Chapter 51 The Beginning
THE BEGINNING
“Wait, back up.”
It was a Saturday night. Callie, Craig, Holly, and Holly’s girlfriend, Leah, were here to make me feel less lonely.
It was Callie’s idea. She worried about me.
So did Craig. Especially now. I told them I was fine.
Because I was. They didn’t believe me, so Craig would take Saturday nights off.
We’d eat pizza and play games. I was fine.
“That’s how you know Tristan Anderson?” Leah asked, sitting up and looking at the painting behind her and Holly. “That’s how you got the painting?”
“Yep.” I smiled, rubbing the thin red thread Tristan had tattooed on my little finger. He had a matching one around his.
“How long ago was this?” Leah asked.
“Fourteen months.” Tristan and I spoke when we could.
His schedule was crazy. Some nights he’d call me at three a.m., tired and wanting to give it all up.
I still worried he would. Not as much as a year ago.
Because now when things got really bad he ran to me instead of getting lost in the darkness.
Leah looked at Holly. “Did you know this was how it all ended?”
“I knew about Evan’s broken vase, yes.” Holly ran a finger down Leah’s arm. “I told her to throw it out.”
“Throw it out? No. That’s her soulmate. God, you are so unromantic.” Leah rolled her eyes. “Craig, can’t you do something? Make him come back.”
Callie snorted, sitting up. “If only it were that easy. I need to pee again. Ev, help.” Callie reached for me.
I smiled and pulled my very pregnant friend from the couch. Thankfully, she hadn’t punched anyone.
“Do you need my help?” Craig asked.
“That’s how she got that way.” Holly rolled her eyes. “What time is the pizza supposed to be here? I’m starving.”
“Are we going to brush over the fact that he’s two months late?” Leah turned to Holly. “If you ever did that to me, I would hunt you down.”
Holly brushed her girlfriend’s hair from her shoulder. “You think I’m your soulmate?”
Leah blushed. “Maybe. I mean, as long as it doesn’t end like Evan’s story. Sorry, Ev.”
I shrugged, looking at the large painting. Tristan sent it to me for my birthday. Then he called to tell me he wasn’t going to make the one-year mark. I hated that we were still apart, but I understood why.
Tristan was still trying to prove he wasn’t broken.
Still trying to prove that he was worth everything everyone sacrificed for him.
It didn’t matter how many times I told him I loved him.
He didn’t see the reasons why. He didn’t see that the three of us who sat in this room—Callie, Craig, and I—felt his absence more than some perceived sacrifice.
That we would take Tristan any way we could get him.
The doorbell rang. “That’s the pizza.” I got up.
It had been two weeks since I heard from Tristan.
The last time we talked, he said he had some things he needed to take care of.
Then nothing. He hadn’t posted anything on social media, and Craig hadn’t heard anything from him. He was gone. Noah promised he was okay.
I grabbed the tip money and opened the door.
There he stood. Green eyes and dark hair. Another year older but still so striking.
“You made it.”
“I said I would. I’m sorry I’m late. I had to take care of something.”
“And are you okay?” I stepped closer to him.
“I am now.” He pulled his hand out of his pocket. “I have a question to ask you.”
The legend of the red thread says our world has its share of obstacles, but nothing in it happens by accident.