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I don’t have any texts from her, just a couple from Rogue and Phoenix making sure I’m alright.
I sit up and put my feet on the floor, dropping my pounding head in my hands as I struggle to wake up and fight the hangover. Eventually, I pull my shit together, throw on some clothes and walk out into her living room where I expect to find her.
She’s not there, but her roommates are. Six is paused comically with her spoon halfway raised to her mouth as she looks at me.
“Where’s Thayer?”
“What are you doing here?” Six asks, setting her spoon down.
“He must have passed out here after getting drunk last night.” Nera concludes.
Bellamy turns a questioning look towards her. “How do you know that? Did you see him?”
“Oh, uh…”
“Hey.” I interrupt, bringing their attention back to me. “Where is she?”
“She’s not here.” Bellamy says unhelpfully.
I don’t know if it’s the hangover, the lack of carbs, or I’m just generally getting a shorter fuse, but I snap. “I don’t want to lose my friendship with you but I will if you play games with me, Bellamy.”
“I’m not playing games. She’s gone.”
“Gone where?”
“Home.”
I blame the alcohol for making me slower than usual, because I don’t understand what she’s saying.
“This is her home, where did she go?”
She gives me a sympathetic look and pulls out the fourth chair at the table, motioning for me to sit. I don’t.
“She went back to Chicago, Rhys.”
Now I sit, my legs all of a sudden incapable of carrying my weight. Her words are a blow made twice as painful by the fact that I wasn't expecting them.
Nera pours me a glass of water and I down it.
“Why?”
“Her brother called her yesterday and told her their mom overdosed a couple of weeks ago. She’s fine, she was administered Narcan in time and released from the hospital yesterday. She didn’t think to let either of her kids know, Nolan only found out because he went over there to check on her yesterday and saw the hospital bracelet on her wrist. Thayer’s going home to check on her and make sure she’s okay. I think she wants her to try AA again, but she doesn't have high hopes that her mom will listen.”
Fuck. We’ve talked about her mother’s addiction issues before and how they’ve impacted Thayer. I can only imagine how hard this is going to be for her.
“When is she coming back?”
“I don’t know. Maybe not for a while – there’s only a couple of days left until break, she mentioned finishing classes online and coming back in the new year.”
I sit back in my chair, disconcerted. I thought we were making progress, why didn’t she tell me about her mother? Better yet, why didn’t she wake me and tell me she was leaving?
“Don’t worry about her, Rhys. She knows how to take care of herself.” Bellamy tells me, putting a comforting hand on my forearm.
I know that for a fact. Thayer’s got endless reserves of strength, that’s one of the first things that drew me to her and that continues to keep me intrigued.
I just wish she’d trusted me enough to rely on me in her moment of need.
***
