“Kade, you good, Bro? You seem quiet tonight,” Ryder questions.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. All good, man. Just thinking about different shit. I’ve got a report due on Monday, so my head is just full,” he answers, blowing out a large breath like a balloon releasing its air.
The room goes silent, I’m assuming with them just nodding at his answer. Since it seems the topic of my changes has bypassed, I retreat back up the stairs, this time practically stomping down them to announce my arrival.
“Hey,” I smile, rounding the corner and sidling up to the kitchen island.
“Hey, love!” Zane chimes, wrapping me in a large hug. The movement takes me off guard, no longer used to people touching me unless I initiate it. My body stiffens, spine straightening like a steel rod, but to my surprise, it instantly relaxes after. Within minutes, I’m melting into his embrace, feeling utterly content to stay like this forever.
“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hold you like this again,” he mumbles, his lips grazing the top of my head.
“I missed you too, Z,” I say into his chest, his arms tightening around me even more.
We stand curled into each other for what feels like an eternity, until broken up by a bouncing and impatient Max. “Duuuuude,” he drawls, his voice hitting a whining tone. “You have to share! It’s my turn!”
One after the other, I’m passed between them like a human ragdoll, my body relaxing more with each of their touches. It feels like coming home, like safety and love. My brain is swooning with comfort and familiarity, emotions I haven’t felt in way too long.
By the time it’s Kade’s turn, he still has a solemn look across his face. Furrowed brows and pursed lips, he looks as though he has a war brewing within. Fighting some internal demon. That, or he’s extremely constipated. I tip my head towards him, holding out my hands and waiting for him to make the first move. His expression softens slightly, but he’s still undecided.
I wonder…
Pulling out the pouty lip—just like I used to—and slowly inching closer, I hit him with my best whimpering tone. “Pweeaasseee, Gemini.”
One, two, three seconds and I see the exact moment his resolve shatters. A smile forming on his lips and his eyes brightening like dew drops at dawn.
“You little fucking siren,” he croons, closing the distance between us and wrapping his arms around my torso. My legs fly off the ground as he spins us in a circle, giggles bursting out of my chest. A triumphant feeling takes root knowing that all these years later, all these changes, and I can still play my little trick, causing him to fold like a house of cards.
Once dinner was finished—which I definitely missed a good home cooked meal more than I thought I did—we gathered around the living room couches. Each of the guys picking a spot where they have a direct line of sight to me, and are no more than five feet away.Curious.
As the comfortability settles around us, a thought from earlier crosses my mind like a pop-up ad.
“So, tell me. What have I missed over the years?” I ask, wanting to catch up on their lives—and avoid talking about mine. “How are your parents? Where did ya’ll go to school? How long have you been in Miami? Have you always stayed together? Do you have any girlfriends?”
My spit gets stuck in my throat as I cough out that last question. As much as I would love tonothave to hear about any women they’ve been seeing—or fucking—I know it’s inevitable. My silly little girl crush, which has apparently adapted into a silly grown woman crush, is not going to change the fact I’ve been gone for over a decade.
“Uhh, well…,” Ryder drawls, shifting in his spot and looking around the room.
“Most of the parents are good,” Max pipes up, taking over the conversation. “We still talk to my dad often, usually every weekend.”
“But Ry’s mom passed away about three years ago, and my dad five years before that,” concludes Kade. His eyes move to stare at the floor, his fingers interlacing with each other and tightening until his knuckles look like Santa's beard. I know Kade and his dad didn’t always see eye to eye, and more often than not, fights between them were the reason Kade missed out on so much. But they loved each other with an intensity I’d always admired.
I lean over to grab Kade’s hands before they permanently fuse together from the friction. “I’m so sorry, Gemini. So very sorry.” Rubbing circles on the back of his hands with my thumb, they finally relax. Blood flowing to his fingers once again.
“It’s okay. Mom’s been dating again. She’s currently seeing this guy named Wesley, he’s a cool dude. Has a daughter named Evelyn, she’s six. They’ve been together for five years now, so it’s kind of like having a little sister.”
I always knew he wanted siblings, as he hated being an only child. Claimed it betters one's personality when you have someone to look out for. At least now, he has that protective nature, a tiny human who looks to him for security. I’m happy for him.
The conversation flows easily after that. They take turns, explaining how they never separated and after I went missing, they banded together and kept to themselves. Never really venturing out of the four of them or bringing anyone else into the fold.
The emotions that come with learning that, throw my mind and heart into a tail spin. Happiness, knowing that I wasn’t so easily replaced, but a profound and over compensating sense of sadness as well. They never gave anyone else a chance,and that tugs on my heart. What else have they missed while being hung up on me?
They’ve been here for eight years, having built this place to be ready for the day they arrived, after a couple years of saving. Apparently, they never once had the thought of separating, and bolted out of Texas at the first opportunity they had. Our street made them agonize over that day on repeat, and I don’t really blame them for wanting to put it behind them.
I wonder who lives in my house now…
We talk a little more about school, and various aspects of their jobs, but the conversation naturally flows back into me going missing in action. I listen as they explain the ways they learned to channel their anger and pain. The drastic differences between Ry and Z, and my Maxxy and Gemini.
Fuck, using their old nicknames feels so weird—even in my head.
