Page 131 of Come Back to Me

There’s a difference between loneliness and being alone. Loneliness isn’t typically a path somebody chooses. It can happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Being alone can be a choice.

I’ve been alone since high school, and it’s something I didn’t choose. It’s how my life turned out. I thought since I have a brother that I’d want to hang out with people all the time, but that isn’t the case. I also have no relationship with Blake, so I really don’t know what it's like to have a brother anymore.

The thing is, I’m not alone now. I have friends like Willow, Dani, Noah, Bella, Xander, and Sage. I’m especially grateful to have Grayson back in my life, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we don’t vanish from each other’s lives again.

“Yeah, I’d love the company. Maybe you can dress up as a superhero.”

“Nice try. I haven’t dressed for Halloween since sophomore year of high school.”

“Same here.”

“Halloween used to be one of my favorite holidays, but that year changed everything for me.”

“Yeah, it changed everything for me, too.” I rush out the front door and lean against Grayson’s truck.

He comes out of the store, speed-walking over to me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up sad moments from the past.”

“It’s okay.” A sliver of a smile appears on my face.

“Are you ready to go home?”

“Yeah.”

I step on the ledge to get into the truck and buckle myself in. He runs over to the driver’s side and hops inside the vehicle.

Goodbye, Sweet & Salty. I’ll see you on Monday.

We make it back to Sunset Cove University in about a half an hour. We still have another ten minutes or so to make it back to my apartment complex.

“Ah, good morning.”

I slowly open and close my eyes. “Hi.”

“I would’ve been surprised if you didn’t fall asleep on the way back to campus.”

I ended up falling asleep for half of the trip back because road trips make me sleepy. It doesn’t matter if they’re thirty minutes or two hours.

“I would’ve been surprised, too.”

“Do you get a lot of trick-or-treaters in your apartment building?”

“Not really. You?”

“No. I don’t have the memory of trick-or-treaters visiting mymom and I when I was little either because I’ve blocked so much of my childhood out.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you for doing that. We had so many kids ring our doorbell. Mind you, we had a Halloween party going on, but my dad was always on standby to give out candy. A lot of the kids in our community loved Lighthouse Estates because a lot of the residents would give out regular-sized candy bars and such. I wish I was one of them.”

“At least we had each other. I don’t think I would’ve survived a lot of the obstacles life threw at me if I didn’t have you by my side.”

“I know I would’ve been underwater if I didn’t have you around.”

“I’ll be your anchor anytime.” His tone is raspy and low.

We arrive at Hightower in less than ten minutes, which never happens. I’m taking this as a win. We’ve been gone most of the afternoon, so it’s the late evening now.

When we pull up to a parking spot in front of my building, he turns off the engine and gets out of the truck. He opens my door and helps me down the step. I end up missing it with one of my feet, tripping into his arms.

“I got you,” he says.