The Love I Need

Chapter 71

When we get back to Cal's house I head straight for the staircase to get to the guest bedroom.

"April has dinner ready in the kitchen," Cal offers. "Why don't you come eat with us?"

"Already ate," I explain quietly while I begin to walk up the stairs. His footsteps sound behind me, and I mumble, "Go eat, Cal. I just want to be alone."

"Emy, what the hell?" He pauses in the middle of the staircase. "I'm just trying to understand. Why are you so upset? The two of you have been so happy. What could have changed so quickly? Theo looked crushed."

A fresh sob rips out of me, and I press my palms into my eyes to try and stop my tears.

"Cal," April calls to him softly from where she's standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Come eat."

Cal chews his lip and his shoulders sag. "You're sure you don't want to talk about it? I'm worried about you, Em."

I nod, desperately hoping that he'll leave me alone for now.

"But—" he tries.

"Cal," April says his name again and holds out a hand toward him when he looks back at her. "You already got your answer."

I can't tell if April is trying to get him to leave me alone for my sake or if her brother has already called her to fill her in on what a bitch I am and she doesn't want Cal to talk to me. Either way, I'm grateful. I continue to the guest room to lose the battle against my tears in private.

When there's a soft knock at the door sometime later, I still haven't finished crying but the sobs are coming further apart and the flurry of tears that were pouring from my eyes have changed to a slow trickle.

"Go away, Cal," I murmur into my hands without looking at him. "I don't want to talk."

A hand lightly touches my shoulder, and I lift my head to see April hovering next to the bed that I'm sitting on.

"Go ahead," I tell her with a sniffle, "Tell me what an idiot I'm being for letting your perfect brother go."

Instead of speaking, she sits down next to me. Her arms wrap around me, and she pulls me into her side, resting her chin lightly on the top of my head.

"It's going to be okay, Emilia," she tells me in a quiet voice. Her hand smooths back my hair and then soothingly rubs my shoulders. "I know it doesn't feel like it now, but it will be."

I can't say that I believe her but as my body begins to shake with a fresh round of full-fledged sobs, I find a small ounce of comfort in her presence.

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I crack my eyes open but shut them quickly when the light pouring in from the hallway meets my pupils. There's a warm hand resting against my back. It's too small to be Theo's, though I wish it was his.

The bed shifts slightly behind me, and I turn my head to look over my shoulder. Cal meets my eyes from where he's kneeling on the bed, gathering a sleeping April into his arms. Her hand falls away from my back as he lifts her.

"Sorry," he whispers, not wanting to wake his sleeping wife. "She fell asleep in here. I just came to steal her back. Didn't mean to wake you up." He bites his lip and then explains, "I don't... I can't sleep without her," as if he needs a reason for retrieving his wife from my bed.

I offer him a small smile, though I'm sure it looks as forced as it feels. "Sleeping alone is the worst," I agree.

He nods, but rather than straightening his back and heading for the door, he searches my eyes.