AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lance silently helps me into the car, his face hard. “Lance,” I say, hoping he’ll look at me and I’ll find something other than the broken man he was at the table staring back at me.
He might wear a suit of armour Monday to Friday, but I saw the cracks in it today whether or not he wanted me to.
“I need to give these copies to my mum. Bear with me. I’ll be two seconds.”
I nod, watching as he reaches into the footwell for the envelope that was on the passenger seat when I first got into the car.
The documents.
I watch as he takes them into the house, then sit back and blow out a harsh breath.
He wasn’t exaggerating when he told me about them. His sisters seem so angry at him and the way his mum just dismissed him like that.
I look down when Lance’s phone pings, realising he left it in the car the whole time we were inside. I pick it up, spotting the missed call from Mason from before, a new missed call from Charlie, and then a text from Elliot.
Elliot: Happy Birthday, Sullivan
My brows meet as I read the message over and over, realisation sinking in.
It’s… it’s Lance’s birthday?
My hand trembles as I process the last hour. The way they spoke to him. I shake my head as tears gather in my eyes. They sit as heavy as my heart feels before falling one by one.
Why wouldn’t he tell me? Why wouldn’t they… How could they just sit there…
The driver’s side door opens, and I jump, not expecting him back so soon. I swipe at my face before I peer up at him, hoping my tears haven’t stained my cheeks. They must, though, because Lance takes one look at me and his face drops. “Hey, what is it?” He slides in and pulls me closer. “I’m sorry. Shit, I’m sorry, they’re a lot, and I shouldn’t have brought you here.”
I snivel and shake my head, trying in vain to cut it out. “No. No. It’s not that.”
God. I haven’t cried like this in a long time.
“What is it then?” he questions, confused.
He wipes at my tears but more flow. I pick up his phone and hand it to him, letting him read the text. “Lance, it’s your birthday.”
He stills in the seat, his mask coming down almost immediately.
I grit my teeth, hoping the ache it sends along my jaw distracts me from the one in my chest. “Why didn’t you say something?”
He blinks over and over, staring at me as his nostrils flare. He shifts his gaze to the house.
I can’t imagine the disappointment he must feel.
“Did they…” I clear my throat and reach for him, smoothing my hand up the back of his neck. “Did your mum get you a card?” His head tilts toward me again, leaning into my touch. Then his teeth come out to pull his bottom lip between his teeth, and he shakes his head.
His pain bleeds out of him in waves, as if it’s been searching for a home its whole life.
“Let me drown in you.”
I let out a harsh breath, my tears flowing as I smooth my thumb over his jaw. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t cry, sunshine. You’ll break me completely.” He pulls my head to his chest, his hands smoothing over my back and neck. “Don’t cry.”
God. I hate them. I hate them for making him feel sad.
It’s his birthday.
I look up, knowing my face is probably a mess of tears and makeup. I lean up and dust my lips to his anyway before giving him a slow, sweet kiss. My hands hold his face as I pull away, my eyes searching for a thread of happiness in him. Anything I can use to patch him back up. “Happy birthday, Lance.”
