Us against the world.
39
AMELIA
It’s been a week since Mom left. I’ve decided to put one foot in front of the other. I went back to class and even went to study group. It helped catch me up on what I had missed. I’ve been studying for final exams like crazy. I took my second one yesterday and have two more left before I’m done. Honestly, most of the time it feels like I’m not really present. Like I’m just going through the motions. Still, I’m determined to do whatever I can to move forward. To start healing.
Tonight we’re taking the night off and celebrating being halfway done through final exams by watching a movie. I’m sitting in the living room waiting for my sister to leave her bedroom and Nick to finish showering.
I think about how Nick went from someone who wasn’t allowed to spend the night to sleeping in my bed every day. I don’t mind it one bit.
He goes to practice and comes back. That’s been his routine. I’ve cried less. Not a lot less but definitely less than what I used to.
Nick’s been opening up to me too about what he’s feeling. He’s been letting me in more and more.
I search through the TV guide trying to figure out what’ll hold my attention. If Nick weren’t in the shower, washing off the sweat from practice, he would’ve already landed on something to watch by now.
“Did you find a movie?” He asks, exiting the bathroom. I can’t help but look at him. He looks a lot better now and not just because he has nothing but a towel on. What stands out to me is the lack of bags under his eyes. Though there’s sadness in his eyes, I know it’s not swallowing him whole. Neither of us are drowning because we’re keeping each other afloat.
“Yes!” I lie, knowing if I say I haven’t he’ll shake his head at me. I’m indecisive when it comes to this. It’s a lot of pressure to choose something we’ll all like.
Nick disappears into my bedroom. “I’m cominggggg,” my sister yells from hers just as he disappears from my sight.
Just as Elia steps out of her room, there’s a knock at our front door.
She looks at me and I fix my eyes on her, each of us silently asking the same question: who is it? In an odd display of twin telepathy, we both look down the hall toward my room. Usually, Nick is the one knocking at our door. We should just give him a key, but he’s in here. So, who’s out there?
Crazy that the thought of giving Nick a key doesn’t revolt me. Doesn’t scare me. Doesn’t have me running or pushing him away. I’m letting him in more and more each day. Not just into my bed but into my heart.
The knock interrupts my thoughts, reminding me someone is waiting on the other side. I signal at my sister to get the door. She rolls her head at me but moves forward.
She opens the door without bothering to look at who it is first. “I’m looking for Nick,” someone’s voice booms.
“Ah, wait, are you…” My sister starts, but before she has a chance to finish her question, the guy just walks right past her and into the house.
I look at the man who now finds himself in our living room. “You must be Amelia,” he says when he sees me sitting on the couch.
He’s tall, muscular, and with grey eyes that pull you in and scare you at the same time. “I am,” I say nervously. Can you blame me? There’s a burly stranger in my living room. A stranger who knows my name.
“I’m looking for my brother,” he says.
“Colton,” I hear Nick’s voice. I turn to find him standing on the other side of the hall. I look back and forth between the two of them. I guess the stranger isn’t a stranger after all. It’s Colton Hunter. Nick’s older brother. The one I’ve heard him talk about with pride in his eyes more times than I can count.
Looking between the two of them, I realize that they too look nothing alike. I mean, yeah they have athletic, larger than life bodies but that’s where it stops.
I fix my eyes on Nick and watch the smile that takes over. He basically runs the distance across the room and throws his arms around his brother.
Colton hugs him back and I can see the love they share. I look