Before & After - Nazarea Andrews Page 0,54

love my sister," he says, looking at me.

I nod, and he grins. "Good. You’re good for her. Peyton is different from the rest of us. She's creative and spontaneous and wild. I thought for a long time that she killed that when she played the good little political daughter, but she didn't. And then--she told you about the eating disorder? About rehab?"

I nod and my gut clenches. Because I'll run to the farthest ends of the earth to keep her away from these people. To make sure that she never becomes the shell of the girl she was then.

"It changed her, man. Fucked her up for a long time. She had a hard time letting people in after that. And she quit playing the part, got deeper into her own head and creativity—but I haven't seen the girl I grew up with in years, not the way I saw her tonight. I want you to know that." He shifts and grins. "I saw my sister again, man. And you made that happen. You are bringing her out of her shell. So I don't really give a fuck who you are or what you do or what fucked up past you have hiding. I respect what you did." His gaze darts to Scott, and then back to me, and my best friend shifts.

"So why are you here?" I ask. "I appreciate the vote of confidence and shit but it seems a little excessive."

"I love Peyton. I get her in a way I don't get my brothers. But she doesn't need to be anywhere near my parents. They won't ever accept what she wants, because it's not the picture they have in their mind for her. I get where they're coming from—she's the only daughter and all that shit. But it's bad for her. And she's self-destructive when shit gets bad. So keep her away. Don't let her come back to this."

I stare at him, startled. "You want me to keep Peyton away from her family?"

"I don't want you to be the reason Peyton comes back to her family. She won't, not on her own. But she loves you and you've never had one. She wants to give to the people she loves, and if she thinks this is something you want, she'll come home just to give you what you never had. And it'll destroy her, and what you two have. No one wants that. Well, I don't. She doesn't. You don't. So do her and yourself a favor and build your life without her family."

"But you love her."

"I do. And I'm going to be around, especially when I get out of college and can cut the apron strings. But in the meantime, I want my sister happy. Do that for me." He stares at me, and his eye aren't amused or laughing. He's dead serious. I nod and his lips twitch into a tired smile. "Thanks man. I--just thanks."

He hugs me, abruptly, and I go stiff, startled. Behind him, Scott is staring his eyes huge and laughing. Then he steps back and grins at me. “Take care of yourself, Rike.”

Chapter 24: After

I want to strip the masks from you,

Until you are as

broken and

Raw and

Vulnerable.

As you leave me.

(Rike’s poems to Peyton)

“I need you to come home,” he says the next morning. I peer at him over a cup of coffee and he sits down across from me. He’s dressed in a pair of loose flannel sleep, pants his chest bare except for ink. And my teeth marks.

I flush, and look away.

“Why?" I ask and his eyebrows rise.

I shake my head, "Why now? What's different about now?"

"Lindsay is being released from the hospital. Scott has talked her into coming home. But she needs her family. She needs you, just as much as she needs him. It's an all or nothing kind of thing."

"So, no pressure, right?" I joke, and he shakes his head.

"No, Pey. This is all the pressure. I'm not going to lie to you about that. Scott and Lindsay are doing worse than we are, and we aren't even living in the same fucking state since you moved in with Brody. We're falling apart. I don't know that Scott’ll survive losing Lindsay. I need you to come home, because I can't lose my best friend and the love of my life. And we don't work without all of us."

I reach for him, squeezing his hand. "You don't have to talk me into this, Rike. I'm in this. I know I've