Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
LARS
Ineed you not to panic.
Words every parent dreaded.
Lars left work and broke multiple traffic laws driving to the hospital. Thank God they lived in a small town with little police monitoring. Once parked, he stormed inside to the front desk. “My daughter was brought in with an injured arm. Chloe Spencer.”
The receptionist nodded and typed something into her computer. “She’s in bed seven. You can go on back.”
The double doors off to the side opened. He thanked her before heading through them in search of his little girl. The second he stepped into the room and found her sitting next to Aaron in the hospital bed, with Maddie on his lap, Lars almost cried.
“Daddy,” Chloe said, noticing him first.
He rounded to her side of the bed and carefully hugged her. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“I hurt my arm,” she said with a pouty face.
“I heard,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
Aaron climbed from the bed, taking Maddie with him, to make room for Lars. As if he could read his thoughts and knew what Lars needed before he could even ask.
Scooping Chloe up, Lars sat on the bed while holding her, careful not to touch her injured arm. To Aaron, he said, “Have they said whether it’s broken yet?”
“No, not yet. The doctor should be here any time now.”
Lars nodded, but then he realized that Aaron wasn’t looking at him. Almost like he couldn’t. Guilt was so clear in his voice, his very posture. “Aaron—”
“All right,” a voice said just as a woman walked in. She looked up from her tablet, saw Lars on the bed, then glanced to Aaron and back. “Are you…”
“Dad,” Lars finished with a nod.
“Hi, Dad. I’m Doctor Lopez.” She walked closer. “So, there is a fracture just below Chloe’s elbow. I want to put a cast on to make sure it heals properly.” She smiled down at Chloe. “Especially since someone is usually a busybody, from what I’ve been told.”
Lars kissed the top of his girl’s head once more. “She is.”
Right now, she was sitting still and being quiet, which was so out of character. That was how he knew she was hurting. Not to mention she was sick. He lifted the back of his hand to feel her forehead.
“We gave her some Motrin to help with both the pain and fever,” the doctor said. “Your…” She trailed off with a look toward Aaron as if unsure how to refer to him.
“Friend,” Lars supplied when Aaron still didn’t lift his gaze. It was the simplest explanation for now. The fact that Aaron and Chloe were this quiet and calm made his chest ache. This had truly rattled them both.
Lopez focused on him again. “Your friend told us she woke up this morning not feeling well. It doesn’t look like strep, so continuing with Motrin, rest, and fluids should help, but if it gets worse, definitely bring her back or get her in to her doctor.”
Lars nodded in agreement.
“I’m going to get a nurse to help with the cast, but I have a very important question for you, Chloe.” The doctor got down at eye level. “What’s your favorite color?”
Chloe leaned into his chest more, turning her face into him. She wasn’t a shy child. It worried him that she was acting like this. He hated it so much. He wanted her radiant smiles and laughter. Brushing some of her hair from her forehead, he asked quietly, “Can you tell her your favorite color?”
“Lellow,” she whispered.
The doctor gently patted her on the leg. “Okay. I’ll be back in a few.”
Lars lifted Chloe to stand on the bed when they were cleared to leave. Keeping one hand on her, he grabbed the familiar blanket and wrapped it around her before picking her up again. “Let’s go home.”
Aaron stood with Maddie at the edge of the room. Knowing they both needed this, Lars paused beside him. “Chloe, do you want Uncle Aaron to carry you?”
For the first time in three years, she didn’t go to Aaron.
She buried her face against Lars and shook her head.
Lars’s heart shattered, even more so when he looked up and saw the pain in his best friend’s eyes.
She always chose Aaron. It was no secret to anyone that he was her favorite person in the world.
Putting a hand on Aaron’s arm for a second, he waited for his friend to finally meet his gaze then mouthed, sorry.
Aaron shrugged it off then walked out of the small room.
With a sigh, Lars followed him out to the parking lot, knowing just how much this was killing him.
Aaron was trying to act like he was fine, but Lars saw through that.
When they reached the parking lot, Chloe whispered, “Daddy, I ride with you?”
“Sure, sweetie,” he said as they reached Aaron’s car. “We can move your carseat.”
Aaron finished putting Maddie in hers before facing them, shaking his head. “Just drive mine home.”
Logically, Lars knew that was the easier option, but he also knew Aaron.
His friend didn’t care about convenience when it came to these girls; he’d always done as they wished.
Normally, he wouldn’t hesitate to swap the seat around and just drive one of the girls.
Which was why Lars thought something else was going.
Aaron was almost… fidgety. He looked terrified.
“Are you sure? It’s not a big deal to move it,” Lars said.
Ignoring him, Aaron went around to the driver side and started the car before climbing back out. Lars didn’t fight it. He just put Chloe in her seat, making sure her buckles were secure, and then swapped keys with Aaron. He would figure out how to fix this once they got home.
He had to.
The thought of Chloe and Aaron not being an inseparable duo was unfathomable. It made his chest ache. He would do whatever it took to make this better.
Aaron
Aaron scrubbed at the plate, his hands pruning from being in the water for so long. But he couldn’t stop. He kept hearing Chloe’s scream, kept seeing the way she had refused to go to him at the hospital. The way she’d avoided him all night. She hadn’t even asked for a bedtime story.
Clenching his jaw, he blinked through the burning in his eyes. An invisible band tightened around his chest. It was too hard to breathe, to think properly. He’d promised her he would always catch her…
“Aaron,” Lars said, appearing next to him and grabbing him by the wrist. “That’s enough.”
Shaking his head, Aaron whispered, “I have to do something.”
Lars turned off the water and tugged him away from the sink. He dried Aaron’s hands off with a dishtowel, and before Aaron could argue or turn away, Lars pulled him into his arms. “Stop,” he said against Aaron’s ear, holding him close. “It was an accident.”
Aaron pushed him back and stormed toward the stairs.
“I should’ve fucking known better. Chloe hasn’t sat still since she learned how to crawl; I shouldn’t have left her sitting on the—on the…
” He made it to the spare room and started shoving his belongings into his suitcase. “It could’ve been so much worse.”
“But it wasn’t,” Lars said.
“If she’d fallen differently, or-or—I don’t know!” he said, tossing the shirt down and whirling to face Lars. “She’s hurt because of me. Because once again, I was too fucking stupid to do the right thing.”
“Aar—”
Aaron couldn’t hear any more excuses. “Why am I always screwing everything up?” He swept a hand through his hair, gripping it tightly as he sat on the corner of the bed. “Everywhere I go, I hurt people and ruin things.”
“No, you don’t.” He stepped closer.
“I lied to Aiden and Charlie so they wouldn’t know how each other felt then asked her out myself because I was jealous.
” Aaron lowered his head. “I then left her at the altar without any sort of explanation and hid because I couldn’t face them.
” Meeting Lars’s gaze, he added, “I messed around with you, twice, risking our friendship, knowing full well that there’s a chance you could move to fucking London at the end of all this. ”
Lars sighed and put a finger under Aaron’s chin. “Listen to me.” He leaned down to kiss him once, stopping his ramble. “First of all, you didn’t ask Charlie out because you were jealous. You asked her out because of the guilt when Aiden went to prom with someone else.”
“Because I convinced him to.” Aaron smacked his hand away and stood, needing to move.
“You left her at the altar because, again, you felt guilty and couldn’t hurt them anymore.”
Aaron began pacing. “Okay, but—”
“Stop,” Lars said, cutting him off. When Aaron reached the other side of the room and turned around, Lars was there, right in front of him.
In the next second, Aaron was pushed against the wall with both of Lars’s hands on his shoulders.
Holding his gaze, Lars lifted one hand to brush his thumb along Aaron’s jaw.
“Yes, you’ve made mistakes, but so has literally every other person on this planet. ”
He knew that was true, but his felt weightier. Monumental. Nonstop.
“As for risking our friendship.” Lars leaned in close, lowering his voice. “That wasn’t just your choice. It’s on both of us.” He kissed Aaron again. “And it definitely wasn’t a mistake. No matter what happens, I can’t imagine ever regretting this.”
“But what if you leave?” Aaron whispered, letting his fear show.
Lars gave him a sad smile. “I don’t anticipate moving across the world, Aaron. If Melanie leaves, the two of us will figure out what’s going to happen with the girls, and then…”
Aaron shook his head. “But that’s… that’s the issue. I…” He sighed. “I want to be a part of this. I know I have no claim on them, but I love them too. I love—” His lips slammed shut, and he glanced away.
Before either could react, a quiet voice said, “Daddy?”
Lars whirled to see Chloe in the doorway.
“Why are you and Unc Aaron fighting?”
“We’re not, sweetheart.” He knelt and held a hand out. “What are you doing out of bed?”
She stepped closer, her bright yellow cast glowing like a beacon to remind Aaron what happened. “I sleep with you?”
Standing, Lars lifted her into his arms. “Okay.”
But then, she looked at Aaron. He wanted to reach out to her, to hold her and never let go, to protect her from everything in this world.
“Am I in trouble?” she asked him with big, round eyes.
His brow furrowed. “What? No. Why do you think you’re in trouble?”
“You said don’t move.”
Aaron was fairly certain the rest of his tattered heart fell apart at those words.
She wasn’t scared of him. She thought he was mad that she hadn’t listened earlier.
Shaking his head, he took the last few steps toward them and quickly hauled her into his arms. This time, she didn’t shrink away from him.
She wrapped her uninjured arm around his neck.
“No, Little Monster.” Aaron kissed her cheek then hugged her tightly, careful not to bump her cast. “This was my fault, not yours. I’m sorry I left you up there alone.”
“You not mad at me?”
“No.” Glancing to Lars, he found his friend smiling at them.
And just like that, he felt a little more reassured.
He could finally take a breath—albeit a shaky one.
“All right, let’s get you to bed.” He carried her to the master suite with Lars following.
Going to the bed, he lowered the blankets with one hand then laid her down.
“Daddy, lay with me,” she said.
He was already taking off his sweatshirt, leaving him in the T-shirt and pajama pants he’d changed into earlier. “I’m coming.” Climbing in on her other side, he gently slid her closer. “But we have to actually sleep. It’s past your bedtime.”
Aaron pulled the blankets up then kissed her on the forehead. “Goodnight, you two. I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll make waffles, okay?”
But Chloe shook her head. “No!”
“You don’t want waffles?”
“Sleep here,” she said, reaching for his hand.
“Um…” Aaron looked at Lars, who just nodded with a smile.
Swallowing, he said, “Okay, scoot over.” As soon as he got into bed and turned off the lamp, she curled up against his side, putting her little yellow cast on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and combed his fingers through her hair.
“Goodnight, Little Monster. I love you.”
“Love you, Unc Aaron,” she whispered, her breaths already slowing.
He glanced behind her toward Lars. He could just barely see him in the moonlight streaming in from the window above them. Careful not to jostle Chloe, he slid his hand over. Without hesitation, Lars laced their fingers together. In the softest voice, he said, “I love you too, Aaron.”