How un-fun is that?
“What are you doing here?” Bram asks after Marian introduces himself.
The two men beside us pick up on the awkward situation and excuse themselves. I watch them leave with a frown.
“I’m here to see you. You left so suddenly, and I could tell you were upset. I wanted to check on you. It didn’t seem right for you to be sad and alone during the holidays.”
He shakes his head. “That’s not… You weren’t… Edward.”
The way he can’t string a sentence together only makes everything worse. Bram is rarely ever lost for words. He might not use a lot of them all the time like I do, but he’s never one to forget how to use them.
Or maybe this is him trying not to hurt my feelings. That could be it.
What if he wants to tell me the truth of how he feels yet he’s worried I’ll take it badly? That makes sense given I spoiled his vacation. From meeting Link and Marian, it seems he’s already on his way to making time for other people.
It’s not that he needed time alone after all.
Maybe he just needed time away from me.
Oh.
OH!
The reality of it all hits me hard. It’s a realization that nearly makes me stumble when I haven’t even attempted to move.
“You came here so you wouldn’t be around me. I’m the problem,” I say aloud.
Bram’s eyes go wide as he tries to take a step closer. I raise my hand, my heart sinking as I accept I’ve gotten everything wrong all along.
This friendship hasn’t been as balanced as I thought. It’s been one-sided in a way I didn’t even realize.
He came here to get away from me. And maybe even to come up with a plan to let me down. To get me out of his life even.
I don’t know all the details. I can only see the truth as clear as day while my supposed friend struggles to find the words to cover up the truth.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll… I’ll get out of your way. Enjoy your vacation, Bram.”
Spinning away from him, I break into a jog to escape the confrontation. So much for having a plan. I rip the paper from my pocket and chuck it into a trash can I pass by.
As the paper falls, tears trail down my cheek. Merry fucking Christmas to me.
CHAPTER 5
Bram
Seeing Eddie here throws everything out of balance just as I'm getting used to not having him around.
Okay, maybe I'm not used to not having him around. It's more like I've been telling myself that this was a good decision over and over again while filling my mind with useless things.
But him here—it's the last thing I expect.
It's why I'm so tongue-tied when he confronts me about being away from him. Any other time I would have been able to tell him no that it wasn't him. I could have fibbed a little bit and made him feel okay enough to give me a hug and explain why he popped up.
Instead, he’s gone before I know it, before I can find words.
My heart races at the sight of him turning away from me. He's not crying, not yet. I know him well enough to know that it's coming, though.
Eddie's emotions are always close to the surface. It's one of the many things I love about him. I don't have to try and read him or ask a million questions for him to explain something. It's right there in his expression and the way he acts.
