By Your Side. (Sequel to Art Girl and Wolf Boy)

By Your Side. (23)

I heard someone approaching and looked up to see a mass of auburn hair heading toward me, pushing a stroller. I waited until Dylan got there and stopped the stroller.

"Hey." I said softly.

"Hey, Phoebe." She turned to the grave and addressed it. "Molly."

"What are you doing here?" 

"What?" She asked innocently. "I can't visit my best friend?"

I stared at her. She stared back defiantly. I looked away, sighing and kneeling down to look at Gabby and Sophie, sleeping against each other. They were adorable.

"They're looking for me, aren't they?"

Her answer surprised me. "No. I ordered them not to. Of course, Archer protested, but I convinced them that you needed some space."

"And then you came after me," I stated flatly. I looked up at her and she folded her arms. "Well, yeah. I did need to make sure that you weren't running away or something. Are you?" She looked at me strangely. "If you are, you're very well ill-equipped. I've done it a couple of times and I can tell you, you're doing it all wrong."

I looked at her. "You ran away from home?"

She sniffed. "Once or twice. You know, before I met Jude. I was kind of mad at my parents." She sat down on the ground and lifted one of the twins onto her lap. Sophie. She smiled down at her daughter. I took Gabby from the stroller and sat down beside her, our knees touching. 

"I'm a horrible person." I said without thinking. Dylan sounded starled. "What?"

"You heard me. I self-absorbed and I only care what happens to me, not to Archer. I see what I want and I go for it, no matter the consequences. I don't deserve Archer."

"Of course you do," she said soothingly. "After all, isn't that what this whole 'imprinting' thing is about? You finding your perfect match?"

I shook my head. "I think they messed up this time, Dylan."

"Okay, now you're just being completely stupid." She snapped. She gripped my shoulders and shook me a little. "Snap out of it, Phob. Don't be stupid. Think about him and you. It feels right, right?"

"Right..." I said uncertainly.

"Then there's no question about it. Even though you've been kind of dumb through the years--I mean, come on, it was kind of obvious from the way he looked at you and stuff. Are you blind, chicka? He practically blew a gasket when you started dating."

Oh. Well, that explained his disappearance. It puzzled me. It also made me feel ike crap. The thought of Archer with someone else made me feel sick and angry. The thought of even being with someone else made my stomach turn.

"Plus, there was the way that he was super overprotective of you, the way he supports you all of the time, how long he kept the secret because he thought you were too young to know--"

"Dylan?"

"Yep?"

"Not helping."

"Oh. Sorry. Anyways, I think that now that you know, you guys should talk it out like responsible adults. Then, as an apology, you should do him."

"What?"

"Sorry. I used the words 'responsible adult' in a sentence, I had to have something silly to cancel it out."

I burst out laughing. She laughed along with me, her eyes bright. "Better?" She asked.

"Surprisingly, yes."