I led them down the hall, to the room next to mine, and the young man with the key and the twisted locs opened the door and ushered the group in.I didn’t say anything the entire time, which only intensified the feeling that I was floating somewhere beyond this, watching it happening to someone else.
“These rooms are quite posh, actually,” the Irish one said, sounding impressed.
I recognized him vaguely from the S.S.Barbarabelle.He and his brother had moved on shortly before I left, but I don’t think I’d ever spoken to him or even bothered to learn his name.
The young man with the key I was fairly certain I’d never seen before.He flopped face first onto one of the beds.In a muffled voice he said, “The beds are fantastic, too!”
Ripley jumped on the other bed, and Stella sat down with my niece so that she could pet her.
My niece.Who had gotten so big, and somehow looked even more like Max.I wasn’t prepared for that at all, and I was suddenly thrust back here, in the moment, in my body again.My heart was beating too fast, making me light-headed, and my skin felt too tight, like it was constricting all around my body.
“This room will work for the six of us,” Edie commented as she looked around.“Do you have your own room here, Remy?”
“Yeah,” I said flatly.
I glanced over to where Boden was leaning against the wall.He hadn’t really spoken to me, neither of us had really looked at one another.Part of me wanted to run to him, throw my arms around him and beg him to forgive me, and another part wanted to scream at him for not listening to me.And all of it overwhelmed me completely, so my mouth felt dry, and every noise seemed so unbearably loud.
“How long have – ” Edie started to ask.
But I couldn’t help myself anymore and I interrupted her and blurted out, “What the fuck are you all doing here?”
Everyone fell silent at that, except for Fae who babbled a bit more at Ripley.Stella looked at me with wide, hurt eyes, and I wished I hadn’t snapped at them like that.
“We were worried about you,” Stella said in a small, sad voice that nearly broke my heart.
“But I specifically told you not to follow me!”I yelled back, and I wished I wasn’t yelling.I didn’t want to be, but I couldn’t seem to keep my voice down or hide the tremble in it.
“Leo, mate,” the Irish one said, gently patting the bed of the one I didn’t know who was already half-asleep.“Maybe it’s best we go out and explore.”
“I don’t want to be in anyone’s way, but Ireallyneed a nap,” he grumbled into his pillow.
“You know, now that you mention it, I wouldn’t mind having a rest myself, and I bet I could persuade little miss Fae to go down for a nap,” Fergus offered.“If the rest of you all wanted to go on to Remy’s room to have a talk.”
“I’m sorry, but who are you?And why is anyone trusting my niece alone with you?”I asked.
“Remy!”Stella snapped, looking embarrassed.“That’s Fergus.He’s our friend, and he’s great with Fae.”
“Actually, I think I should hang back, too,” Edie interjected diplomatically.“The conversation seems best if it’s between you three.”
“Fine,” I relented.“My room’s right next door.”
“Thanks for watching her.”Stella kissed Fae on the top of the head, then she stood up.“Feel free to come get me if you need anything at all.”
“And feel free to come get me ifyouneed anything,” Fergus replied cheerily, and then he and Stella exchanged an affectionate look that I did not like at all.
After the quick farewells, I led Stella and Boden next door, and Ripley followed us, still rubbing against Stella and Boden every chance she got.
“Nice to see that you aren’t keeping this place any cleaner than you did ours,” Boden muttered as he cast a disparaging glance over my unmade bed and pile of dirty clothes.My bedside table had a messy stack of books.Some that Jordy had gifted me, like Mary Shelley’sThe Last Man, Jon Krakauer’sInto the Wild, and Kazuo Ishiguro’sNever Let Me Go, butThe Book of Mercysat at the top.
“Did you really travel all this way to make fun of my lack of housekeeping skills?”I asked.
“No.Honestly, I came here because I didn’t want Stella going alone, and she wanted an answer for why you abandoned your only niece,” Boden said.
“Boden!”Stella yelled.“That’s not true!Remy, don’t listen to him.I don’t know why he’s being a jerk right now, but we came here because we love you and we’re worried about you.”
He scoffed.“I’mthe one being a jerk after all I’ve done?”
“Please!”Stella shouted again, holding up her hands.“We’re all here together, and we’re all each other has.Can we please talk about this like civilized people?”
