And then… His lifewascut short.
Fuck.
I blinked furiously against my burning eyes. This was not the time.
This was not the time to think about how badly I missed him.
This was the time to care about Sav.
But she wasn’t answering…
I knew she was in there, or else Duke would’ve pointed me in a different direction…
Double Fuck. Was she alright in there?
What if she wasn’t?
I couldn’t lose both of them. That just wasn’t an option.
I looked to the window and realized that would be my only way in. The rest of the townhouse was fucking brick.
I stomped out all thoughts as I removed my jacket and wrapped it around my fist. I only heard Nick’s teenage voice telling me that life was short as I punched her living room window in… That was probably where I really should’ve paused. If I took a second to think, I would’ve remembered that Nick’s teenage voice probably shouldn’t have been relied on as the voice of reason in any life situation.
The shattered glass on my feet made me laugh. I probably looked like a maniac… but in my mind, I couldn’t help but think that Nick was probably somewhere up in the sky clapping and laughing at me for punching his window in. He had smoothly entered her window for years, and here I go and shatter one just to see if she’s alright.
I quickly reached through the hole I made and unlocked their window to slide it open and let myself in.
As soon as I stood up in their apartment, I was hit with Nick’s presence.
His smell, his face in pictures, his stuff still thrown here and there…
Nick was everywhere.
But Sav was nowhere to be found.
I moved to the couch where the blankets were tangled up. I reached to pick it up and fold it when her voice cut me off.
“Stop,” she demanded quietly.
My neck snapped around to see her standing in the hall that led to their bedroom. I backed away from the couch, keeping my eyes on her. What I saw scared me. I mean, I’m a grown ass man who battled guys double my size on the ice… but looking at her frightened me more than the sight of any of them… because she looked not okay. She looked unwell, like she hadn’t been eating. Her usual bright face looked lifeless and pale. With no traces of yesterday’s makeup on, she looked younger than she had the last few times I’d seen her. With her freckles on display, I was reminded of the first time I ever saw her close up in the parking lot of the Ice League, and it felt simultaneously like no time and so much time had passed. I fought the temptation to reach out and smooth a thumb over her freckles. I wanted to pull her into a hug to comfort her, but I stayed rooted to the spot, afraid I’d break her.
I looked around again and realized why she wanted me to stop. She hadn’t touched anything that Nick had left lying around, and that broke my fucking heart. I mean… was this healthy? I didn’t know enough about psychology to know the answer to that… I wondered if she’d done anything since he passed besides attending the funeral… Well, fuck– and going to the bar to help me, then getting called a bitch for it. I hung my head in self-disappointment.
“Why-” her voice pulled my gaze to hers. Tears pooled in her eyes, and she looked away from me. “Why are you here, Griff?”
I started into the kitchen, determined to lay out the food and make her eat something.
“I brought some breakfast,” I offered. “I’m really sorry about last night, Sav. I…”
But when I looked back to where she’d been standing, I saw a blank space…
And then I heard it in thebathroom.
The sound of barfing once again.
I felt stuck in indecision. Did I go in and comfort her? A part of me still felt weird about that. I drew a line between her and I for so long… She was Nick’s girl. Then again, wouldn’t Nick have wanted me to take care of her? And didn’t I myself want to help her anyway? She was my friendtoo…
I walked into the bathroom and my chest tightened at seeing her knees bent on the tile floor, her elbows on the toilet, and her head miserably held in her hands.
