While the siblings were trying, they were also still figuring out how to process their trauma. It made mending their strained relationship with Eli challenging so I was happy to hear that it went well this time.
“Emerson met a guy. He’s, like, seven years older than her, but she likes him. I helped Easton get properly enrolled in community college because he scheduled his classes wrong,” my boyfriend chuckled at his brother’s mess-up as he spoke. “And they get the keys to their apartment in two weeks.”
“Finally, they can get out of Macy’s house.”
“Yeah, they said she’s been even bitchier since she lost her job. She still tries to control them, but they said they stopped giving a fuck once I was kicked out.”
Eli knelt beside me on the floor as I continued to put my clothes into duffel bags. He rested his head on my shoulder as he let out a breath.
“I hope she loses her house once the twins move out,” I muttered under my breath.
Despite my low tone, Eli heard me. “I’d tell you that you shouldn’t wish such negative things on people, but my aunt is an exception.”
I placed my hand on his thigh. “I’m surprised Emerson is getting back into dating so soon after all that mess with Benji.”
“Yeah, same. Easton isn’t happy about it. I think it’s one of her unhealthy coping mechanisms that she needs to work through. I learned that word from the therapist.” Eli smiled pridefully.
Elias was still going to therapy regularly and I could see how much it was helping him. Not just with the drinking problem, but also with regulating his emotions. Eli sometimes liked to give the credit of being able to control his emotions to me, but all I did was show him that it was possible. His therapist taught him how to do it.
Unfortunately, fixing his alcohol addiction was not as simple as we thought it would be once he got over the withdrawals. That was the hump, but he still had a long way to go. The cravings still lingered, and they specifically got worse when he would get worked up and upset. Not to mention the embarrassment of it all that he was still working through.
My parents went through great measures to make sure he got through. They took their liquor out of the alcohol cabinet and hid it somewhere they refused to tell us. Both my mother and Alan checked in with him once a day. I had no clue what they said to him because I was not allowed in the room when they had their heart-to-hearts, but he appeared to be benefiting from it.
My boyfriend was doing good about coming to me when it was getting too much. When the voices were loud in his ears and he couldn’t get it to stop, I was there. Honestly, I wasn’t letting him out of my sight to ensure that I was always around when needed.
Now I was working on not hovering over Eli like a control freak. He got on me about it, saying that I could not spend all of my time worrying about him.
Joke’s on him, I could.
For his sake, I stopped watching him like a hawk. I had to put trust into him that he would be okay on his own, and he was doing amazing at proving me right. It was not perfect, but it was healthy.
“Are you ready for the big day tomorrow?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him to me, smelling his familiar scent.
Eli sat on my thighs, his body cradled in my arms as we sat comfortably on the floor. “Am I ready for nine months of having my own place with my boyfriend? Hell yeah.”
I rested my head in the crook of his neck. “Just imagine all the fun we are going to have.”
He let out an eager noise that was a mix between a needy whine and a squeal. “So much time where we don’t have to worry about Gabriela barging in.”
“What’s that about Gabriela?”
Damn, it was like we summoned her or something. My sister had her hands on her hips as she stood in the doorway with such a questioning look that she might as well had a question mark floating above her head.
“We said Gabriela is a nosy know-it-all,” Eli told my sister with a smirk.
Gabi scoffed. “Nosy, maybe, but a know-it-all? As if I’m not talk not talking the valedictorian and salutatorian.”
“Fine, but you’re definitely nosy.”
“How?”
“Exhibit A,” he gestured toward her. “You always barge in the room without knocking.”
She folded her arms to her chest, a silly grin forming on her lips because she knew it was true. “Nuh-uh!”
“Exhibit B, you listen to the end our conversations and then ask for us to fill in the gaps.”
“In my defense, you guys were talking about me. Why wouldn’t I want to know?”
