“Don’t even bother,” I say through labored breath.
Rain drops the towel and turns towards me. “You look refreshed,” she smiles.
“Ready?” I ask, assuming she still wants food.
“Yup!” She smiles, grabbing her bag.
“Wait, how are we going to pay for food?” I ask. “Never mind, I know the answer to that.”
I hated the fact that they were still taking care of me even though there was a whole state between us. I had taken so much from them and I gave them nothing in return. Grabbing the front door handle I pull it open and my eyes are met with a figure standing before me, his arm raised in mid air.
“Tate, what are you doing here?” I blurt out.
His eyes shift from me to Rain.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had company,” he says and starts to walk away.
“Wait, where are you going?” I call out after him.
He stops in his tracks. “This is…this is Rain,” I explain.
He turns back around and faces us. I know that he know who she is from my story last night.
“I just don’t want to intrude,” he explains. “You obviously have a lot to talk about.”
“You’re not,” Rain calls out behind me. “We were just about to go get some food, want to join us?”
A sense of jealousy washes over me, Rain’s ability to blend into society despite her past astonishes me.
“I’d love to.” He smiles at me.
Tate is no longer in his uniform but sporting a button up shirt and dark jeans. His clothes too nice to be from any shop here in town. Shutting the door behind us I follow behind Rain and Tate. The rain has stopped but the ground is still wet, the smell of damp concrete filling the air. We choose to walk, considering the town is so small there is very little need for a car here. When we decide on a place we slide into the booth, every patron and worker has their eyes on me. News travels fast here.
I eat mostly in silence except for the occasional person coming up to me, all of their faces unrecognizable. Rain and Tate fall in and out of conversation but I remain mute, picking at my plate of food. The walk back to the house is sluggish, my body is tired and the small amount of food I was able to choke down is making me feel heavy. When we reach the house again there are three people sitting on the porch. I don’t have to second guess who two of them are. When they see me they both stand up, smiles wide across their face.
“I almost didn’t believe my son when he told us you were back,” her soft voice says as she pulls me close. “We truly missed you, Phoenix.”
“I missed you guys, too,” I respond as I pull back.
I look over to the figure standing beside her.
“Hey, Mr. Hendricks.” I smile.
“It’s good to have you home, Phoenix, the house hasn’t been the same since you left. Well…since you both left.”
I just nod, trying to hold back the tears. My eyes then fall upon the person I don’t know.
“Phoenix, this is Mr. Bernstein,” Mary explains. I reach out and shake his hand.
I hear Rain clear her throat behind me.
“Oh…ummm…this is my friend, Rain.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Rain says, shaking their hands.
“Mom…Dad…you have something to tell Phoenix, right?” Tate pipes in.
Mary looks at me again and smiles.
“Yes I do. And I hope that it will make you very happy.”
Chapter 67
Braeden
“Dude, where are we going?” Donovan continues to complain. “You don’t even know where she is.”
I huff. “I don’t need to know where she is, all I need to know is that she is OK.”
I see his confused expression out of the corner of my eye. I don’t care. When we reach the hospital I push the door to the cab open, noticing I am alone.
“Are you coming or what?” I call out.
A second later Donovan exits the cab, his form by my side.
“Have you lost your mind? She’s not…” Donovan stops talking abruptly. He’s finally caught on. “Good thinking.”
I don’t know if anyone else believed her visions, but after that previous night I would believe anything she would tell me. I remain quiet and enter through the employee entrance, the hospital busy at this time of the day. With my head down I make my way for Rain’s room, my heart racing. But when I push open the door all I see is her empty bed. The room dark and vacant. Spinning around I see Lucy behind the nurses’ station and I curse silently under my breath. Walking over to her, she looks up and catches my gaze.
“Braeden! What did you do to your arm?” she squeals.
“It’s nothing,” I begin to say.
She walks out from behind the counter, her fingers trailing up the cast and onto my shoulder.
“Seriously, I’m fine,” I snap at her, my eyes closing in frustration. “Listen, I just need to know where Rain is.”
“Rain?” she asks confused. Does no one care enough around here to learn fucking people’s names?
“Patient in room eight.”
“Oh!” she giggles. “I think she left.”
I snap open my eyes.
“What do you mean ‘left’?” I ask again.
“Like, as in, not here anymore,” she says sarcastically. “Are you sure you are all right, Braeden?”
I don’t respond and instead turn around, heading back out the way we came.
“Well, that went…unexpected,” I hear Donovan say behind me.
“Thank you, Captain Fucking Obvious.”
“Where do you want to go now?” he asks.
“Home,” is all that I could utter.
~
When we get back to my father’s house I notice that all the lights are on, my father’s car in the driveway. When I open the door my father is on the phone, something that is becoming a regular occurrence. Donovan walks over to the couch, his body falling down upon it. My father’s eyes stay on me.
“OK, thank you very much,” he says into the phone before hanging up. “You weren’t here when I got back,” he states.
“Yeah, I was out,” I state.
“I can see that,” he declares. “What were you doing?”
“Nothing,” I say, hoping that Donovan can keep his mouth shut. All three of us are silent.
“I have some news about Phoenix,” my father speaks.
At that moment my body goes through all emotions. This is where he tells me she’s dead.
“She is safe,” he says.
I let out a large breath that I didn’t know I was holding.
“And how do you know this?” I ask.
“That’s not important,” he says.
“Bullshit it’s not,” I snap.
More pieces of the puzzle snap into place
“That’s why Rain is gone isn’t it? You sent her to check up on Phoenix,” I say, her name causing my heart pain.
His facial expressions tell me yes.
“You wanted to know that she was safe, right?” he asks.
I just nod. “Well, now you do.”
For some reason anger rises inside of me, even though I should be relieved - or thankful - I’m not sure which. All I know is that I am not satisfied.
“Where is she?” I say sternly.
Chapter 68
Phoenix
I am seated at the kitchen table, stacks of paper sprawled across the top of it. I stare at each one, realizing that most of them contained words I don’t even understand.
“What do you mean it’s mine?” I ask, looking up at the eyes of the patrons sitting across from me.
Mr. Bernstein gives me a crooked smile. “The property, the house and its contents are yours.”
I still don’t believe him. Mr. Bernstein laughs.
“When your father passed away he left you everything,” he explains. “The only stipulation was that you must be eighteen years of age to obtain your assets.”
&nbs
p; I look down at my hands, my vision becoming blurry. He starts to rustle through some papers.
“We tried contacting you as of your eighteenth birthday and we spoke to someone named Carl, but he claimed no one by that name lived there.”
I snap my head back up, a sudden fire burning through my body. He had taken more from me than I could have ever imagined. The whole room is silent. When I look back up everyone is staring at me with a sympathetic look on their faces.
“Well,” Mr. Bernstein says as he stands up. “If you just sign here, we can be done with this.”
Picking up the pen in my hand, I stare at it. It feels incredibly heavy. Putting it to the paper I sign my name and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Welcome home, Phoenix.” He smiles at me before packing up the papers and leaves.
~
The Hendricks’ stay for a little while after, Mary explaining to me what this all entails and that they were here for me whenever I needed them. Soon it was just Rain and myself. Another day here and gone.
“Did that all really just happen?” I blurt out.
She just smiles and nods her head. It can’t be true.
“I think I’m going to go for a walk,” I say. “To you know…process it all.”
“Do you want some company?” she asks softly.
“I think I want to be alone,” I explain.
Grabbing my sweatshirt I walk out the front door. On my way down the steps I pull it over my head, the hood getting caught around my ears. I stumble forward a little bit and trip over something, a pair of hands catching me. My skin burns where these fingers lay upon me. I pull the rest of it down until my vision become clear, a figure standing before me.
“Braeden.”
Chapter 69
Braeden
Having her in my arms again felt abnormal. I almost didn’t believe that she was standing before me. I take time to observe her state, her eyes telling me that she hasn’t slept much. She’s still breathtakingly beautiful.
“Braeden,” her voice calls out so softly that I swear I imagined it.
We both stare at each other for a second until her eyes start to shift, looking at every direction but mine. I immediately drop my hands from her shoulders. She’s not mine anymore.
“How did you find me?” she asks quietly, as though she is ashamed.
“My father told me,” I answer. “He sent Rain to come take care of you.”
She looks up at me. “I figured. But why would he do that?” she asks, her tone slightly irritated.
“Because we all care about you, Ser…” I stop and swallow. “Phoenix. Did you really think we would just let you go like that and at least not make sure you are OK?”
I remove my eyes from hers and look at the house behind her.
“I’m glad that you have found comfort here,” I say softly.
Phoenix turns around to face it for a second before turning attention back to me. The air between us is thick and I don’t know what to say or do.
“I just wanted to know that you were safe,” I utter, swallowing the lump in my throat. “And now that I see that you are, I guess I can go now.”
I turn around, feeling as though my emotions are betraying me. Each step I take away from her is painful, the tie between us stretching dangerously thin with every movement.
“Braeden!” I hear her call out from behind me.
I stop but I remain facing away from her. I can hear her move so that she is right behind me. I can feel the heat radiating off of her body. As I slowly turn around to face her, I am met with her wet cheeks, her eyes staring into mine. Reaching up with my finger, I wipe away the tears that are traveling down her face.
“Don’t cry, Seraph,” I whisper into the darkness.
Her beautiful eyes continue to look into mine and we have a silent conversation. All the pain and agony that was caused is gone and we are simply two people. With my palm still caressing her cheek I lean down, placing my lips gently on top of hers. I am afraid that she will pull back and reject me, but she doesn’t. Instead, she pushes into me, our kiss turning from timid to passionate. Her hands come around my backside and fist into my shirt and my free arm falls onto her lower back, pushing her even closer into me, my other arm caught between us. Fucking cast.
The taste of her mouth is better than I ever remembered, her scent swirling all around us. I don’t know how long the kiss lasts but I wanted it to never stop. I wanted to live in this moment forever.
When we both pull back I feel like there is no oxygen left in my body. Phoenix remains silent, her fingertips pressed against her lips, a small smile hiding behind them.
“I’ve never been able to explain that feeling,” she says softly.
Reaching out I take her hand in mine and press it against my chest, my heartbeat thumping underneath her fingertips.
“My heart only does this when you are near, Seraph, and it feels fucking incredible,” I say.
She looks up at me, her eyes serious. “Will you take a walk with me?” she asks.
“I would follow you to the end of the earth if you’d allow me.”
With our hands intertwined, she passes by me and pulls me in her direction. She is moving so fast that I have to make my strides wider to keep up, but I don’t complain. We walk into the thick forest and the temperature drops immensely, the sun hiding behind the branches of the trees. I soon become lost of our direction but Phoenix seems to know exactly where she is headed.
When we break through a patch of trees, my eyes fall upon one massive tree. Phoenix stops at my side, her eyes looking up to the sky. I follow and see a large playhouse nestled high in the center of branches.
“This was one of my favorite places to be.” She smiles. “I used to spend so much time in this tree that my father began building this playhouse for me. I kept asking him to add things and he told me that it would never be done.” She pauses. “Unfortunately, that came true,” she says with pain behind her voice.
I look up at the tree house again, noticing its diminished look.
“Follow me,” she says and walks over to the tree trunk, her eyes looking over the branches. With her left arm first, she grabs the nearest one, trying to pull herself up. She puts her foot up and immediately slips, with only her fingers still gripping the bark. I rush over to her and grab onto her hips, trying to balance her. And then I hear her laugh and it’s like fucking music to my ears. Pushing her up, she grips her other arm onto the branch and swings herself onto it. Once she is settled, I reach up high and pull myself up. It’s a lot more complicated with one arm in a cast.
“You’re not the only one who climbed trees as a kid.” I laugh.
We sit side-by-side and stare out into a break in the trees. We are both silent for a while, allowing her to gather her thoughts. The sound of flapping wings and cries of nearby birds in the air reaches my ears. After what seems like an eternity, she speaks.
“I used to sit here for hours by myself thinking about what my life would be like when I got older,” she states before pausing. “And never in a million years would I have ever imagined it would turn out like this.”
Hey eyes are facing outward, as though she is declaring this statement to the forest itself.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
She finally looks over and her eyes are lost, yet so in love.
“Well,” she starts, her teeth nibbling on her lip. “I never imagined you.”
I take her hand in mine, my fingertips playing delicately against the top of her hand.
“I never thought someone like you could love someone like me,” she adds.
“Seraph,” I say quietly. “You are perfect to me in every single way. You were what I was looking for all along. I never had to think twice about my love for you. I was yours from the moment you broke my glasses.”
She laughs but looks back out into the sky.
“But I ran away,” she said. “I ran from you when you were the only thing that never h
urt me. I gave up on us.”
My father’s conversation flows through my mind.
“But I did hurt you,” I admit.
She looks back over at me, her brow furrowed.
“Phoenix, I allowed you to become hurt because of me. If I didn’t leave you alone…”
Her hand squeezes onto mine.
“Stop that,” she says. “It was nothing you did. It was just another unfortunate time in my life.”
My stomach churns thinking about all the “unfortunate” times in her life.
“But I couldn’t keep seeing you hurt because of me. My own pain I can deal with, but pain brought upon you…I can’t bear it,” she says just above a whisper.
I don’t know how to respond. We both fall silent.
“So, what do we do know?” I ask.
“Well, there is something I haven’t told you,” she says, making my heart skip a few beats.
She swings her leg over so that she is now straddling the branch.
“I’m not going back to San Francisco,” she states. “I can’t ask you to give up your whole life to be with me but it was never truly my home.”
“And here is,” I say softly.
She nods. “Being here for the past few days reminded me where I truly belong. I could never hate the time I spent in California though, because it brought me to you.”
Reaching out I run my fingertips through her hair.
“Then, let’s stay,” I say quietly.
Her eyes become wide and I can’t stop a smile from coming onto my face.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” she says shaking her head.
“I know you weren’t asking, but I will stay…if you want me to. You are my life, Seraph, and the past forty-eight hours have been the worse of my life. I never want to experience that again. It comes down to if you love me or not, the rest is just details.”
Chapter 70
Phoenix
My heart is beating so fast that my hearing is blurred, only the loud pounding of my heart is apparent in my ears.
“I do,” I say, tears threatening to fall. “I love you more than I could ever explain.”
I scoot closer to him so that my front is pressed against his side. If we weren’t so high up I would probably be straddling him. The heat from his body is intoxicating. I press my lips to his and we both fight for dominance, our kiss forceful and heavy.
A Brand New Ending Page 31
