Ty always had a huge smile on his face when talking about his daughter Savannah. It took some time for him to let himself get to this point, considering the mother of his daughter wasnotBecca, but his ex from high school. Though he and Becca were slowly working through it, considering she only found out about Savannah a couple months ago. I was shocked yet happy to learn she handled it as well as she did; she can be somewhat dramatic.
“That’s great to hear, Ty, it has to be…challenging.” Her concern was evident in her voice. “And call me Colleen, please. I’m not a fan of the other Mrs. Larsen.” Her sideways glance at Matt earned a fake scowl. “Plus, it always confuses Logan’s friends.”
She took Matt’s name, of course, when they got married. But that meant my mom and I no longer shared a last name. I thought about taking Larsen as my last name as well, still might one day.
I decided to come to Ty’s rescue with my mom.
“Matt, I think we need to still work on the bedframe, don’t we? It’s not tightened up all the way yet.”
That steered them back to being consumed with getting me moved in.
And Ty gave me a small nod of thanks.
As Tyand I waited for Becca to arrive, I was distracted from my tasks at hand. Instead of unpacking, my brain harped on how the introduction to my other roommates would go. My female roommates. I’d be living with three girls. Me and three girls. I had no real issues living with Becca; we almost lived together last year with how much time she and Ty spent together. But meeting the other girls for the first time once I was already moved in would be tricky. We were supposed to meet up over Christmas, for us to break the ice ahead of time, but it neverworked out. They lived too far away and we couldn’t meet up. So, we’d be meeting for the first time here.
Now, that happened all the time in college. But not when you’re the opposite sex. Becca and Lanie assured me they were both good with me living here. I only hoped that didn’t change once we met.
“Becca’s here.” Ty hustled to the door, a wide smile on his face again.
My parents left over an hour ago, leaving me to finish setting up. Matt realized it was best to get my mom out sooner than later; she was a bit nervous about me coming back to school this quickly. She thought I should have stayed home the entire year and given therapy in the outpatient setting more time. The doctors had assured her, and me, I was more than ready.
But to be honest, I was nervous as well.
I appreciated the safety net of seeing the therapists two days a week in person on a routine schedule. Now I only had a video appointment with my main doctor each week. Having my friends here with me made it seem doable. Ty and Becca would be my support system for sure. I hoped I could depend on Lanie and Xander as well, but there would always be some lingering awkwardness between us.
Because of me. And what I’d done.
My head swiveled to the door that was thrown open and the tornado known as Becca Reynolds flew in, right into the arms of Ty. Her dark hair was longer than I remembered and had these red highlights in it now. The two embraced with a short kiss, but she didn’t stay there long. He reluctantly let her go as she pulled away, her eyes on mine from across the room. Her boot-covered feet plodded along the carpet as she came to stand right before me.
Her smile grew wide as her emerald eyes sparkled.
“Logan Somers, in real life,” she said as she poked me hard in the gut. “I swear you’ve gotten even taller. Christ, did I always have to look up this high to see you?” Her curt laugh was loud for a tiny person. “And look at these? Jesus, dude, what did your mom feed you while you were home?”
She squeezed my bicep, which was significantly bigger since she saw me last. There wasn’t much to do at home when all your friends were away at school. My online classes were easy and didn’t occupy my thoughts enough. Didn’t keep me from thinking of the shit I didn’t want to think about.
So, I went to the gym. A lot.
It helped in a lot of ways. Plus my therapist agreed it was a good outlet for a lot of things.
Once Becca was done squeezing my arm, I held my hands out wide, hoping she’d give me the hug I really needed.
And she didn’t disappoint, falling into my arms, with a warm hug from a friend I’d missed terribly. She might get on my nerves at times, but there was no denying that Becca was one of the good ones. She was there for me last year when most others weren’t, and she had only just met me.
“Good to see you, Bec,” I said as she held on tight. I pulled back, looking down at the spitfire in front of me. Leaning in again, I got close to her ear. “I’m glad you and Ty are good.” As I straightened, she smiled coyly at me. “You look good, kid. What’s with the hair?” I tugged on a strand as she pulled away from me.
At first, a shy smile, something very unlike Becca, took over her face as her eyes glanced at Ty. “Oh this?” Her fingers were running through her long strands as she made her way back to Ty and he wrapped her in his arms. “Just an experiment. Trying to see if the guys like me more as a redhead.” She laughed out loud while he swung her around.
I knew she was full of shit. She was all his. They had been through enough in the past few months to have proven it to each other. But she was always ready with a comment or two to throw anyone off their game. Ty snuggled into her hair, the two of them getting a bit too intimate in front of me for my liking.
“This guy likes it,” he said. “Right, Red?” He spun her in his arms as she looped her hands around his neck.
“You guys know I’m still here, right?”
As happy as I was that they were back together, I didn’t need them getting busy in front of me. There was enough of dealing with that in the dorm last year. However, seeing it also made me realize it was one thing I knew I was missing most in my life. For whatever reason, I was desperate to have someone special. Sometimes I thought that not having someone was the root of most of my problems. But my therapist continued to remind me I needed to focus onmebefore there could be anus.
Becca’s loud laugh echoed in the room. She peeled herself from her boyfriend and turned to me, a smile plastered on her face.
“It’s good to have you back, Logan.” Her demeanor shifted just a bit, and her tone grew serious as her eyes wandered to Ty’s. “I really am glad you made it back this semester.”
