all the same.
Bryce also laughed. A good sound to hear from him. He didn't do it that much when he talked about his mother anymore. “Right, and we took a few vacations together, too. I wanted to make sure she could do and see everything she wanted to do. He didn't think that was a good idea, but I think part of him was jealous. Even though we did all of these things together, I think he wonders if she loved me more for giving her those moments. I, of course, wonder if she loved him more for being there through the harder things. I barely got there in time to say goodbye.”
“You know she didn't love either one of you more,” Arial said. She gave his hands a squeeze.
“The long point I'm trying to make is that you can't let your sisters scare you away from being a part of your family. My relationship with my brother is basically shot because he thinks I'm selfish. I've given up trying to prove him wrong, so now I just avoid seeing him as much as possible.”
Arial shifted her body so she could gaze up at him. Her heart absolutely ached for him. She’d noticed a shift in how he talked about his family ever since his mother had died, but she didn't realize why. The assumption had always been that it was because he wasn't ready to talk about family things just yet. In truth, it was because he didn't have any family business to share. Outside of the fact that his father had remarried a couple of years ago, the Valentine family stories had stopped.
She frowned. “It's not too late for you to fix things. If you tried to make him understand, I'm sure he'd listen.”
Bryce shrugged. “I'll worry about me later. Stop ruining my heart-to-heart talk where you gain the sudden amazing revelation that your family loves you. All of them.”
“Sounds like a cheesy television movie,” she teased and nudged him in the side. “Then, let me guess, life automatically becomes easy and perfect, and we all live happily ever after?”
“Throw in a few bombs, too, because in my head this is an action spy flick.” He winked.
She sighed, smiling, completely lost in his arms. He always knew how to make everything better again. The advice he had given, though unwanted, was exactly what she needed to be reminded of. Perhaps he understood better than she originally thought. He didn't know her sisters, but the sadness in his voice as he spoke about what happened to his brother was enough to make her want to try. She doubted it would help, but at least she could say she did something instead of give up. It was a shame he wasn't doing the same.
“So is your family treating you like an outsider what you meant by consequences?” he asked.
“Back on the serious talk again?” She glanced up at him. “They've all sacrificed for me. That comes with a price on my end, too. Part of it I am paying by being here now.”
“You really don't want to be here,” he said softly.
“No, I don't,” she admitted. The sky was finally dark, though she missed the exact moment the sun had actually set. One by one the stars twinkled into view. “Look up,” she said.
Bryce sucked in a deep breath. “Wow, you're right. This is humbling. I can't say I've ever seen so many stars in the sky before.”
“Never ever?” she asked.
“No, because I've always been too close to a city to get a good view.” He pointed up. “That's the Milky Way. I can actually see the outline of it in the sky. And over there is Cygnus, which means Pegasus is right over there!” He continued to point, and his face lit up as he spoke.
She followed his hand, trying to see the constellations he spotted in the sky. “I didn't realize you were so interested in stars.”
“Astronomy was one of my favorite subjects from high school, and I love mythology. I studied star charts when I was younger, thinking I'd get to see the world and I'd want to know what I saw in the sky while I did it.” He chuckled. “Little did I know I'd see the world, but not anywhere I could see so much at once. Usually only the really common bright constellations can be found. Big Dipper, Orion, that kind of thing.”
“Big Dipper is about the only one I know on sight,” she