Jay’s face blanches at the thought of anything hurting Elizabeth. He immediately backs down and takes a seat on the side of his bed. Like earlier tonight at Ryder's, his head hangs low, refusing to look at me.
He swallows a few times before speaking.“I panicked. I fucking panicked. I heard what he was saying and all I could think about was that I was losing my girl.My girl,” he thumps his chest above his heart. “I know I should’ve told her how I felt ages ago. I know I should’ve talked to Ryder. He and I have both been dancing around the subject for years. I wasn’t expecting him to finally grow a pair and pursue her. So yeah, I panicked. Fucking hell.”
“You need to fix this, Jay.”
“I know. I promised Liz I would take care of everything. I’ll make sure she doesn’t lose any of us. I made her a promise, and I will never break my promises to that girl.”
“You didn’t see what you running off did to Ryder. He’s devastated, man. He thinks you hate him. I promised him otherwise. Told him you just needed a moment. Now I’m a lying asshole thanks to you.”
If I thought Jay’s head couldn’t hang any lower in shame, I was wrong.
“Talk to me, brother. No matter what, I am here for you. But I won’t betray Ryder. I’m not going to lie to him.”
“I love her, Julien. I can’t live without her. I’m sorry.”
I love my twin brother, too. I hate to see him tying himself up into knots about this. We all knew things would come to a head when it came to Elizabeth sooner or later. Lines would have to be drawn, boundaries established, choices made. I only wish he went about it better. Talked to Ryder instead of running off behind his back to stake his claim and steal her.
“You know, he still plans to talk to her tomorrow. You’re going to have to suck it up and talk to him first before he sees her or else it’s going to cause a shitload of confusion and problems.”
I touch his shoulder. Sitting down beside him on his bed, I wrap my arm around his shoulder and pull him to me.
“Want to talk about it?”
Jay wipes a tear from the corner of his eye and smiles over at me. “It was beautiful.”
“Ok, not wanting too many details because the girl is my best friend and I may decide to punch you again if you made any moves on her, but go ahead,” I gesture to let him know he can continue talking about what happened between them tonight.
I stay with my brother until the sun comes up as he confesses every feeling, every thought to me. The love he has for Liz shines through it all like a beacon, and I know he will worship the ground she walks on and treat her like a queen. Liz told Jay she loved him back. Regardless of how screwed up the circumstances, she made a choice. I hope Ryder is strong enough to live with it.
Elizabeth
I feel my bed bounce which wakes me from the dream I was having. A dream of me, Jayson, Ryder, and Julien when we were younger. We’d been playing in our forest fort after coming back from the creek. I remember Jayson had found this rose-colored quartz rock in the shape of a heart that he gave to me to add to my jar collection. He placed it on my palm and I wrapped my fingers tightly around it, feeling its smoothness and warmth. I opened my hand to see that the heart-shaped rock was now broken, split and cracked down the middle. I looked up to ask Jayson what happened to it, but it was not Jayson in front of me anymore. It was Ryder.
“So which one was it?” a voice asks from beside me, pulling me from my dream.
I stretch my arms and legs out and roll over. Images from last night instantly flood my brain and I lift my fingers to my still tingling lips before opening my eyes to see Hailey’s face next to mine on the bed.
“What?” I’m still partially lost in my dream and not fully awake yet. I get a poke to the side of my ribs and sleepily swat it away.
“Which one was it? Jayson or Ryder? Or was it Julien?”
I look at her in confusion before realization dons on me.
“You know I can hear everything in my room even with the bathroom doors closed. Ok, well not everything, but the sound of a boy’s voice coming from your room last night after I left was unmistakable. Spill it sister. Which one was it?”
I don’t know if I’m ready to have this conversation yet. I haven’t had a chance to wrap my mind around everything that happened last night, the words that were spoken.
I love you Liz.
I love you too.
My fingers press against my lips again which causes Hailey’s eyes to grow big and her mouth to form an "O."
“I knew it!” she shrieks, bouncing up and down on my bed. “If you don’t tell me right now what happened last night, I will never speak to you again Elizabeth Penelope!”
“Yeah, right,” I scoff, not believing that for one second.
“Elizabeth,” she whines.
