Page 66 of All the way home

“That is basically the exact same thing I was just talking about.”

Swinging her foot off the side of the bed, Rena poked his cheek with her big toe. “We can live together.”

“You promise?” Kieran asked, and then he tried to bite her toe, and the discussion went promptly sideways, seemingly forgotten—but of course, with Kieran it was always a gamble if he’d really forget.

He didn’t.

When they were seventeen, he’d brought it up again just before graduation.

Without knocking, he walked into her room, carrying his laptop. “I wanna show you something.”

“Studying,” Rena said, focused on her calculus problem.

“Two minutes. Swear.”

“Fine.” Rena uncapped a pen with her teeth, still not looking over. “What?”

“I made a plan. A spreadsheet.”

“Begone, trickster. My brother has never seen a spreadsheet in his life.”

Staggering backward, Kieran slapped a hand to his chest in mock agony, grip on his laptop precarious. “I knew teaching you sarcasm was a bad idea.”

Swiveling in her chair, Rena tilted her chin up. “What’s the plan for?”

“Year one.” Holding up a finger, Kieran sat down on her bed, setting his computer on her desk. “We live in dorms on our respective campuses.”

“Yes. We’ve put down deposits already. That’s not a plan, that’s just facts.”

“Year two,” he pressed on, ignoring her, “we live in dorms again, except not the shitty ones. With separated bedrooms and kitchenettes. Roommates, even.”

“Okay.”

“Year three.” Now Kieran sounded far too pleased with himself. “We get an apartment together in Westmount. I googled it; it’s right between schools. Equal commutes.”

“I don’t see how the spreadsheet factors into this.”

He tilted the screen to show her. “I broke down expenses so we’ll know how much we have to save throughout the year.”

Even at a cursory glance, Kieran had clearly done a very thorough job. He watched her as she read through it, bottom lip trapped under his front teeth.

“It’s good,” she said at last.

“So it’s a deal?” Kieran stuck out a pinky finger.

He’d seemed so earnest that she hadn’t even considered saying no. “Deal.”

At the time it had felt binding. As though saying it would somehow speak it into the world and pave the road ahead to make it happen. Since then, it’s become a necessity—how is she supposed to sleep at night knowing Kieran’s alone? Knowing she’s taken the precious, fragile creature that is his trust and let it slip through her fingers?

Gloomily, Rena turns her soup spoon around and around in her fingers, Lucas’s question from this morning echoing.

Is he always going to come first? Is that just how it’s going to be?

She’d promised. Rena had promised Kieran, and she’s not one to go back on her promises.

Usually.

Hour Six-4:15 P.M. Chapter Twenty-One