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He shrugs his shoulders, a sad smile pulling at his lips. “Mom had several pictures of my brother and me. A few of the family, but not as many of her and Dad.” He stares off into the distance for a moment before adding, “Then again, their relationship was a clusterfuck.”
My gaze shifts back to Piper’s pictures on the walls as Derek’s words sink in. I feel a sudden urge to defend myself against whatever assumptions she might be making about me and Wren. “Why would she think I was married to Wren?” I ask out loud.
Derek narrows his gaze before responding dryly. “Who knows? Seth could’ve told her how Wren is always hanging from your neck and hoping you’ll finally give her a date.”
I feel indignant at this assumption. “We’re just friends,” I say defensively.
“Uh-huh. She wants you to be more than platonic friends.”
I can’t help but stare at him with amusement. “Are you jealous of Wren?”
“I am, which is why I can see why Piper would get the wrong idea about your relationship with the doctor.”
“What’s happening between us, D?” I dare to ask. “I mean, you told me you loved me when we were in San Francisco while Piper was in the hospital. After that… you never mentioned it again.”
“I still love you, and I’m here. You have to figure things out before we can do anything,” he responds with a gentle voice. I want him to take me into his arms and hug me—maybe even kiss me.
But I don’t want this moment to be about us or become some declaration of love when we are both waiting for Piper. Wait, is he making me… choose?
“So, no sex until I decide between Piper or you? That’s fucked up. I mean… I may not be Archer, but that woman owns my soul. You know that, right?” The anxiety in my voice is hard to control, but I don’t want to hide from him, so I continue. “But you… you saved me in all ways possible. You’re the person who’s been there for me since the beginning. And I love you. I can’t fucking choose between the two of you.”
I slump my shoulders, feeling a weight settle into me. “I can’t fucking choose,” I repeat hopelessly. “And where am I supposed to go from here?”
Derek softly lays his hand on my shoulder and looks into my eyes. “I love you and Piper, each in a different way, but both the same. I’m giving her the space she needs, but it’s not over between her and me either.”
“You want us to—” I stop when I see a box on top of the bed. It looks familiar, and I snort.
“What is it?” he asks, creases of worry painted on his forehead.
“That’s the box where I put all the shit I don’t need when I’m about to go on a mission,” I say.
“What does that mean?”
I shrug. “Not sure why, but every time I’m about to go on a mission, I set aside my feelings. My therapist calls it dissociation. I always think about a box that looks exactly like this one and set everything I don’t need in there.” I snort. “The problem is that I never get anything out. Well, only a few things.”
When I open the box, there are a lot of envelopes that are numbered and USB drives. There’re journals too. I sit on the king-size bed, emptying the box. Derek joins me, and we begin to sort everything by numbers and sizes.
We find a computer in the home office, and I hack into it so we can look at what’s on the USB drives.
When I read the first letter of Archer saying goodbye, my jaw drops. Why the fuck would he do it and most importantly, why didn’t she give me this treasure before. This is our history.
This is the beginning of us, not the end of me.
I glance at Derek and almost smile wondering how we can find forever—for the three of us. It’s possible, I know it. We just need to figure it out based on Archer’s past.
* * *
Derek
This is surreal.
We spend two days going through videos and letters Archer left for Piper. Watching them when they were children is adorable, and they make me want to have kids with them.
“You got married,” I say as we finish watching their wedding. “No wonder she was crushed when she thought you had a family. I mean, after all this time waiting for you, you appear with a wife and a kid.”
I shake my head with disappointment. “How in the world did you fuck that up?”
“I don’t have a wife or a kid,” he growls.
