Mocha runs over and sits down next to me, snuggling himself as close as he possibly can to me.
I kiss the top of his head and run my hand through his fur as I wait. Pulling out my phone and scrolling through everyone else’s posts for the day. I check my Flykr post and stories.
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I’d madeBeckett take a picture of Mocha and me before everyone got here. Not that he put up much of a fight.
I kinda wish that it was just us. That my family wasn’t here, and it was just the three of us.
“Hey, you doing alright?” Kaden asks, sitting down next to me on the blanket with a beer in his hand as well. I just shrug, because opening my mouth would lead to no good.
“Just hanging out…by myself, likealways,” I whisper, picking at the grass. I hear him let out a sad sigh.
“Has it always been like this?” I nod. “I guess I never realized it. I just always assumed you liked being alone,” he whispers, and I wipe away the first tear as it rolls down my cheek.
“I was forced to be alone, and I grew to tolerate it. But that doesn’t mean I ever liked it. No one likes being alone, not all the time, anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, wrapping his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. “If I had known…”
“You did more for me in that house than anyone else ever did. I probably wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you,” I whisper truthfully.
“Don’t say things like that. You didn’t ever think about doing like… you know…” he trails off.
“Killing myself? No, of course not,” I lie, wiping away some more tears with my sleeve. He doesn’t say anything for a long time after that, and neither do I.
“Does he make you happy?”
“Does who make me happy?” I ask.
“Beckett.”
“Uhhh, what are you talking about?” I whisper.
“Last night, when he got home from work, I saw you guys kissing. And the other day, when I talked to Dad, he said that Beckett was possibly seeing someone. It doesn’t take an idiot to piece the information together, since he doesn’t really hit me as the type of guy to be a two-timer, so… does he make you happy?” he asks, awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck as I stare at him, horrified.
“Oh my God, you can’t tell anyone. Kaden, please, especially not Briar. Oh my God,” I whisper, trying not to have a heart attack.
“Answer the question, Sloane.”
I stare at him for a long time, and he looks a lot more calm then I feel like he should be.
I let out a sigh. There is no use denying it if he literally saw us kissing. “Yeah, he does.”
“Then your secret’s safe with me.”
“You’re not mad or weirded out?”
“No, it’s very weird. I honestly don’t know how to feel about it, but if he makes you happy, then there’s not much more that I can ask for. If he hurts you, though, I’ll kill him. No one hurts my baby sister. Never again,” he whispers, kissing the top of my head.
“You mean it?”
“Yeah, plus I saw the way he was looking at you when you were playing with Mocha. I don’t think that I have anything to worry about.”
“What do you mean?” I whisper.
He just laughs and shakes his head. “You found a good one, kid,” He teases, and I push his shoulder away playfully.
