A Healing Story (Stories Book 3) Page 8

  “What?”

  “Mother fucker!”

  “Is something wrong…” Matthias asks, concerned.

  I’m not sure how to answer that because nothing is wrong per se, but half-naked in my kitchen is not how I want them to find us. Unfortunately, there’s no time. The last text was sent close to four minutes ago and just as that thought crosses my mind the front door opens.

  “Who’s car is that in the drive?” Bas calls out. “Are you having a sleepover without me?” Their teasing comments precede them as they sashay into the kitchen, laden down with bags.

  “Well,” Bas drawls, “this is an interesting sight.”

  “A little more advanced warning would be appreciated,” I tell them, picking up my abandoned mug. I need a lot more caffeine to deal with Bas this early in the morning.

  “I was bored.” They sigh, “I’ve been up since three.”

  “So you thought bugging me at eight in the morning on a Sunday would be a good idea?”

  “Yes,” they smile brightly. “I brought gifts!” They hold up the bags, “there’s enough for all of us.”

  “I should probably get going,” Matthias says.

  “Nonsense,” Bas flashes their smile at him, “any friend of Neil’s is a friend of mine. I look forward to getting to know you.”

  This is such a bad idea but there’s no stopping Bas when they get going. I know part of it’s because they’re worried about me.

  “Let me go put on some clothes,” Matthias makes a hasty retreat and I long to follow him.

  As soon as his footsteps head down the hall to my bedroom Bas whirls on me. They place their bags of bribes on the counter separating us and lean forward.

  “So…”

  “So…” I cock my head, “want coffee?”

  “Please.”

  I busy myself with getting them a mug as they speak, “wanna tell me ‘bout last night?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Neil…”

  “Bas,” I say in the same tone. “It was late and we were both tired so he stayed the night. No big deal.”

  “Really?” They raise an eyebrow. “We’re not going to talk about this?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. We agreed to be friends and went to dinner last night. Came back here to watch some TV and that’s it.”

  “Friends don’t have almost sex in a public bathroom.”

  “It wasn’t almost sex,” I whisper shout. “It was a kiss!” A very hot kiss, but a kiss nonetheless.

  They stare at me but don’t say anything.

  “Don’t do that,” I tell them, my frustration leaking out in my tone.

  “Do what?”

  “Be quiet. You’re never quiet!” I throw my arms up. “I know you have something to say.”

  “Oh honey, we don’t nearly have enough time for me to say what I want to. It’s been more than enough time for him to throw on a pair of pants already.” All the levity drains from their voice, “I’m here for you, whatever you need. I’ll support your decisions, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I know,” I look down at the floor. “I won’t say that there’s not a risk of that because there is. But it’s my mistake to make.”

  Bas comes around the counter and wraps an arm around me. “I’ll be here for you, even if he isn’t.”

  I nod but don’t respond.

  “Let’s make some mimosas and eat way too many carbs.” Bas pulls away and injects some cheer in their voice.

  Matthias comes out of hiding just as we’re pouring the champagne. He looks from Bas to me and I try to give him a reassuring smile.

  “Plate the boxes of bad ideas up lover boy and meet us outside.” Bas orders, picking up two of the three glasses and heading for the sliding glass door.

  I follow them and Matthias joins us after doing Bas’s bidding, it’s really the only thing a person can do when Bas starts bossing them around.

  We sit at the small table on the patio, and I take a breath of the crisp, fall air. It’s refreshing and just what my confused heart needs, which is why Bas suggested we come out here. They’re good at reading me like that.

  “It’s so pretty out here,” Matthias says.

  “Thanks,” I try to glance at my small backyard through his eyes. “I like it. Though Maribelle is the one who keeps up the yard. I kill any green thing I touch.”

  Matthias laughs.

  “It’s true,” Bas says, chuckling along with him.

  “Is it okay if I ask why a house?”

  I look at Matthias, curious about where this conversation is going. He shifts in his chair and reaches for his mimosa before continuing. “Most people your age prefer to live in apartments rather than have to worry about a whole house, especially if they live alone.”

  “It was Bas’s idea.” It’s my turn to take a drink before going down this road. “I found out on my eighteenth birthday that my maternal grandfather left me everything.”

  Bas reaches over and grabs my hand in support. I try to give them a grateful smile but miss the mark. “You know I grew up in foster care. It turns out that before that, my grandfather was the one to care for me.” I swallow, “I don’t remember. I was two when he passed and no one ever brought it up. I guess my mother was a druggie and loved the needle more than she loved me. No one knows who my sperm donor was. So when I was eight months old, my mother gave up her rights and let her father take me.” I pause and take another healthy swallow of my drink.

  “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” Matthias’s voice is soft in a way it usually isn’t.

  “It’s fine. I normally don’t like talking about it because I’d rather focus on how much better I am than the shit circumstance that brought me into this world, but anyway.

  “I don’t remember him but he had me until I was two and a half or so, then he ended up dying in a car accident while I was at daycare.

  “There was no other family and so I went into the system. Fast forward to the day of my eighteenth birthday. I get a call from some lawyer who tells me there's some things we need to discuss.

  “Bas and I show up and he’s handing me all kinds of documents stating that everything that was my grandfather’s is now mine. The house was sold off per his wishes and all the money from that, plus whatever he had saved, was put in a trust for me until my birthday.

  “I was eighteen. Virtually alone in the world now that I had aged out of the system. If it weren’t for my siblings I’m not sure I would have been able to handle it all.

  “I had scholarships and stuff for school so Bas helped me put the money away and when I was twenty-one I bought this place with some of it. There’s not much of the original trust left, but Bas is a genius when it comes to numbers so I don’t have to worry about money for a while, even if Rhys decides he’s sick of me tomorrow.”

  Matthias absorbs everything I just threw at him. It was a lot more information than he asked for but he’s right, normal people my age don’t just go up and buy houses when they’re fresh out of college. They usually don’t have the means to. I’ve never been normal. Sometimes I wonder if that’s a good or bad thing.

  “I find that admirable. I only bought my place two years ago.”

  “If only Maribelle would listen to me,” Bas sniffs. “She always says she can’t afford it but that’s bullshit. I understand where she’s coming from, but I’m the one who handles all the financial stuff. I would know better than anyone what she can and cannot do.”

  “What do you do?” Matthias asks.

  “I’m an accountant, but I have a degree in finance as well.”

  Matthias frowns a little, probably at the pride in Bas’s voice. They love their job, even if their workplace has a bigoted asshole. I know from a previous conversation that Matthias doesn’t find the same joy in his career, which makes me a little sad for him. No one should spend their life being miserable in the thing that pays the bills.

  The conversation shifts to l
ighter topics, Bas’s ability to read a room coming in handy as we finish our breakfast.

  “I should be going,” Matthias says sometime later, after the dishes have been put away and we’ve migrated from the patio to the living room.

  “Are you sure? You’re more than welcome to stay and hang out with us.”

  “Yeah, I need to go take a shower and run some errands before tomorrow.” He stands and I follow suit. “It was nice to meet you, officially.” He tells Bas.

  “You too. You’re welcome to hang out with us at any time, I love having a little eye candy around,” Bas smirks at him and I roll my eyes.

  Matthias flushes and mumbles a goodbye before escaping to the front door.

  “Text me later this week. We can get together again,” I say as he shoves his feet into his shoes.

  “I will. Thank you, for everything.”

  “You need to stop thanking me,” I say softly. “I’m not doing anything special but being your friend.”

  He gives me a soft, sad smile. “That’s more than anyone else has done.”

  Before I can respond he kisses me quickly and then leaves. I stand in the entry hall for a long while, shocked and stupidly missing his presence.

  Neil.

  I take a long drink of coffee at my desk before turning my computer on. I slept like shit last night and it’s way too early to function. Which is of course why we have a full schedule today.

  I finish off my coffee and am pouting over not having more when Jamie walks in. He looks even worse than I do. His wavy brown hair doesn’t look like it’s seen a comb this morning and when he sets a tray of coffees on my desk I can see dark circles under his eyes.

  “You okay?”

  He shakes his head, voice catching as he says, “Lex had a relapse this weekend.”

  My stomach sinks at his words. “Shit, how y’all holding up?”

  He shrugs, “he was able to get an emergency appointment yesterday, and I had a Skype session. We already had a joint appointment set for today so we’ll get through it. It’s just a long, hard road.”

  I nod because there’s no other response I can give. I don’t know the full story, but I know enough. Alex’s cutting likes to rear its ugly head at the worst times, not that there’s ever a good time for self-harm, but it seems like these two can’t catch a break.

  “Let me know if y’all need anything,” I say gently.

  “Thanks. I’ll be in the office until my first appointment.” He takes out one of the cups and sets it on the desk before picking the rest up and heading to the back of the studio.

  Rhys, Noah, and River come in twenty minutes after Jamie. I’m surprised that Rhys wasn’t with Jamie, but I can see it in his eyes when he comes over that he probably spent the past few days with them.

  “He talk to you?” Rhys asks me.

  “A bit. Are they really okay?”

  Rhys shrugs, “they will be. I didn’t want to leave last night but he made me.” Rhys sighs and flicks his blond hair out of his eyes. “I know we’re slammed, but is there any way you can rearrange some things? Maybe move an appointment or two to next week or somethin’? I didn’t want him to come in today but he insisted.”

  I look down at the schedule and bite my lip, considering before I shake my head. “It’s that time of year, back to school, pre-holiday, it’s gonna be tight.”

  He grimaces, “all right. Maybe I can let Kelly off the leash a bit this week. See how she does.”

  I nod, “that’s why you hired her after all. And before I forget, do y’all know when you’re going on vacation yet?”

  “No, but I’ll let you know by the end of the week. Thanksgiving and my birthday are the same week, so I’m not really sure if we want to go before or after.”

  “After,” Noah pipes in.

  “Hush, we’ll talk about it later.”

  Rhys moves to go find Jamie and I realize he’s without his furry sidekick. “Where’s Oscar?”

  “I left him with Alex. He needs him more than I do.”

  That makes sense, Rhys’ ferret is also his trained ESA, if anyone can get through to Alex right now it’s Oscar. Rhys disappears and Noah settles River in her usual place with her schoolwork.

  I take a drink of coffee before remembering that Jamie had four coffees when he walked in this morning. “Go get your cup from Jamie before they drink it.” I tell Noah.

  Noah groans, “Rhys does not need any more caffeine.” He checks on River one last time before going to supervise Jamie and Rhys.

  The phone begins to ring just as my computer dings with a new email, and so the work day begins.

  ***

  It’s Maribelle’s turn to feed us this week and I don’t bother to do anything but collapse on the sofa when I get to her apartment.

  The smell of something cooking assaults my nose and my stomach growls but the rest of me is too tired to even think about eating.

  “Which one are you?” Maribelle calls from the kitchen.

  “Your favorite,” I yell back.

  Closing my eyes I relax further into the sofa. I must drift off for a bit because the next thing I know someone is poking me.

  “Go’way,” I mumble.

  “He’s so cute when he’s tired,” Bas says.

  I get poked again and I crack one eye open. “What do you want?”

  “Dinner’s ready.”

  “Feed me,” I whine.

  They snort, “fuck no. Get your lazy ass up and eat. Then I’ll tuck you in.”

  I grunt in acquiesce and they grab one of my hands, hauling me up before thrusting a plate of steaming food at me.

  I take the plate and shovel a forkful of food into my mouth, moaning at the taste.

  “You’re so pathetic,” Bas laughs.

  “Rough day?” Our sister asks, concern in her tone. At least one of my siblings is worried.

  “It was good for the most part, no fires to put out or anything, but I didn’t sleep well last night and it was just a long day.”

  “How’s the new hire working out?”

  “She’s good. Rhys is starting to give her more responsibility. She stumbled a few times today, but other than that she knows her stuff.”

  “Good. I look forward to meeting her.”

  “She’s cute if you’re into the sorority girl types,” Bas says.

  “She looks like a baby. I didn’t look that young when I was her age, did I?”

  Bas looks me up and down before going, “honey, you still look young. Own it. Before you know it you’ll be old and sad like me.” They pout.

  Rolling my eyes I shovel more food into my mouth. They’re only five years older than me but they like to be dramatic when they can. It’s almost a contest between them and Rhys when the two of them are in the same room over who can be the biggest drama queen.

  Maribelle and Bas gossip but I am way too tired to keep up with the conversation. I finish my food and set the plate on the coffee table.

  Leaning my head on the back of the sofa I close my eyes, letting the voices of my siblings wash over me.

  I’m half asleep when Bas nudges me, “your phone.”

  I groan, “who is it?”

  “Your special friend,” they whisper.

  Opening my eyes I sit up and hold a hand out so they can drop my phone into it. I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with Matthias right now, but I also can’t ignore him.

  Matthias: I know you’re with your family but I just wanted to say that I kind of miss hanging out with you. Is that weird?

  Neil: No. I would rather be with you than with them. You’re much more interesting.

  Matthias: I don’t know about all that. But...it’s weird. I’m not used to this friend thing so I don’t know how it all works. Also, I want to drink but am not in the mood for another bathtub incident, so you’re kind of an excuse to not do that.

  Neil: No one wants that. Use away

  Concern rushes through me. Does he have a drinking problem? Sure, Ba
s and I go out every week or try to at least, but that’s because it’s a way for us to unwind. We don’t have to go out, we like the atmosphere, but there are some days we hang out at my place, or go do something else besides the bar. Matthias...I have no idea what to think. But between the last incident where he woke up in the tub and tonight’s texts, I’m starting to worry about him.

  “Neil!”

  I jump at the sound of my name and meet my sister’s eyes. “I’m in the same room as you, ya know. You don’t have to yell.”

  “You’re like a million miles away. Who you textin’?”

  “Just a friend,” I reply, frowning down at my phone at the next message.

  Matthias: If only it were that easy

  Bas has been reading over my shoulder and asks, “do you need to take care of that?”

  “I...I’m not sure.”

  We don’t really know each other. Matthias could just be well on his way to drunk already and texting nonsense, but I don’t think that’s it. Jamie is a master at pretending he’s okay when he’s anything but. I have a feeling that Matthias is much the same. Growing up the way they did, they would have had to be.

  Whatever exhaustion I’ve been feeling all day leaves as my concern for Matthias grows.

  I wish I knew where he lives so I can go check on him, but now’s not the time to ask. If he’s already feeling low I don’t want him to panic. He’s doing surprisingly well after Saturday night, I don’t want to jinx that.

  Neil: Do you need to talk about anything? Meet up somewhere?

  Matthias: No, I’m okay. Just a bad day. Enjoy your family time. We’ll talk later.

  Neil: Are you sure?

  Matthias: Positive. I put the liquor with the laundry where I won’t be tempted.

  Neil: Ha, good plan. Laundry is evil.

  Matthias: That it is. Have a good night.

  Neil: You too. Text or call me if you need to.

  He doesn’t respond but I don’t expect him to. Our conversations are always the same and I try not to let it get to me. I’m trying to let him take this at his own pace, but my patience is not endless. One of these days I’m going to snap and it’s either going to wake him up or make everything worse.