15. Elijah
Chapter fifteen
Elijah
“ I ’m sorry you don’t feel well,” Brielle whispered.
I looked out the window at the parking lot of her college campus. “Don’t be.”
She angled her body toward me. “So, can I be so nosey and ask why? What made you stop?”
“I think it was a mix of everything. Reconnecting with both of my parents and seeing what my dad is going through. It made me really start thinking about the future. My mom and I have started seeing a family therapist virtually, once a week. That has helped a lot with getting some of the anger and feelings out in a neutral place.”
She grabbed my hand, and I dropped my gaze to our hands. “Well, no matter the reason, I am proud of you. Even if it doesn’t mean much coming from me.”
I pulled my hand away. “Why do you do that?” She recoiled as well, and her phone fell onto the floorboard. She looked taken aback.
“Do what?” she asked timidly.
I placed my hands on the steering wheel so she could see them and wouldn’t get scared. The last thing I wanted was to scare her. “You always think people don’t care about you or your opinion.”
She shrugged and leaned down to grab her phone. “It’s just how I am, I guess. I have a few people in my life who care, and I know that. Everyone else, I assume they couldn’t ever care less about me.” She paused. “Why would they?”
“Because you’re fucking amazing.” I blurted.
“Eli,” she whispered.
“What? You are. You are a fantastic sister, according to Aubrey. You are like her favorite person in the world. Amani and Callie seem to love you just as much. Nick and Link even talk about you in the highest regard. Who the fuck, other than your shitbag of an ex and that dumb boss could have ever made you think you weren’t worthy of someone caring about you? ”
Her mouth hung open. “Wow.”
I shook my head. “Sorry, I just…I hate when you put yourself down like that.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I don’t want someone talking badly about my friend.” I tried my hardest not to crack a smile.
“Okay.” She bit her lip and looked down at her hands.
We must have looked like fools, both of us trying to hide our smiles. The silence began to make my ears ring. Brielle broke the silence a moment later. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Let me walk you up.” I got out of the car and went to her side to open her door.
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine,” she said as she stood.
I closed the door and put my hands hesitantly in my pockets. “You sure? I don’t mind.”
“I am sure. Tonight, my emotions are all over the place. I need to paint, I think.” She chuckled. “It’s the only time I can hear myself think lately. I have an assignment I need to finish up anyway.”
I nodded. “Okay.” I wasn’t sure whether she would let me hug her or say goodbye. I haven’t felt this out of my element in a long time. Not drinking has made everything seem very weird for me.
“Are we okay?” she asked, stepping toward me.
I grinned at her and put my hand out for a handshake. She gripped it with a smile. I pulled her into me before whispering into her ear. “Don’t pick on my friend anymore, okay?”
She hugged me tight for a second before letting go a little to look up at me. When she did, I saw unshed tears pooled in her eyes. I went into immediate worry mode. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry I ruined tonight. I really am proud of you, and I am so thankful you came all the way here just for me.”
I kissed her forehead and whispered softly. “Baby, I will always be here for you.”
She hugged me tight again, then leaned back.
“Are you sure you are okay to go up alone?”
“Yeah. I am going to call Aubrey and apologize.”
“Good idea. What happened in there anyway? Other than you calling her a hoebag?”
She stepped back. “I would rather not say. It is way too embarrassing to talk about with you.”
I winked at her. “Try me.”
She thought for a moment, then cleared her throat.
“Well, to give you the short version, they said I have a schoolgirl crush on you, but you would never want anything to do with me because you don’t like me like that, and then Link said you ‘like’ anything with a vagina.
” She paused and tapped her chin like she was thinking.
“Let’s see, they said my crush will subside once I realize you don’t like me like that.
I know I am probably missing stuff, but I heard all of it, then stormed in and told her just because I wasn’t a hoe like her doesn’t mean I wasn’t ready to try to date. ”
My eyes widened, but she kept going. “So, yeah. I was embarrassed as hell, but now I really want to shower off this day and apologize to her. Because I didn’t mean what I said, even if she did. I need to clear my head.”
She was looking at me expectantly. “Damn. I don’t even have a real response for that.” I laughed nervously, rubbing the back of my head.
She looked down. “I told you it was a lot.” She smiled and gripped my arm. “Text me and let me know that you made it back to Aubrey’s okay.” She turned and began walking up the stairs toward the doors of her building.
My mind was still trying to process all of what she said, but I called out to her right before she gripped the door handle. “Brielle.” She looked back at me. “They are both wrong, ya know?”
She looked at me quizzically. “About?”
I put my hands in my pockets again and shrugged before biting my lip and smiling. “They don’t know the new me any more than you do. They have no idea how I feel about you.”
For a second, I thought she was going to ask me to clarify what I meant, but she headed straight into her building with a smile.
I stormed into Link’s house and frantically searched for him. When I didn’t find him, I looked for Nick.
“Where is he?”
Nick looked up from his conversation. “Where’s who?”
“Lincoln. I’m going to beat the shit out of him.”
Nick looked over at Callie and then back to me. “Link is in the guest room getting it set up for Amani.” He eyed me cautiously. “Do you need backup?”
Callie slapped his chest with a smile. “Stop it. Mind your business.”
I let out a sarcastic laugh. “Not for this, but thanks. You wouldn’t take my side anyway, I’m sure.”
Nick stood from the couch. “Why would you say that?”
I smiled and crossed my arms snidely. “‘Cause you are his friend first off, and secondly, I don’t think you actually like me.”
Without missing a beat, he said, “I am not tied to either one of you, really. I can be Switzerland if I need to be.”
“Fuck you, man,” I said with a smile.
Nick raised his hands in defeat and sat back down, putting Callie's legs back on top of him.
As I walked down the hall, I caught Link coming out of the guest bedroom. I sternly pointed outside toward the backyard, a sign for him to follow me.
I turned to face him when I heard the door shut behind us and began letting him have a piece of my mind. “Why would you talk shit about me to Aubrey?” It came off sounding more hurt than angry, which wasn’t intentional.
He looked confused. “I wouldn’t. Why would you ask that?”
“You did, though. You told her I would only like Brielle because I liked anything with a vagina.”
“Dude, that’s not talking shit.” He smirked. “We were just talking about—”
“I know what you were talking about and just…just don’t. Things are different now.”
“Are you seriously hurt ‘cause I said that?”
I shrugged.
“Why do you care so much? It was more of a joke anyway.”
“Things are just different now. I am different. Or at least I’m trying to be.”
He eyed me cautiously. “Are you good, dude?”
He stepped toward me, and the emotions were becoming a little too much for me, so I tried to change the subject. “I’m fine. Just going through some shit. This sober thing isn’t for me, dude.”
“You’re sober?”
“Three weeks now, yeah. Not sure it will last much longer, though.”
“Wanna talk about it inside? I'm freezing my balls off out here.”
I shook my head. “Nah, there’s nothing to talk about. Just watch what you say about me in front of Brie. I don’t want her, of all people, to think badly of me, any more than what I have shown her already.”
“Why would you give a fuck what she thinks?”
“I don’t know? She just…matters. I can't explain it.”
He grinned and walked up to me, urging me toward the door to go inside. “Let's go in. It’s fucking freezing.”
“First of all, it's like fifty degrees out. You are just being a wuss. Second, what was the smirk for?”
He slapped my back. “You are whipped, my guy.” He opened the screen door and held it for me. “If you fucking hurt her, I’ll have to kill you.”
“I would never hurt her.” His eyebrows raised, and he gave me an ‘I told you so’ look. “And I am not whipped.”
“Sure you’re not. When was the last time you slept with someone?”
“Why? Do you need advice?” I asked sarcastically. I knew the point he was trying to make.
“Well? When was it?” he asked again with the same shit-eating grin.
“I don’t fucking know. I don’t keep track anymore.”
“Case. In. Point. Period. Welcome to the pussy whipped club, my guy.”
“Who has him pussy whipped?” Aubrey’s voice came from the half bathroom right inside the door.
He looked at me, and I didn’t know what to say. He looked back at her, putting his arm around her. “Nobody, Songbird. I am just breaking his balls.”
She leaned up, kissed him, and whispered, but I heard her anyway. “You are a horrible liar.”
“I know, baby.” He kissed her nose. “It’s just not my story to tell.”
Aubrey looked over at me. “You good? Are you staying here tonight?”
“Yes, I’m good, and no, not staying. I have a red-eye flight to catch at around two in the morning from here. We have a show tomorrow night so I have to get back to Cali.”
Aubrey walked over and hugged me. “Okay. We love you. Call us when you land.”
The three of us began walking down the hallway so I could say goodbye to everyone else in the living room. Aubrey stopped me before I got there, yanked me into the main bathroom, and locked the door behind us. My eyes went wide as she crowded me up against the back of the door.