"Where are you going?" Elias asks, his tone deeper and harsher than it was before.
"Just upstairs…"
I wait at the bottom of the staircase, but he says nothing, so I keep moving. I stop in front of Nolan's bedroom and knock on the door.
"Come in," he says.
I open the door, pausing before stepping inside. While Nolan sits at his desk, Dax lies on his bed, watching television.
"Um…you're still doing homework. I'll come back."
"Now why would you do something like that, Ripley?" Dax asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Is there any reason in particular why you wouldn't want to stay?"
"No…Nolan said maybe we could go somewhere when he's done with his homework, and he's not done. I have some stuff to do, too."
"You should stay, Saige," Nolan says. "I'm almost done."
"Yeah, Saige. Come over here—I'll put our show on."
I close the door behind me and sit on the bed, leaning against the headboard with my arms folded in front of me while Dax opens Netflix.
"Didn't we watch this one?" he asks when the episode starts.
Yeah.
"I don't know."
"Okay," he says, shrugging. "We can watch it again."
I feel him watching me instead, but I stare straight ahead at the television. At least ten minutes pass like this before he finally says something.
"Saige?"
"Yeah?"
"Come here, baby; let me hold you."
"Um…I don't—"
"I miss you. It's been two days. Don't you miss me, too?"
"I'll be right back," Nolan says, leaving the room without further explanation. I can't help but feel like it's fucking orchestrated.
Of course, I miss him. But that's my trauma brain talking. He isn't good to me, and he isn't good for me.
"You know, Nolan thinks you don't love him. He told me. You might want to do something about that."
"Saige, look at me."
My eyes water, and when I try to blink back tears, I lose the battle, and they end up running down each of my cheeks.
You know what, though? I don't even care. If Dax only likes someone until he breaks them, then he can move on. I'm already broken.
He sits up, closing the space between us before wrapping his arms around me. "Baby, you're crying. Tell me what's wrong."
