“Oh, please, Pike. Do you really think you’re the only one whose ever suffered from a broken heart before? You think you’re the only one whose ever lost someone? Well, in case that’s what you’re thinking, allow me to clarify. You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. You’re not even the only person in this fucking room. So, do the world a favor, take a shower, and while you’re at it, get the fuck over yourself.”
I turn back around and cross my arms over my chest. Thorne’s confession throwing a cold wet bucket of truth over my rage. “Who have you lost?” I ask, curiously. Thorne’s never opened up to me like this, and as much as I consider her a trusted friend, there isn’t a whole helluva lot I know about her past. Her family, which only reveals to me that I’ve been a shitty fucking friend because I never thought to ask.
She shrugs, and folds her hands together. “My mother and my brother. It was a long time ago,” she says looking to the floor then to her nails. She quickly rebounds, straightening her shoulders and facing me once again.
“What happened?” I ask, taking a step toward her.
She sighs. “My mother died, and my brother, well, he’s alive, and I never really knew him, but it doesn’t make not getting the chance to grow up with him, to know him as a kid, feel like any less of a loss than my mother.”
“Where is he now?” I ask, years too late.
“He’s…” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter. He’s not exactly the family type.”
My fists ball up. “Anyone who wouldn’t want to be your family needs their heads removed from out of their asses more than I need my own.”
She looks up and smirks. “You know, I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
I lift my arms to embrace Thorne, something I don’t remember ever doing before, for her or anyone else, but it feels like the moment this sort of thing is done.
Thorne backs away and holds up a hand. “No. This isn’t the time for that bullshit.” She wrinkles her nose. “I’ll take a rain check on that hug. Maybe, wait until after your shower. Or when the time is right. Or never.” She releases her nose, and I drop my arms. “What it is time for is for you to go get your girl back without getting yourself killed.”
I’m not sure what Thorne’s not understanding. Mickey is gone. “Mickey left. She could have stayed, and she left. She chose to leave. She chose again to stay. I’m old school, but I’m not a caveman. I’m not going to drag her back here by her fucking hair. She chose them.”
“I can’t believe you can’t see it!” Thorne suddenly shouts with a stomp of her foot, her words echoing around the room like a thousand of her yelling at me. Or maybe, I’m not hungover, but still drunk, but at least, I’m only seeing one of her.
“See what?” I cry, pulling at my own hair in frustration. “There’s nothing to see. She’s fucking gone! It’s over!” I look at my friend, and I can’t understand what she’s not understanding. “At least…she will be soon.”
She purses her lips and steps close enough to me that I can smell her cherry shampoo and see the furry swimming in her eyes. “Greyson motherfucking Pike, you hear me, and you listen. Mickey left because she thought she had no other choice! She’s there because she still thinks she has no other choice!” She spins in a circle, then drops her hands to her thighs, bending at the waist. “She knew that if you went after the Fourth Reich that you and the people you care about could die. She wasn’t willing to take that chance because she’s lost people and didn’t want to lose you, too! She’s doing this alone because she thinks she has to in order to protect you, you dumb fucking ox!”
“Why? Why would she do that?” I ask, still not understanding why leaving was somehow the better choice. “I’m still going after the Reich. I always was. She knows this. They set me up to look like I was stealing from King and…” I snap my fingers, “Oh, yeah, they fucking killed Gutter. Plus, I did hold her hostage, and there was that whole sensory torture thing. So, Thorne, tell me, why would she try and protect me? Why would she want to save me?”
My