17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Leo
O bviously, I fucked up last night.
Uneasiness crawls under my skin as I wander down the hallway, slowing my pace as I approach Dad’s bedroom door.
Juliet’s voice sounds from inside the room, patient and cheerful.
Yet, she wouldn’t look me in the eyes when we passed each other in the hall earlier this morning.
Usually, sleeping with an ex-girlfriend isn’t a good idea universally, but last night didn’t feel like a bad thing to me. In my mind, it’s not some colossal mistake like it is to her .
I liked being with her again. I liked having her in my arms and kissing her like we do it every single day.
But maybe that’s because I never fell out of love with her.
Yeah, she got on my nerves when I first showed back up here, but she was my first love. She’s the best person I know.
I can’t flip off my feelings like a switch. Nothing happened to make me fall out of love with her.
Not time. Not distance.
Nothing.
But I hurt her. She might still desire me, but that doesn’t mean part of her doesn’t hate me for what I did to her. I can’t blame her if she fell out of love with me.
How can I deserve someone who I wronged so terribly?
I pause outside of Dad’s bedroom and peer inside.
Juliet injects something into Dad’s IV line, smiling as Dad murmurs something to her.
Hell, there’s a grin on his face too. After Mom died, I barely ever saw him smile or heard him laugh. He became a shell of the caring, outgoing Dad he used to be, and I became the family disappointment.
At least I felt that way.
“You better watch it or I’ll wheel you out into the snow,” Juliet says as she tosses the needle into the medical waste container.
Dad lightly chuckles, unable to laugh fully without losing his breath. “Go ahead. I’m sick of being stuck in this bed.”
“Sick? Really?” Juliet replies, sharing a light laugh with him. “When it warms up a little, I can take you outside more. Or at least open your bedroom window.”
“I went from barely being at home to being imprisoned here,” Dad sighs as he stares up at the ceiling, letting her tend to him without protest.
“There are worse places you could be stuck in,” Juliet points out. “You could be stuck in the hospital.”
Dad coughs into his shoulder before pulling in a weak breath. “Well, you’re not wrong about that. I’m glad I paid you enough to quit that place.”
Juliet smirks and shakes her head at him. “Maybe I was already wanting to leave before you posted the job offering. ”
“I guess this arrangement is meant to be.”
Air puffs out of my nose. Meant to be? My father isn’t the type to believe in meant to be.
Juliet glances over her shoulder and spots me outside, her body becoming rigid. She clears her throat and looks away. “Let me listen to your lungs one more time.”
Does she really regret what we did that much?
Dad catches sight of me as she moves out of the way to grab her stethoscope. I can’t read his expression, and he doesn’t give me much time before looking away.
Juliet steps close to his bedside, blocking my view of both of their faces with her back.
I withhold a sigh and continue down the hallway, resisting the urge to confront her and talk about this. That’ll probably just upset her even more, and I’d rather not make things even worse while we’re still stuck under the same roof together.
The snowstorm has let up significantly, but the roads are packed with snow. I’m sure there’s damage to poles, trees, and buildings in town. She isn’t driving away from here today.
I reach the guest bedroom where Piper is staying and poke my head inside to check on her.
Piper catches sight of me and perks up, her cartoons becoming forgotten as they mumble on in the background. “Hi, Leo.”
“How are you feeling?” I ask her as I walk into the room, leaving a few feet between me and the bed.
She looks more tired than usual, and her eyes lack that sparkle that they usually have. Her nose is also a little red from having to blow it so much.
Poor kid.
Piper coughs into the crook of her elbow, still sounding as congested as she was yesterday. “Okay. I wish I could go outside and play in the snow.”
A small smile forms on my face as I watch her cast a longing look at the window. Snow tumbles down at a slight angle, riding the cold wind.
“We’ve got months of snow ahead of us. Once you’re better, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to play in the snow.”
Her bottom lip juts out. “But I want to play right now. ”
I take a step forward, feeling a magnetic sensation within me. Like I need to be close to her to make her feel better.
“I know, Piper, but you’re resting up to get strong again. If we’re going to build a snowman even bigger than me, I need you healthy and strong.”
Her eyes widen like I’ve unveiled a secret prophecy. “I can do it. I’ll get strong.”
My smile deepens, a strangely warm feeling growing in my chest. I never have to interact with children in the city, so this feels new to me.
I think I also like her because she reminds me so much of her mom.
Stubborn. Determined. Passionate.
Unless her father is the same exact way, I don’t think she took much from him.
“Good. I’m sure it won’t take you long,” I tell her. “Do you miss being at school? Seeing your friends?”
Piper shrugs. “I like it here.”
“I liked it here when I was young too.”
Until I hated stepping foot in the door .
I barely went over to Juliet’s house because her mom was always working here, and we couldn’t have a whole house to ourselves as teenagers.
“What’s your favorite room?” Piper asks as she sits up more, the light starting to return to her eyes.
I gravitate to the end of the bed and sit on the edge of the mattress. “I really like the library.”
Piper’s eyes widen. “There’s a library?”
“When you’re better, I’ll show it to you. Your mom and I spent a lot of time there together,” I tell her, fond memories surfacing.
Some innocent. Some not.
Regardless of which, we had a good time in the library.
But nothing matched the privacy and adventure found in the forest.
“I feel better,” Piper assures me before sneezing into the crook of her arm.
Laughter breaks from me, sparking her own.
“Nice try. ”
“I do!” she says through giggles.
Footsteps sound behind me, making me look over my shoulder as Juliet appears in the doorway. My smile wilts a little when I see the uneasy furrow of her brow. “Hey, I was just checking on her.”
Juliet glances over at Piper, who’s still smiling. She doesn’t register the tension radiating between me and her mom.
That’s probably for the best. Try explaining what we’re going through to a six-year-old.
“You shouldn’t be so close to her. You could get sick,” she tells me.
I frown as I stand from the bed, wariness weighing down on me. I don’t think that she cares if I get sick or not. Does she not trust me being around Piper or something?
Did what we did last night ruin all of the progress between us?
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” I say, taking a few steps back from Piper’s bed.
Piper already looks like she’s on the verge of pouting. “But Mom—”
“Do you want to get him sick too, Piper?” Juliet asks her.
Piper crosses her arms over her chest and flops back into the pillow. “No.”
“I’ll see you when you get better,” I tell Piper before heading over toward Juliet. I lower my voice. “I’m sorry.”
Juliet subtly shakes her head, cutting off any other words that I want to say. She doesn’t want to talk about anything with me now.
How were we doing so well just to end up even worse than how we were at the start?
I brush past her to leave the room, feeling utterly…alone. I can’t talk to my own father without us fighting about something. I can’t talk to Piper because Juliet doesn’t want me to.
I thought we reached a point where I could talk to Juliet, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
I don’t want to leave things on a bad note between Juliet and me again, but if things line up perfectly, I’ll leave Evergreen Heights once more.
Maybe that’s what she wants the most.
Hell, maybe that’s the best thing to happen for both of us.