by Nicky Shanks
“I want to go back to the hospital and check on Brandon,” I say. “Heather shouldn’t be alone right now; I’ve already texted Staci and told her.”
He nods and directs the car back toward the hospital. He repeats over and over how much he wants me but can’t have me right now.
“What secrets are you talking about? Do you have more than what I already know?”
He puts the car in park outside of the hospital entrance doors. “I don’t want to talk about it in a car. I want you to go inside and do what you do best. That’s what I want.”
“What about what I want?”
He takes my hand in his and kisses my fingers. “Please, baby. I promise you and I will talk and there’ll be a time where we can share secrets, but now isn’t the time. You’re still spinning from what happened, you’re still angry at me for putting you in danger, and I know you need time. I know you, Julie. Just take a few days and think about things…think about what you want to say to me.”
“I know what I want—”
“Julie.” The way he says my name startles me. “Take the days away from me. I want you to clear your mind and get your head straight, because when you come back to me…it’s forever. No more bullshit, no more secrets…”
The light in his eyes fires up.
“…no more rules.”
I gasp. “What? I thought you lived and breathed by rules?”
He smiles. “I know you said we needed new ones…so here we go. Rule Number Four: There are no more rules.”
No more rules.
Now that’s something that I do have to think about.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Heather
Brandon sleeps like nothing just happened.
Like we didn’t get ourselves into trouble and he didn’t get injured.
The constant beeping of the machines around him is pissing me off with each sound they make. They’re reminding me that I nearly lost the one person on this planet that gets me.
He’s not upset with Oliver…and neither am I, really. It’s not Oliver’s fault he is the way he is.
Stubborn.
Willful.
Aware.
Overbearing.
I know what Julie’s going through. I know the power he holds over someone and the little things that just keep you coming back for more. I’m not going to run to her and warn her to stay away from him, because they’re not going to end up like Oliver and I did. There’s something there that they just can’t escape from; I saw it the very moment she stormed off from him at the lake house months ago.
She tests his patience and it excites him.
Brandon’s long eyelashes float with each soft exhale of breath from his mouth. It’s crazy how people can just find each other in the most awkward, messed-up situations and make something out of nothing. Some people need very little in a relationship and some need so much that it’s difficult to maintain one. I always thought as long as a man loved me enough to make me feel it, I wouldn’t need much else. I don’t know what changed with Oliver, but Brandon is my next chapter.
I can feel his love for me even when he sleeps.
His fingers move around the bed next to him—he’s searching for my hand. Once he finds me, he’s covering my hand with his and smiling in his sleep. It’s endearing to see this side of him, the side that he was so scared to show me at first. Maybe Julie is right…there’s some form of good in everyone.
There’s a small knock at the door before it opens, letting some of the hallway light into the room.
So that’s why people think she’s an angel.
Light billows in around Julie’s body and illuminates her golden hair flowing around her. Her eyes scan the room and she sees me, then Brandon and looks back at me again with tears in her eyes.
“Do you want some company?” she whispers.
I nod and gesture for her to come inside. She enters the room and quietly shuts the door behind her, pulling up a chair beside me and glancing at Brandon one more time.
“How is he?” she asks.
“He’s better, just sleeping. They gave him some pain meds and the X-rays didn’t show any extensive damage, so he’s going home in the morning. He just got his ass kicked pretty good, but it was for a good cause.”
She takes my hand and it startles me. “You should get some sleep, then.”
I let her hold my hand because it feels nice to have a friend. “Julie, there’s something you should know about Oliver.”
She shakes her head. “I’ve learned enough for one night, thanks.”
“No.” I turn and face her, giving her back her hand. “I have to say this. When Oliver and I were together—” She flinches, but I keep going. “—we didn’t have the dynamic that you two have. We didn’t have the type of relationship you have. I always knew he was searching for something more, something that maybe I wasn’t giving him. It’s my fault for breaking his heart, but it’s your fault for putting it back together. Only…you fixed him, somehow. Like that empty hole inside his heart that was plain as day for everyone to notice just…vanished.”
She looks impressed. “I didn’t know you were so deep, Heather.”
I snort. “I just want to get my point across. Oliver did what he did to protect you…the only way he knows how. He’s not a bad guy, he’s really not. He just does stupid, idiotic—”
Julie giggles. “I see your point. People tell me all the time what they think our relationship is or why we fit so well together. At first, I didn’t see it. But now, it’s hard to explain. Funny how that happens.”
I smile at her and for the first time, she smiles back. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“No, really.” I wipe the tears that form in my eyes. “I’m a changed person too. Brandon and I…we’ve changed each other into the people we should’ve been. The people we wanted to be.”
She moves her chair closer to me and takes my hand again. “I’m happy for you two.”
“That actually means a lot.”
Julie thinks for a few moments and pulls her phone out of her pocket. “Oliver brought me back here for a minute, he’s waiting downstairs. I’m supposed to go to Staci’s house, but I have a better idea. Why don’t we go shopping?”
I cock my head in confusion. “There aren’t any shops open right now.”
She pulls me up from the chair and grins from ear to ear. “I know that. But late-night cafeteria is open and we have phones, right? And I’m sure Oliver won’t hesitate to give me a credit card.”
I want to shake her and hug her at the same time. “I can’t leave Brandon.”
She puts the phone to her ear. “Hey, can you come up here? No, everything’s okay…I just want to take Heather to the cafeteria for some coffee and a breather. She doesn’t want to leave him alone. Okay, thanks.” She hangs up the phone and puts it back into her pocket. “He’ll be here in a few minutes.”
“He just instantly does what you ask him, doesn’t he?”
She shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t ask for much, so when I do, he jumps on the chance.”
I don’t know Oliver that way. I asked for everything and he eventually just gave me open access to anything I wanted.
“Heather, do you want a few minutes alone with Brandon before we go?”
I nod and she lets go of my hand to leave the room. I can hear her talking to Oliver outside the door; their voices are low and calm and I know they will be okay. There isn’t anything Oliver won’t do for her…I can tell by the way he follows her around like a lost puppy dog that it’s different for him now.
He can’t live without her.
I bend over and kiss Brandon on the cheek. “I’ll be downstairs, but Oliver will be in here if you wake up,” I whisper into his ear. “I’m not sure how you’ll feel about that, but at least you won’t be alone. Things are finally starting to go our way for once…except this whole hospital thing. I won’t be gone long
…I just want to get something to eat and breathe a little.”
The door opens and they walk into the room. Oliver doesn’t look annoyed like I thought he would. He walks to me and embraces me in a long hug, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing tight.
“You should go with Julie—I’ll look after him,” he says when we part.
I don’t know what to say.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay. Just not used to all of this.” I chuckle and wiggle my fingers around. “It’s kinda weird how something like this brought people like us together.”
He shrugs. “Life is fucking crazy, and if Julie wants me to give you two a chance, then I will.”
I look at Julie and she’s smiling behind Oliver, her hands on her cheeks in amazement. She’s intoxicated with him and it’s so sweet that it makes my teeth hurt.
Julie yawns. “I need coffee. Should we go?”
“Okay, I’ll go.” The twinkle in their eyes is a little too much for me right now. I thought I wanted to be fast friends with her, but what if she hates me once I show her the real me? “Let me say goodbye.” I bend back over and kiss Brandon on the cheek, pulling his blanket around his chest and tucking it in at his sides in case he gets cold.
Oliver snickers. “Trust me, from experience…when you’re knocked out like this, you don’t feel a thing.” He glances at Julie and she looks sick; he must realize that wasn’t the right thing to say out loud. “Uh, I mean…he isn’t going to be cold.”
I roll my eyes. “Let’s go, Julie.” I snort and brush past Oliver to the door.
I don’t look back and watch their goodbye because I know it’ll make me feel guilty for leaving Brandon’s side at his time of need. Will he wake up and be upset with me for not being there?
The elevator ride is silent. The walk to the cafeteria was a little better, as she made small talk and inserted comfort into the air around us. She genuinely wants to know things about me and not just because it’s something she’s been asked to do.
“So…” She grabs a tray and waves at a few of the late-night food workers. “What are we in the mood for? I, for one, want a big, fat, greasy cheeseburger.”
I laugh. “You would eat that this late at night. How are you not bursting from your clothes?”
She shrugs. “I don’t eat like that all the time…sometimes I eat a salad.”
We look at each other and start to laugh louder. She fills her tray with french fries, two cheeseburgers, and tons of fruit, and I fill mine with pizza and cheesecake for our dessert. It’s like we’re having a slumber party in the cafeteria of a hospital with the gobbling of junk food and gossip we spread across the table for over an hour.
She snorts. “Oh, God. Sometimes I just want to shake Oliver and scream at him to wake up!”
I cover my mouth to keep the bite of cheeseburger I’d just taken inside. “I’m so glad I don’t have to listen to the snoring anymore! The worst Brandon does is fling his arm over and hit me in the nose in the middle of the night! I swear I thought he broke it one day!”
Julie nearly chokes and giggles through her swallow. “Oh, I knew he’d be down here soon.” She nods and sees Oliver gliding over to our table, his eyebrows raised.
“You two having fun?” He smirks and looks down at the table full of food. I never let Oliver see me eat more than a chicken breast, and even now with all this food in front of us, I cower and blush. Julie doesn’t care and she takes another huge bite of her cheeseburger. “I was starving, so we got anything we could get our hands on. Do you want me to grab you something?”
He nods. “Sure, baby. Thanks.”
She gets up and we watch her flitter through the line again, picking up items and putting them into a paper bag for him to take back upstairs.
“She’s a nice person,” I say to him as he watches her.
He nods. “Yeah, she is.”
“You deserve her.”
He looks at me and frowns. “Don’t say shit like that. You have no idea.”
“Okay…” I look down at my plate. “No, it’s not okay. You’re an asshole.”
He laughs. “I know that.”
“Well, stop it. Quit acting like you’re the only person who can get close to her. She isn’t going anywhere, Oliver.”
He growls at me. “I said don’t say shit like that.”
“Shut the hell up and listen to me!” I hiss. “I’m trying to give you advice.”
He sighs and looks back at Julie as she pays for the bag of food. “Fine. What?”
“I just think you need to loosen the reins a little, you know? Share her with the world. I see how she makes you feel about yourself, like you have a sense of purpose again. I just don’t want you to overdo things and push her away.”
He nods at me, silently telling me he’s heard what I’m saying as Julie walks back up to us and hands him the bag of food. She reaches up and plants her lips on his cheek without worrying about who’s around to see, and he reaches up to touch her cheek, kissing her on the forehead.
“Roast beef and Swiss. French fries. Chocolate chip ice cream.” She blushes.
He laughs. “Three of my favorite things. Four, if you count yourself.”
Okay, it’s getting a little awkward here.
“Okay…” He crumples the bag in his hands and winks at her. “Don’t stay down here too long. You still want to make it to Staci’s, don’t you?”
Julie shrugs. “When I make it there, I’ll make it there.”
“Okay, then. See you two later. I love you.” He looks directly at her.
She doesn’t say it back right away, but she knows Oliver and I are both waiting for her to return the gesture. “I love you too,” she says quickly, and he walks back out of the cafeteria as she sits back down in her chair, looking at a fry on her plate.
“Something wrong?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No, just a lot to think about, and I’m not sure I want to.”
I close my mouth. I know it’s not my place to comment on their relationship; it’s awkward enough just late-night snacking with her and pretending that we didn’t have the most horrible introduction of all time. If things had started differently, who knows if they’d be better or worse.
Her eyes get big and she glances up from her fry and back down again.
She wants me to talk to her. I’m fighting it the best I can; what if the advice I try to give her comes out wrong or makes her angry?
Here we go.
“Julie, do you want to talk about it?” I inject a soothing tone into my voice.
She doesn’t look angry. Okay, that’s good. Good job, Heather…you said the right thing.
“Are you sure that’s okay? Wouldn’t it be weird?”
This is your chance.
I shake my head. “No way. After what we’ve all just been through, you and I are basically best friends now.”
Shit. I didn’t mean to say that.
I watch her think about it and she bites the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know about that, but I definitely don’t find you as horrible as before.” She laughs and shoves the lonely fry into her mouth. “I think maybe someday we can be friends.”
I slowly blow out the air I’ve been holding in. “Okay, so what’s wrong?”
She carefully thinks of what words to use and takes a few long seconds to answer me. She breathes in deep and lets it loose. “Things are different between Oliver and me now. I can’t really explain it—it’s just different. I know it’s hard to listen to someone who’s bitching about nothing, but I can’t put my finger on it. I mean…what else is going to happen?”
She looks at me for an answer, but she answers herself.
“I mean, honestly anything could happen. He chose to consult babysitters—no offense—to take care of me when he knew he should’ve warned me Veronica was in town. Or at the very least, he should’ve warned me so I could stay with Randy or something. Am I wrong?”
I shake m
y head slowly. “No, you’re not wrong. But, in his defense—”
She snorts. “In his defense? Really? What did he really offer you to do this?”
She puts her elbows on the table and leans closer, waiting for me to tell her the truth.
“I wanted to be friends with you. I wanted you, Oliver, Brandon, and I to be friends.”
She doesn’t say anything. Her fingernail taps on the table as she leans back and crosses her arms over her chest, staring at me.
“Why me?”
I nearly choke. “Why you, what?”
“Why do you want to be friends with me so badly?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking dare tell you you’re a magical being, though.”
She laughs so hard that I think her soda is going to come out of her nose. “Oh, so you heard about that, did you? The part where I yelled at Casey and told him I’m not a fucking unicorn?”
I cover my mouth but my laughter erupts anyway. “I heard. And I’ve never heard you swear like that before, so that’s hilarious.” We snort and throw fries at each other while the cafeteria workers glare at us for making a mess on their floors.
“I don’t know, Julie. You’re just a good person. Plus, I think I felt guilty about how I treated you when we met, and I had so much bad karma stacked against me that it was time to start making it right. Brandon and I have been trying really hard to erase the horrible qualities in our old selves.”
She nods. “I’ve seen that. You’re good for him.”
I wave my finger in the air, side to side. “You’re not getting off that easily. This isn’t about me and Brandon…it’s about you and Oliver. How do you feel about him?”
She cocks her head to the side. “What do you mean? I love him.”
“But, why?”
“I’m not sure I’m following.” She lowers her gaze back to her plate.
“Yes, you are. You know what I mean.”
She clicks her tongue and smiles, looking back at me. “I’ve never loved anyone more in my entire life, and that includes Brandon. Have you ever felt that each person comes into your life at the exact moment they’re supposed to? He saved me from becoming someone I didn’t want to be. It wasn’t me who’s changed all these years—it’s been the people around me. I just found out that Oliver and I first saw each other fifteen years ago without actually meeting, and he’s been pining for me ever since. That’s what I love the most about him…the love that runs so deep in his soul that even he doesn’t understand it.”
