by Sarah Makela
Chapter Seven
Ethan
I walked up the sidewalk to what used to be my parents’ house. A sign staked in the yard said Welcome Home in big letters.
Damn.
Mia and Nolan’s parents were so nice to me. Sometimes I didn’t feel like I deserved all of the affection they gave. I wasn’t their son, even though they were like parents to me after mine died when a drunk driver hit them.
Nolan was perched on the porch talking on his cell phone. When he noticed me walking up, he said a few more words and hung up the phone. “Hmm...I’m guessing what Mia told me wasn’t true, that you arrived home and everything’s fine?” Getting up to greet me, he cocked an eyebrow. “What happened to your uniform?”
The not so great thing about having Nolan as my roommate—who lived with me predominantly to keep an eye on the house while I was deployed—was this: I wanted to come home and not worry about anything but laying my tired ass in my own bed. Instead, I was getting fifty questions.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, knowing Nolan wouldn’t believe me, especially with the state I was in. Glancing down at my chest, I noticed the claw marks under the thick cream had scabbed over. That wasn’t normal. I shouldn’t have healed so fast.
Damn. Maybe Mia did have powers, aside from throwing fireballs, at least. The picture of her crying while her boyfriend had walked all over her gnawed at me. Fucking asshole.
Nolan put a hand on my shoulder. “Dude, what the hell? No, it’s not fine. You have blood on your pants and your shirt is ripped. Let alone the fact you’re not wearing it.” He nudged me toward the house. “Come on. Let’s get inside. You need to talk to me. What did Mia do?”
“Mia didn’t do anything. Why didn’t you tell me she had such an asshole boyfriend? More to the point,” I said, whirling on my best friend, “why have you let her keep seeing that shithead? You beat the shit out of me in tenth grade when I went through that fling.”
“Greg? Oh, fuck. I’m going to kick his ass for this.” Anger darkened Nolan’s green eyes, and he balled his hands into fists. “He never should’ve been allowed to get away with this for so long. Once I kick his ass....”
While I wanted to see that, I shook my head. “It wasn’t Greg. But I saw the way he treated her. Not well at all. How can you stand back and let her take that?”
Nolan cocked his head. “Why do you care, all the sudden? You’ve never shown much thought toward her since middle school. Besides, I’ve tried talking to her about it. She won’t listen to me. When I pushed her, she said she didn’t have the heart to break up with him before the holidays. He hates me, but I know Mom and Dad don’t like him much either.” He looked around the neighborhood, then back at me. “We’ll talk more inside.”
Sighing, I knew he had a point. Not being able to have Mia in my life had sent me running in the opposite direction, but my feelings for her had never lessened. The cold weather made the healing cream on my chest icy. While the cool night air didn’t bother me, I didn’t want to get sick. Besides, I’d lost some blood, so getting out of the elements would be best for me.
The home I shared with Nolan was a typical bachelor’s pad. The homey pictures and decorations from my deceased parents made it more than a house, but it wasn’t at all like what I’d experienced at Nolan and Mia’s parents, or even Mia’s home. It just felt...less than. Maybe because of the memories I still had of my parents when they’d been alive.
They had been good friends with the Brooks. I wished they were still alive, but having the Brooks in my life had helped a lot. They’d encouraged me like my parents would’ve, but I knew they’d also had their own children to raise. They hadn’t been able to support me or foot the bill for my college tuition. That had prompted me to go into the military. There I’d been able to get an education, have a career, see the world, and make something of myself, like my dad would have wanted.
If only he were around to see it.
I dropped my backpack onto the floor next to the door and headed for my room. The desire for questioning Nolan waned.
“Hey, where you going? Weren’t we going to talk?” Nolan came up beside me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “What’s going on, man? This isn’t like you. Talk to me.”
“I will. Right now, I need a shower and to unwind a little.” I grabbed a change of clothes from my room, then hit the shower. It was exactly what I needed. Hot water streamed down my body, clearing my mind. I didn’t want Mia to be in a bad relationship. What could I do about that? Nothing. Unless Greg kept acting like a total jerk. I wouldn’t sit back while she went through that. I’d stand up for her, even if the other people in her life hadn’t.
My heart knew that if I didn’t I’d regret it, because I wanted to be with her. I wouldn’t stand there and let someone else mistreat her. Balling my hands into fists, I leaned against the bathroom counter.
While Nolan said she didn’t want to break up with Greg because of the holidays, just how long had they been together, and why was she with him in the first place? If Nolan wanted to talk, then he had a lot of explaining to do.
When I got downstairs, Nolan was flipping through channels on the flat screen TV. He glanced up at me. “You hungry? I could order a pizza. Mom and Dad were thinking about surprising you, but when I didn’t hear anything from Mia, I told them it was probably best to wait because your plane might’ve been delayed.”
“Pizza would be good. Tell your parents, thanks for everything.” If they’d gone through the effort to set all this up, then why had Mia seemed as confused about Nolan’s suspicious behavior as I had been? I wanted to get into this, but I didn’t want to scare Nolan off.
He had been worried about me, but I couldn’t forget how suspicious he’d been of Mia when she’d done nothing wrong. She was going through things I wasn’t exactly sure how to understand, but that didn’t mean she meant ill toward me.
“Will do,” Nolan said and grabbed his phone. He punched in a few buttons, and before I knew it, he’d already ordered the pizza with an app. Crazy but cool. “So what’s going on? Why were you injured?”
“We got mugged at the airport in the parking garage.” I didn’t want to spend all evening talking to him about what happened. I wanted more details about what was going on here. However, I’d let him talk since, if it’d been the other way around, I would have been concerned to see Nolan hurt.
Nolan winced. “Seriously? I thought airports were supposed to be safe, with plenty of TSA around. Did you call the cops?” He tossed a can of beer to me and I caught it. “You kicked their ass, right? Man, why wouldn’t Mia tell me something like that?” He crushed the empty can in his fist. “Damn, no wonder she didn’t answer her phone earlier.”
I raised an eyebrow. This guy was the buddy I remembered. Thank goodness. “Seemed like you were pretty quick to get off the phone with her when you saw me.”
Nolan’s face fell and he grabbed his phone again. “Shit, you’re right. I’m a horrible brother. Maybe I should go see if she’s okay. Shit.”
“She’s fine. More or less. A few bumps and bruises, but I protected her. Speaking of which, what about that prick of a boyfriend she has?” I waved a hand at his protests. “Don’t. What happened to the best friend I knew who gave a shit?”
He looked hurt, but I didn’t care. I crossed my arms over my chest, not backing down.
“She only told us about the relationship with him recently. I don’t think they’ve been together very long. She’s...I don’t know...more quiet recently.” He shrugged. “Maybe she’s just lonely. It is the holiday season. People tend to be pretty lonely during the holidays. That’s when most people—”
“Don’t even start talking about those kinds of statistics. I don’t want to hear them.” I sat in my dad’s armchair and popped the top on my beer. “But still...that’s pretty different from the girl I used to know.”
“She’s changed, man. After you went away to the military, she became more withdrawn. I think she likes
you.” Shrugging, he started flipping channels again.
I couldn’t believe it. How could I react to that?
Inside, turmoil and need was running rampant through me, but I couldn’t reveal my feelings. That wasn’t me.
Besides, she was in a relationship. There was nothing I could do about that. I wouldn’t try to sweep her off her feet when she’d already chosen someone else. My vacation was crazy enough already. I couldn’t even tell my best friend why I was bloody. Yet the idea of becoming involved with his sister wouldn’t leave my thoughts.
We sat in silence watching college football. It was crazy how good even the little things like watching television felt. The simple comforts of being in my living room without worries of people shooting at me. I’d learned to get used to it. Somewhat. But I’d known enough people who died overseas and in a combat zone, and it was still nerve wracking, even on the bests of days.
“So, how’s things with Sandra?” I didn’t need to talk, but I wanted to catch up. Know what the people I cared about were doing these days.
“Sandra?” Nolan scratched his head. “Who? Oh, her. We broke up a few months ago. I’m with a new girl now. Jennifer.” The doorbell rang, and Nolan jumped up from the couch.
Seemed like his sister wasn’t the only one on the dating scene. Nolan had never been the type to settle down and commit, but I couldn’t help my surprise. Didn’t he want something solid? To have a family, now that he was out of college, instead of playing the bachelor.
Maybe he displayed his need for freedom in a different way than I did. Fair enough.
After you went away to the military, she became more withdrawn.
Those words buzzed around my head. Guess I hadn’t thought about others’ feelings when I’d made my choice. The idea of doing something for my father’s honor and getting an education had seemed the best way for me to go after my folks died. Having the Army distract me, so I wouldn’t have to face the hurt. Maybe I’d been selfish, but at least I’d had a good reason.
I set aside the empty beer can aside, then popped open a new one. Ever since the incident in the bathroom with Mia, I couldn’t control my feelings. They kept spinning through my head like a carousel.
The scent of spicy pepperonis broke me from my thoughts.
Nolan set the pizza on the coffee table, and I grinned. At least one thing hadn’t changed while I was gone: our shared tastes in pizza. I remembered again why we were best friends.