Free Me From the Wolves

[34] Passive Aggressive Appearances

Andrew was still angry at no one he could take it out on. Cassandra was hesitant on what she wanted to talk about. Ryder and I were just strange...I mean, when he was here, his last words made it seem like a breakup, and in school, he treated me not as hostile as before despite not carrying my books or walking me to class. When he saw me, he greeted me politely or opened doors regardless to the fact that I didn't respond to him. It was days after the day with Zander and the will and learning my mother was alive and the breakup, but it all felt so numb to me.

And surprisingly, on Wednesday, seeing a familiar car in front of my house was what snapped me out of my insensitivity.

"Andrew, don't come home," I immediately thought to my brother because I knew he had spontaneously decided to go with Aaron after school. A bullet was dodged on that end. I sped walked to the door and found it to be unlocked.

Immediately, my sensed heightened and when I neared the first corner of the downstairs area, I spun to turn into my would-be attacker. It only caused him to bump into me and have us both crash to the ground. And surprisingly I was laughing.

"Wow, a laugh," he noted as we got up. He extended a hand and I used it to stand up as well. "Part of why I came to visit was to check up on you, but I guess you're not as bad off as I thought."

I rolled my eyes before hugging my cousin's torso. Oliver and I weren't always close growing up, but we were there for each other when needed. I inhaled in his chest and familiarized myself with his scent mixed with metal and cologne and something I couldn't put my finger on. I pulled away and forged a smile. But Ollie wasn't stupid. He could tell something was wrong.

"But things are still pretty bad..." he noted. I sighed and didn't even know where to start.

Even though Andrew stayed out with Aaron or his friends, Oliver, Cassandra and I ate dinner and Oliver was sure to come upstairs to my room to talk to me about whatever I needed to afterwards. For hours, we were up there talking about how I was adjusting to Tyriette, but I could tell Oliver was trying not to tell me something just as badly as I was trying to cover up huge secrets from him.

"I need to tell you why I really came here," Oliver suddenly announced as it was pretty late. I looked over at him as he was stretched out on my bed and I was sitting at my desk. He sat up and I knew it was serious. But how serious could it be? He can't exactly drop the your brother and/or mother is/are alive bomb on me. "So I'm getting married..."

"WHAT!?" I yelled and jumped over to the bed by him to smack his muscular shoulder. "But you just drove across the country to see Iris! How could you just get married to someone else—"

"I'm getting married to Iris," he interrupted with a smile. I took a second to understand what he was telling me before I was genuinely smiling myself and hugging him.

"Congratulations," I said.

"Thank you," he nodded. "I wanted to personally invite you to the wedding—or really the court signing and reception."

"A date is already set?"

He nodded once more. "This Monday."

"This Monday?" I asked. Why so abrupt? Not that I thought their marriage was doomed to fail, but a couple of days?

"They're shipping me off for a real tour," he revealed. And now I knew why he was trying to hide something. It wasn't the engagement. It was him headed off to the Middle East. The first time he had a mission, he was sent to a base in France for a couple months, expecting the worse. He was on edge until he was clear about his location. But this time, it was different. "I didn't plan on proposing when I got there, but it happened and I'm happy."