I was sitting with my laptop in the kitchen when Chris came in. I’d gotten my computer before I’d come down, knowing I shouldn’t have.
Sometimes when I was upset and crying, I thought it was helpful to have something to make me cry harder. It was a weird coping mechanism of mine, and I still didn’t know if it was healthy, but it made me feel better… eventually.
I was already thinking about her, so I’d decided to bite the bullet and open the email from Rylee. She had sent me the pictures from the wedding, and they were gorgeous… until I got to the ones she’d taken of me and Drea. Dancing together. Kissing. Looking perfectly happy and in love… at least one of us wasn’t faking it.
“Blair?” I was so lost in thought I had forgotten Chris was standing in the doorway.
“Hey,” I said quietly, quickly trying to wipe the tears away. “Why are you up?”
He walked over to me, and his face softened when he saw me. He took some chocolate from the bag. “I couldn’t sleep. You?”
“Same.” I shrugged, turning my attention back to the pictures.
“Is that the wedding you went to? They look happy.”
I nodded. “Yeah. They really do, don’t they?”
“They aren’t the only ones. You two look quite smitten with each other, you know?”
I huffed out a sad laugh. “Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving. I was, but I guess I was delusional.”
I slammed the laptop closed and covered my face with my hands. I didn’t like anyone seeing me cry. Least of all over some woman.
Chris enveloped me in a hug, and I leaned into it, unable to hide the pathetic sob that escaped me.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
“I loved her, Chris. Like fucking seriously loved her. I thought I could see us settling down together. How pathetic is that? Months ago, I despised her!”
“Hey, hey. It’s not pathetic at all. Love doesn’t have a time requirement. It happens when it happens, and you can’t change that.”
“Yeah, well. I can make sure it never happens again. This feeling fucking sucks, and I’m not going through it again.”
“Oh, don’t say that. It only sucks because it was real. You can’t give up on love, Sis. Just take some time for yourself. But don’t give up! I know how much it hurts right now, but it will get better.
I snorted. “I know you’re right, but right now, it sucks.”
It did suck. I was still so angry with her, but the love I had for her was still just as strong. I was determined to get over her and move on.
We were sitting in the living room two days later still talking about the boys’ parties. Now that they were getting separate parties, there was a lot more to manage.
“Hold on, Chris, someone’s calling me.” I reached for my phone and froze when I saw Cara’s name light up on the screen. I hadn’t talked to her since I’d left her office. She never even messaged me after the signing, but I didn’t know why I expected her to.
I furrowed my brows and answered hesitantly. “Hello?”
“Oh my God, Blair, I’m so glad you picked up!” She was frantic and sounded like she had been running.
“Why, what’s wrong?” She was starting to freak me out a bit.
“Blair, it’s Drea… There’s been an accident.”
Everything in my body felt as if it had stopped working. My eyes couldn’t see, my ears couldn’t hear, and my lungs couldn’t absorb oxygen.
“What?” I whispered, almost dropping my phone. I had to sit down.
I was in the middle of the living room, and I didn’t even make it to the couch before my legs gave out and I sat in the middle of the floor.
“It’s all over the news. There was a storm a few days ago?—”
