Jessie made a small, sad sound. "That poor woman."
"You know my old band?" Nathan said. "I didn't leave." He took in a slow breath. "I got kicked out."
"Those fuckers!" Gael burst out. "Did they really kick you out of the band becauseyour mom got sick? What the hell! Who fucking does that?"
Gael's righteous indignation said enough. Nathan's tense muscles began to relax, relief spreading across his face. Gael noticed.
"Is that what you were worried about?" Gael asked, appalled. "Did you think we'd kick you out?"
Nathan murmured something indistinct.
Gael punched him hard in the arm.
"Ow!" Nathan yelped. "You asshole, what was that for?"
"You're the asshole," Gael retorted. "You really think I'd ditch you? You should know me better than that."
"But what about the tour?" Nathan asked.
Gael made a face. "Yeah, that's going to suck, not having you there with us. But," Gael shrugged, "if you've got to be with your mom, then that's that. We'll get someone to fill in temporarily. They won't be as good as you, but that just means Liam will have to pick up the slack."
"You're really okay with this?" Nathan asked.
"Fuck no," Gael said bluntly. "It sucks your mom is sick. It sucks you might have to miss the tour. Playing with some random stranger is going to be weird. But we're not kicking you out of the band, and we're not going to make you abandon your mom if she needs help."
Nathan's mouth quivered before he pressed his lips in a firm line, but his eyes were bright and shiny.
"Aw, man, come here." Gael pulled Nathan into one of those bro half-hugs. "You know you're stuck with us," he said. "Just like we're stuck with you."
Nathan wrapped his arm around Gael's shoulder and returned the hug.
"Thank you," Jessie whispered to me.
"It was nothing," I said. "After what you told me, I knew Nathan had to come clean. It was killing him having to keep it from you, and I knew he'd need the emotional support. He really loves Gael. He loves the band."
"And what about you?" Jessie said. "Do you love Nathan?"
"Yes," I said without hesitation. "And he loves me."
Jessie gave me a bright smile.
"I'm glad he has someone," she said. "I know it hurt him, me and Gael being together. It's important that he has someone to lean on."
I thought back to what Nathan had said that time during our drinking game. He was happy for Gael, happy that he'd found someone to be his rock. Someone he could rely on.
Nathan had spent so much of his childhood taking care of someone else.
I had spent so much of my childhood being taken care of.
Now it was my turn to be the rock.
Gael and Nathan pulled away from each other, their eyes no longer glistening. They were laughing together and calling each other names. Everything was back to normal.
Well. Most things.
"Becca and I have to run," Nathan told them. "We've got dinner plans with her parents later on tonight."
Gael whistled. "Damn, good luck with that."
