I stare off at the carpet. “I always forget about that,” I mutter. My mom and dad put a high-tech GPS tracker in Booger a while ago. The Jeep is so old they worried it’d go bust on me, and I’d be stuck somewhere without cell service.
“And your free-soloing colossal faces,” Maximoff says, adjusting the cloth before rising. He sets a brotherly hand on my head. “You think I’d want to stay home and miss that?”
I smile up at him, my eyes burning with emotion. Years of Moffy joining me on adventures rush back. Snowboarding, hiking, camping, canoeing, white-water rafting, climbing. I thought he’d leave me in the dust of time. Because he’s married now. And he has a son.
I rest my chin on my knee. “So my parents didn’t send you here to convince me to come home?”
“No,” Maximoff shakes his head, “but after I told your dad that Jane and I were going to surprise you out here, he said he was about to ask me to go meet-up with you.” He cracks his knuckles. “He’s just worried about you climbing, and he wants us around.”
I can see my dad hoping Moffy would be here in his place. My parents also probably think I’ll be extra careful with more eyes watching.
Jane nudges my elbow. “Your mom is very excited for you. She handed us a care package to give you for your grand adventure.”
I smile, remembering how my mom squeezed me in a tight hug at REI. She said she wished she’d made a big box of goodies for me, but she didn’t have time then. I already know she must’ve thrown dozens of chocolate bars in the package.
Thanks, Mom.
Jane shares my smile. “You’ve done so much for us these past years, Sulli. The FanCon tour.”
“The auction,” Moffy says.
“Scotland,” Charlie adds.
Jane grins more. “It’s time we’re here for you. We brought enough luggage to last us through most of October.”
That hits me like another tidal wave. Jane’s bachelorette party is less than a month away. Her wedding is around the corner on November 1st, and she’s not batting an eye about being away from Philly for so long.
They’re really here for me. Dropping everything to watch me climb.
My smile is uncontrollable, unable to shrink in size. “I’m really glad you’re all here. It means a fucking ton to me.” I nod a bunch. “Thank you.”
Jane gives me a side hug. “Anything for you.”
When we part, I watch Maximoff head to my Patagonia backpack near the nightstand. “Your dad gave you this, right?”
“Yeah.” While he unzips the bag, I shift the washcloth on my throbbing ankle and ask, “Where’s Luna?” I sound bummed, and I already feel greedy having three cousins here to surprise me.
Some people would hate this kind of surprise arrival, but they knew I’d love it. I love the company of familiar, trusting faces.
I love the company of family. The company of my cousins—they’re like other birds in a nest. And maybe I haven’t flown too high from mine, but what if we’re all just flying together somewhere else? To another nest?
Can that be enough?
Or do I really, really need to chart a course away from everyone?
My frown deepens.
“My sister’s still in Philly,” Moffy tells me, searching through the backpack. What’s he looking for?
Charlie chimes in, “My brothers requested her appearance at their upcoming shows.”
Eliot and Tom. One is a theatre actor, the other a singer in an emo-punk band. The three of them have been best friends since diaper-era, and in the past couple years, I’ve only recently gotten super fucking close to Luna. We were roommates in the Philly townhouse, but I try to remember she’s two years younger.
I’m closer in age to Charlie and Beckett.
Still, I can’t help but feel a pang of hurt that I wish would go the fuck away. I’m not in competition with Tom and Eliot for Luna’s time and attention. But I guess, now that I don’t have Beckett—I just thought I had Luna.
Taking my mind off friendships, I ask Moffy, “What are you looking for?”
He zips the backpack up, empty-handed. “Your dad forgot to mention he packed a gun for you. He wanted me to make sure you stored it right—”
“Akara already did,” I interject. “We saw the gun in the backpack.” I motion to the nightstand.
Moffy opens the drawer, sees the encased gun, then closes it.
My head whirls, running through all their words. And my gaze beelines back to Charlie, realizing Moffy and Jane excluded