Chapter 5 Wren
WREN
Iwas halfway through reheating a cup of coffee I didn’t even want when the knock came.
I sighed. Not now. I wasn’t in the mood for anyone, not my best friend, Harper, and her hovering, not Reed after last night, and definitely not—
Another knock. Then a voice, way too loud for the dull ache in my head.
“Open up, Callahan. I know you’re in there because I saw your car. There’s no use in pretending you aren’t home!”
I groaned and let my forehead rest against the wall next to the coffee bar. It was Lena, go figure.
Dragging my feet toward the front door, I cracked it open just enough to see my cousin standing there with a grocery tote slung over one shoulder and the most unapologetic grin plastered on her face.
“You look like you’ve been through an emotional blender. Still gorgeous, though. Let me in, Wrennie. I brought food.”
She breezed in as if she owned the place, like we hadn’t skipped a few weeks of real talking. After toeing off her boots at the foyer, she dumped the tote on the kitchen counter and spun around to face me.
Lena always looked like she belonged in a moody magazine spread.
Her long, wavy hair in rich streaks of copper, black, and platinum blonde tumbled down her shoulders.
She spent a fortune trying to look like her calico cat.
Her light skin was dusted with pale freckles from head to toe.
Her silver septum and nose ring made her stormy gray-blue eyes stand out even more.
“Cam texted me last night,” she said. “Said you were acting… off.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Cam has a big mouth.”
Lena shrugged like that wasn’t news. “And I have a big heart. Lucky for you, they cancel each other out.”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know,” she said gently, opening the fridge and immediately making a face. “But I wanted to.”
She pulled out two Dr. Peppers, shut the fridge with her hip, and leaned against the island in the kitchen so casually.
“Want to talk about it?”
I shook my head no.
Lena didn’t press. Just passed me one of the cans and cracked open hers, then headed to the kitchen table. “Okay. Then just sit with me while I force Dr. P into your body at eleven in the morning and scroll on my phone.”
She gave me a soft, crooked smile. “You know it’s okay to be sad and have rough days. Sometimes you just need someone to keep you anchored while you feel it.”
I didn’t answer her, but I sat down at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around the pop. I let her be there for me. I am grateful that someone still knew how to show up without needing the whole story.
We didn’t talk for a while. The silence wasn’t awkward, but then again, nothing ever was with Lena. She began to play with the tab on the top of the can, but there was no pressure for me to speak before I was ready.
The weight in my chest was heavy. It had been since before last night, but sitting still in it and trying to pretend like it wasn’t crawling under my skin felt worse than saying something stupid.
“It wasn’t nothing,” I said, my voice barely there.
Lena didn’t look up, just kept scrolling on her phone. “Yeah?”
“But it wasn’t… something either.”
She glanced at me and waited. Not pushing me to talk, and that made it easier.
“It was Reed.”
That finally pulled her attention. A sharp, quick look as if she were assessing me. She locked her phone and set it down slowly.
“We didn’t—he didn’t do anything,” I rushed to say.
I could feel the heat rising from my cheeks straight to the tops of my ears.
I knew I was beet red. “It wasn’t like that.
It was just… I was a mess again on the bleachers last night, alone in the dark, and he showed up.
Then we sat there in silence. After a bit, he offered to take me on a drive and dropped me off after. ”
“Cam’s best friend Reed?” she asked slowly, just to confirm. Like, I might mean some other Reed we both knew in this small ass town.
I nodded, the shame curling in my stomach. “Yeah.”
“And Harper’s brother.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Yes.”
Lena nodded slowly, like she was trying to be careful with her words. She chewed on her lip and thought for a moment. “But… he saw you.”
I dropped my hands and blinked. “What?”
“You’re not the kind of girl who lets someone see her like that,” she said softly. “Not unless they actually see you. Normally, if you’re upset and someone comes around, you shut that shit down quickly. You put on a smile until you’re alone again.”
“I don’t know what it meant,” I admitted.
“Maybe nothing. Maybe I just wanted someone to stay. But I can’t continue with this.
Remember when we kissed back in the day?
You’re still the only one I told. I don’t want Harper getting weird about it.
She’d ask too many questions, and I don’t even have answers. God, Cam would be so pissed.”
If I had a nickel every time Reed played my knight in shining armor, I would have two nickels.
Years ago, when I had gotten out of a long relationship right before my twentieth birthday, I went to clear my head at the beach, and Reed showed up.
He sat with me in the sand for a few hours and was the person I leaned on.
He sat through the tears, the anger, and the rants until I was calm.
He gave me advice and helped me find the light at the end of the tunnel.
And here he was again doing the same thing.
Lena’s gaze softened. “You don’t have to tell them,” she said. “You get to keep things close until you’re ready. Like you said, neither of you did anything. I’m not sure there’s anything to worry about.”
I let out a breath. “But what if something happens between us?”
“It might,” Lena said. “But sometimes things need to happen or change, especially if they’ve been stuck for a long time.”
I dropped my forehead onto my arms and groaned. “Since when are you this wise?”
She grinned. “Since I became the unsolicited therapist for sad girls who catch feelings for tattooed men with emotional issues.”
A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. God, it felt so good to laugh.
“Shut up,” I said, shaking my head.
“I’ll shut up after we watch bad TV and I make you something green to eat.”
She got up from the table and walked toward the items she had dumped out earlier. I watched her move around the kitchen like she belonged there.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel like I had to hold it all together. I didn’t have to pretend I wasn’t unraveling at the seams.