Come back to the beach house please. I don’t want you to stay there by yourself.
I’m at my uncle’s for a few days.
I chew my cheek, trying to decide the best way to respond. I left because I wanted to make sure I gave Hunter space to talk to his family about the breakup, and it’s not like this is the first time I’ve stayed home alone before. Sure, my parents are gone for a couple more weeks, but it’s okay.
Kaitlyn
It’s your house. You didn’t have to leave.
Hunter
I know. I’m visiting friends from high school.
Don’t overthink it. It’d make my parents feel better too.
Kaitlyn
Thanks. Have fun with your friends.
Hunter sends back a thumbs up, and I drag my hands over my face. Maybe this is the perfect sign for me to talk to Bailey.
It’s what I have to remind myself of when I walk into the beach house an hour later, wondering if it would be easier to face a room full of spiders than my now ex-boyfriend’s parents. I guess twenty-one-year-old me is paying the price seventeen-year-old me didn’t think about when she decided to kiss her best friends, especially knowing how close our families are.
Hunter’s truck was missing when I pulled in, butMirabelle’s Range Rover is here, and so is the Jeep Bailey’s been driving the last few weeks. He and my brother have been trading off nights at the hospital the entire time Javi’s been admitted.
I don’t have a plan, except for getting the truth.
Bailey opens his door a few moments after I knock, and his eyes widen as they drop to the sweatshirt I’m wearing. I look down at the faded lettering and realize I didn’t change out of his old sweatshirt before coming over. I kept it from the night he made me wear it home after we kissed, and I only ever let myself pull it out on the days where his absence felt too loud. I guess I wore it today because I hoped it’d make me feel better.
He blinks, dragging a hand over his jaw before he clears his throat. “Is everything okay?” he asks, his brows furrowing together. I can’t help staring at the scar on his temple, and I wonder how many more scars he bears that aren’t as visible.
I shake my head, tucking my hands into my sleeves. “No. Everything’s not okay.”
“Whatever happened, I’m sure it can be fixed. What happened?” he asks, softening his tone, and I wonder what the possibility is that Hunter didn’t tell anyone we broke up? Or did he tell everyone else in his family but Bailey?
I haven’t missed the questioning looks I’ve been on the receiving end of from Bash and Thalia, but I guess it shouldn’t surprise me if Hunter kept the breakup to himself.
“I know, Bailey,” I admit, and the devastation of what could’ve been finally sinks in now that I’m standing in front of him.
His face pales, making his freckles stand out more. “What?” he asks, as if needing to hear me say exactly what Hunter told me.
“I broke up with Hunter this afternoon. He told me what he did to you.”
To us,echoes in my mind, and Bailey looks like he’s seen a ghost.
Tears flood my vision, and I let myself feel everything I’ve tried to hide from because I thought it’d hurt less.
“It’s in the past,” he says, but it looks like it pains him to say it.
I swallow the lump forming in my throat, hoping he doesn’t mean that. It’s not the past for me. It’s my present, and I can’t forget this happened.
“Is it?” I ask, feeling my stomach roll as his mouth opens and then shuts while he stares at me.
I didn’t know.
I think everything would be different.
Do you hate me for not fighting for us?
