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He glances away, picking at the hem of his sweater in the way he does when he’sreallynervous. “Well…Mom said you didn’t want anything to do with any of us anymore. And then when you didn’t call or text…”
I just stare at him. She saidwhat?“Nate I tried calling youdozensof times. And I sent, god, I don’t even know how many texts.”
He looks up at me, his expression full of confusion. He shakes his head slowly. “No. I would have seen that.”
“Hey, Nate,” Aidan interrupts, his tone gentle. “You mind if I take a look at your phone?”
Nate shrugs and digs his phone out of his pocket, handing it to Aidan.
“Password?”
“1997.”
Aidan fiddles with the phone for a moment before holding it out for us to see the screen, his features arranged in a dark expression.
I lean forward to get a closer look. It’s my contact information, and at the bottom is a note saying “Unblock this Contact”
“What the hell?” Nate demands. “I didn’t block you!”
“Were you at Mom and Dad’s place for New Year’s?” I ask him.
“Yeah…” His brows draw together, as though he’s still struggling to comprehend the reality of the situation. “But…they wouldn’t…”
“Mom told me you didn’t want anything to do with me anymore,” I say quietly. “Now that you know how…depraved and…disgustingI am. That’s what she said.”
“No. Ellie, no.” Nate looks absolutely horrified, shaking his head frantically. And then he steps toward me and wraps me in a fierce hug. And in a single instant, I feel all my anxiety over my brother just melt away. He doesn’t hate me. He hasn’t abandoned me. He’s just…Nate.
“Alright, I’m going to give you guys some time to talk,” Aidan says.
I break away from Nate to see Aidan grabbing his keys from the bowl on the counter and slipping his phone into his pocket. “You don’t have to leave. This isyourapartment.”
Aidan just smiles. “It’s fine. It’s about time I called in on Heath and Dec and met the new little rug rat.” He returns Nate’s phone to him. “You should probably think about making your PIN something more secure than your year of birth.”
“Right. Thanks,” Nate says with a nod, slipping his phone back into the back pocket of his jeans.
Once Aidan is gone, I turn to Nate. “You want something to drink?”
He shrugs. “Water’s fine.”
I offer a soft smile and brush past him into the kitchen, fixing each of us a glass of water. Then I carry them over to the coffee table in the living room. I quickly dart back to collect my hairbrush from the floor and then take a seat on the sofa next to Nate.
I leave him to his thoughts for a moment as I finish brushing out the tangles in my hair. Once I’m done, I set the brush down and fix my brother with a concerned look. “So, what’s up?”
“I didn’t realize,” he says, his voice hoarse with obvious regret. “I didn’t know how bad it was for you. How bad it’s always been…”
“What do you mean?” I ask carefully.
He finally glances up from his water glass, his expression stony, his blue eyes shiny. “I heard you. On Christmas Eve. When you were on the phone to your boyfriend,” he clarifies, his face flaming. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the door was open a little and I heard you…”
“It’s okay, Nate. I’m not mad at you,” I assure him.
He averts his eyes again, once again fixating on his glass of water. “I didn’t know…about Mom beating you.”
I let my eyes fall closed, swallowing hard. “You weren’tsupposedto know.”
“You should have told me,” he insists.
I sigh. “Nate, you were only ten when that happened. And you absolutelyidolizedMom and Dad. And they doted on you. What sort of asshole would I be if I took that away from you?”
