Page 55 of Bring You Back

Not my style.

He wants me to fight, but I won’t fall to my knees. I’ll fight in my way. In my time.

Now is not that time.

Tonight, he can go fuck himself.

With Reyna out of commission, that’s probably what he’s doing.

Yeah, look how well that turned out.

I was unprepared for the stab I felt at those words. I didn’t expect Julian to hit so low.

Though, he doesn’t exactly know how low he hit. He knows about the wreck, he knows what caused it, but he doesn’t know why my brother was on the road that night.

Either way, he knows enough, and he’s right.

I failed Caleb. I’m a failure.

My eyes scan the hall, searching, stopping on Naomi’s room, on the light flashing under the door. I shuffle over and knock.

“Come in,” she says in the midst of a laugh.

I open the door, the hinges whining with the slow effort, so I push faster to cut off the sound, and step in. When she sees it’s me, her laugh softens to a smile and she uses a remote to mute the television.

Concern shifts her features. “It’s late. Is everything okay?”

“It is late,” I say pointedly, taking the empty space beside of her in the bed and tucking in my legs. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course it’s not,” she says with a shamed sigh, giving me a sympathetic half smile as she squeezes my hand. “I keep saying the wrong things with Julian, too.” I squeeze back, letting her know there’s no need for her to be ashamed for asking. I don’t have problems, and she’s not used to me crawling into her bed with heavy shoulders.

“How long did you manage to sleep?”

I glance at the clock on her nightstand. “About an hour.”

She squeezes my hand again. “I’m sorry, honey.” She shifts, hesitating her next words. “You know, you could try listening to some ASMR. I discovered it a bit ago, and it’s actually helped me sleep lately.”

“What’s that?” I ask with a face. “Some kind of sleep radio?”

She laughs, and it warms me. “Just look into it.”

I nod and face the television. A young, white-haired vampire flashes his fangs on the screen. Naomi’s eyes stay on me, and I try not to squirm under her silent thoughts.

“He’ll come around,” she assures me, and my argument with Julian crosses the blockade I’ve set up in my mind.

I lean my head against the wall. “You heard all that?”

“Bits and pieces.”

“I’m not sure why I stopped talking to you guys,” I confide to Naomi, said as if every other person I’ve let go is also in this room. Surface-level answers to Julian’s questions that wouldn’t be reason enough for him. “I was five states away. I was gone. Somebody leaves, and you drift apart.” I shrug. “I didn’t want to prolong the inevitable.”

“I can understand that,” she says, squeezing my hand again, leaning in close. “But, sweetie, you aresomebody. We love you very much.” I keep my eyes on the television, breathing through the sting in the backs of my eyes as I place all my focus into this cheesy looking vampire movie. “Don’t give up on him.”

I finally look at her, the sting gone as quickly as it came, my mustered smile half pointed. “I won’t if you won’t.”

She releases my hand, along with a puff of air from her lips. “I’m not used to having problems with him. I don’t know how to go about it all the time. He needs me, he wants me to talk, and I’m trying, but every mistake I make puts us right back where we started.”

He needs a fight.He needs to know he’s somebody, too.

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