there was some drama between the brothers. My dad didn’t text back, which wasn’t so surprising since it was kind of late, but Lennon wanted all the details of what was going down. Part of it was professional curiosity, but more than that, I knew she was worried about me getting in the middle of something ugly since I’d been wavering between cutting Salinger loose and tying him to me. She didn’t want me to be collateral damage, and she didn’t want the movie to crash and burn since we’d all invested so much in it. I promised to fill her in as Salinger flopped on the bed next to me, falling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling with a concerned expression on his handsome face.
“That bruise is pretty nasty. The makeup artists are going to have their work cut out for them trying to cover it up the next few days.” I dropped my phone on the mattress and reached out to touch the angry spot on his face. He was going to have a wicked looking black eye by the morning.
He caught my wrist in his fingers, and gently rubbed his thumb across my pulse. “I think we’re shooting a few of the scenes where my character is starting the downward spiral into addiction. The black eye might work in my favor. Sorry you walked in on that. It isn’t the first time we’ve come to blows, but it was the first time it really wasn’t my fault.”
I laid down on my side, facing him, and propped my head in my hand as I looked down at him. “Jeno loves you and admires you so much. I understand why he reacted as strongly as he did. You guys will get past this.”
He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Jeno’s still a kid. I did exactly what got me into trouble when I was younger. I treated him like an adult. I put too much responsibility on him and expected him to know how to navigate it all. I forgot that deep down, all any normal child wants is love and approval. I figured out early on that my parents liked the money and fame more than they liked me, and that’s why I got in over my head so fast and deep. I didn’t really get my act together until I understood the only person I had to please regularly was myself. That’s a lesson Jeno still has to learn. He’s going to hate me and worry about his mother until he realizes he doesn’t need either one of us to make his life worthwhile. We need him way more than he needs us.” I sucked in a breath when he suddenly shifted, sliding his arm around me and rolling. I was on my back, and he was hovering over me, caging me in with his arms. “Thank you for cleaning up the mess today, but I hope you know I can clean up after myself now.”
I reached up so I could loop my arms around his neck as we stared at each other with a look that spoke volumes. “I know you can. But I wanted to help. I wanted to take care of you a little bit. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed since we first met. There’s something about you that makes me want to make sure you’re all right. I’ve never liked to see you hurting.”
He made a soft sound, gaze searching mine like he was looking for an answer to the world’s most difficult question. “I’m glad that you want to take care of me, but it’s more important to me that you know that no matter what happens between us, or to us, that I am fully capable of taking care of you as well. That’s what I want more than anything. I know you’re independent and strong on your own. I know you don’t need me any more than Jeno does, but I want to be someone you can rely on without question. I need to know if you see that happening anytime in the near future. Because if not, then I have to figure out how to let you go. I can’t keep going in the direction we’re headed if you don’t want me the same way I want you. It seems so easy for you to push me away the closer I get, and that distance is dangerous for me.”
I pulled him down until our foreheads