Chapter 41
“Hey?” West knocked softly at the half-open bedroom door. He peeked around it. “Can I come in?”
“Hi,” I whispered, and gestured for him to enter.
He sat on the bed next to me and watched as I brushed my jagged, uneven hair. After a moment he asked, “Are you okay?”
“It’s only hair,” I shrugged.
“I’m not talking about your hair, Ev.” He pulled me into his arms. “I had no idea. You could have told me about Avett.”
“I know,” I said, my words muffled by his shoulder. I leaned into his embrace. “It was just easier not to. You didn’t need the weight of all that.”
“I feel responsible. I should have been there to protect you.”
“Theo was there. He protected me. If it wasn’t for him….” I let my words trail off, tears springing to my eyes.
“Yeah. He’s a good guy.” West’s voice was gruff with emotion. “But he shouldn’t have let you keep this a secret all this time. You both should have told me.”
“Well, we didn’t. We were both protecting you. And ourselves, too, I guess. The fewer people who knew, the less risk. We thought it was only us who knew the truth. I guess we were wrong, though. Don’t be hard on Theo. He did what he thought was right. We were just kids.”
He pulled back, peering deep into my eyes. “But the secrets end here, Ev, understood? Please don’t keep anything else from me. I need to know the truth at all times so I can protect you properly. It’s been my job from day one, and it will be until we die. You know Mom sat me down and put you into my lap right when you were born, right? She told me I was afraid I’d drop you. I don’t remember, I was too young, but I feel like the weight of that responsibility stayed with me. I feel like I dropped you, Ev.”
“You’re a good brother, West,” I said, shoving away the twinge of guilt that I felt. He didn’t know about my feelings for Theo, and I wanted to tell him now, but I knew I couldn’t. There was so much going on, I wasn’t sure he could handle my confession that I loved Theo right now.
“Get some rest now,” he said, with a sigh. He kissed my forehead and left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts of Theo as I drifted off to sleep.