Chapter 25
Evander
Kasey was asleep before his head even touched the pillow.
For a moment, I almost worried he’d be up all night after how much he’d slept today, but the thought passed away as quickly as it came. His body wasn’t just tired; it was recovering. Healing in ways he hadn’t been allowed to before.
He needed the rest; deserved it.
He sunk into the mattress, his breathing evening out almost instantly and I stayed there a moment longer, watching the tension finally slip from his face.
The kind of peace he fell into now wasn’t something he'd ever been given freely.
And if sleep was the only place he felt safe enough to let go, then he could have as much of it as he needed.
I had to stop myself from reaching for my camera. Every instinct in me wanted to capture him like this. Quiet, soft, finally at peace. But it felt too intimate, too much like taking something he hadn't offered.
So, I just stood there, memorizing him instead.
Kasey’s dirty blond hair stuck in uneven tufts from where my hand had run through it too many times today. The shadows under his eyes were still darker than I liked, bruised reminders of everything he’d been carrying for far too long.
But the freckles dusting his nose.... They stood out more now, deepened against his skin, like the medication had coaxed a little warmth back into him.
He looked young like this. Vulnerable.
I lingered a moment longer, watching the slow rise and fall of his breathing. He didn’t stir. Didn’t make a sound.
I brushed a stray piece of hair off his forehead, then forced myself to step back.
Kasey was wrapped in the blanket from this morning. The same blanket that was the exact copy of one that I once had as a teenager. I had seen it in the store and couldn’t help but buy it with unfilled hope of actually finding this Omega.
Quietly, I slipped out of the room and pulled the door mostly shut, leaving it cracked just enough that I'd hear him if he woke up.
I slipped on my shoes before stepping out the back door. The faint scent of pine from the line of trees wafted my way and I stopped to take a deep breath.
My parent’s house sat just across the backyard, close enough that I could see the kitchen lights when dark fell. Often times, I would sit on the porch and just watch them as they ate dinner and enjoyed life while I suffered in my thoughts.
Halfway across the yard, I glanced back at my house. The bedroom window was open, curtains letting in the sun, just as Kasey had left them this morning.
I climbed the steps that were yards past the batch of blue flowers that Ma had planted years ago. The same type of flowers that Kasey once loved.
I wondered if he still liked flowers.
Before I could wipe the thought from my mind, Ma was already there, opening the door and pulling me straight into her arms.
I was startled, but only for a second. This was Ma. Soft where the world was sharp. Warm where everything else felt cold. Her hugs had always been the kind you didn’t realize you needed until you were in them.
I wrapped my arms around her, letting myself sink into it for a breath longer than I meant to.
Too soon, she pulled back, her hands resting on my arms as she looked me over. Really looked. The way only a mother could; like she’d already pieced together half the story just from the way I was standing.
And when she finally spoke, her voice was that gentle, knowing tone I'd grown up with. The one no one ever tried to dodge.
“Alright, sweetie, tell me what’s going on.”
“I just...” I exhaled, the words catching somewhere low in my chest. “I miss him, Ma.”
Her expression softened instantly, the way it always did when the subject turned to Kasey. She didn’t press, didn’t pry, just rested a hand on my arm like she could steady the ache I didn’t know how to name.
I wasn’t ready to tell her he was asleep in my house. Not yet. Not when everything felt so fragile, like one move might shatter the thin thread holding him together.
I held onto the truth I could give her. “I’ve been thinking about him a lot lately. More than usual.”
Ma nodded, her blond hair bouncing around her shoulders. “Of course you have. You always do.”
She didn’t ask why. She didn’t need to. Kasey was nearly always constant to my thoughts. Even before he left us.
She turned towards the kitchen, and I followed her on tired feet.
“He’d be nineteen now.” Twenty in a few months.
“And ten years since he went missing as of tomorrow.”
Yeah, that too.
I leaned my elbows on the countertop, watching as my mother went around the island to grab whatever she had wanted to give me.
“You didn’t want to go camping with us?” Ma asked gently as she stepped closer. That soft knowing look still settled on her round face. “Did you finally accept that he’s not going to come back?”
I gave her a look before I could stop myself.
No, I’d never accept that. Because Kasey was back. He was asleep in my house. Under my roof. In my care. The entire reason I canceled at the last minute to not go on our yearly camping trip.
The truth pressed hard against the back of my teeth.
It would have been so easy to tell her, just a handful of words, and she’d know everything.
She’d cry probably. She’d call Dad. She’d bake something else.
She’d like to tell Kasey’s parents. It’d be too much for the Omega, let alone me, to handle right now.
So, I swallowed the truth and let it sit heavy in my chest.
“Something like that,” I murmured instead, keeping my voice steady as the lie scraped against my ribs.
Ma’s eyes saw the ache I carried with me. “You at least took the week off, right?”
“Yeah.” I always did. The few days up to the day Kasey had disappeared, I took off. Every year without fail.
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, the Hales aren’t coming again this year. I don’t think their hearts can take seeing the area year after year.”
Understandable, of course.
Those two had just a hard time as I did with the loss of Kasey. Just...they gave up hope that he was alive years ago while I kept searching. Always searching.
Life hadn’t been the same when the other part of me left. But hopefully things will fall into place now.
Ma didn’t push; she never did when she sensed I was holding something close to my chest. Instead, she gave my arm a gentle squeeze and turned back to the counter.
“I packed you a few things,” she said, already moving with that soft efficiency she perfected over a lifetime. “Figured you might want something warm tonight.”
She lifted a small basket that was lined with one of her faded floral towels and handed it over. The smell hit me immediately. Cinnamon, honey and that buttery sweetness she only made when she thought someone needed comfort.
I swallowed around the tightness in my throat.
“Thanks, Ma.” I took the basket carefully. It was still warm against my palms.
She brushed her hand over my cheek, like she used to do when I was a kid. The only difference was now; I was taller, and she nearly had to stand on her toes. “You look tired, sweetie. Go home. Eat something. And take a nap. And if you need to talk...you know where I’m at.”
I nodded, unable to trust my voice for a second.
She didn’t know how closer home really was to the reason I looked like this. Didn’t know that the boy she thought was gone forever was asleep in my guest room. Didn’t know that if she stepped outside and looked across the yard after dark, she may see him through the windows.
And she couldn’t know. Not yet.
“Let me know when you guys get back. I’ll worry.”
“Of course, honey. And if you change your mind about going, we’ll be at the usual campground.”
With one last hug, I stepped off the porch, basket in hand and crossed the yard back towards my house.