s even breaths as she sleeps in my arms before I let my anger take over and I roll out of bed. I’m careful not to disturb her because I had a feeling she isn’t going to like what I'm going to do now.
After quickly throwing on a hoodie and writing a note just in case Mia wakes up and finds me gone before I can return, I leave, making sure to lock the place up behind me.
It doesn’t take me long to get to the hospital and even less time to find Hunter’s room. I walk the halls with focused determination, frowning at anyone that looks my way because my girl looked broken tonight, and I'm feeling like breaking someone else for that.
I see Hunter’s room, and my steps falter when I see the two cops I saw before walk out of the room, one of them stuffing a notepad into their pocket and eyeing me warily as I pass them.
Hunter looks tired and irritated when I enter the room, only rolling his eyes when he sees me. “Oh, great! What do you want?”
I clench my fists as I growl, “What the fuck is your problem?” I come around the bed to point a finger in his face. “I should kick your ass, but the only reason why you’re not on the floor right now is because it will hurt Mia.”
He cocks his head. “So what? You and her are a thing now? You going to get a nice house and a white picket fence like everyone else?”
“Is that what this is about? You pissed off at your friends for being happy?”
He scoffs, picking at his blankets. “You have no idea what you’re talking about? No one does.”
“Talk to them!” I yell, not even worried about anyone walking in because I'm going off of pure anger right now. “They love you and some people would kill to have that many people care, yet all you do is throw it back at them and say cruel things. This is not the Hunter we all know, so what the fuck happened?”
I watch his jaw tense, his eyes burning with a controlled anger directed at me, and he hisses, “Get out.”
I step back, hating how far gone he is and hoping, for Mia, that he can find his way back before he loses everyone. I run both hands through my hair, feeling a mix of anger and pity for the guy before me. “Your sister is hurting. She is broken because of you, and I won’t have her feeling like that again. So if you want to see your sister again, you need to pull your head out of your ass and get over your shit. I told you I’d hurt you if you hurt her, but it is because of her that I am letting you live.”
His eyes burn with a greater intensity as he yells, “Get out!”
I watch him wince, but it is the pain I hear in his voice that makes me back away towards the door, leaving him in what I know is self-loathing. As I walk down the hall, I wonder what could have caused this pain, and I hope that he is able to make his way through the darkness.
