Page 60 of Kylan

When I’d had enough soup, Marek took the tray and set it down on the dresser. He turned and looked as uncertain as Leon had when he’d said he’d leave the room, so I scooted over toward Leon and patted the bed.

“Stay,” I said.

He smiled as he took his spot, and I was in my happy place once more.

In between them.

The three of us sat on my bed, resting against the headboard, and they each held one of my hands.

“I don’t know what to say or how to start,” I said quietly. “I just want to sit like this for a little while if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” Marek answered quickly.

“We have all the time you need,” Leon added. “We took today and tomorrow off work.”

“You did? What for?”

Leon chuckled and Marek lifted my hand to kiss my knuckles. “To look after you,” Leon said.

“I feel much better,” I said. “You don’t need to take time off for me.”

“We want to,” Marek said. “We need to.”

I looked at him then.

“We need to talk,” he continued. “The three of us. About everything. If this is going to work between us, we need to talk about it.”

“But first we need to make sure you’re okay,” Leon said. “You weren’t well this morning. Sick enough for your friend to be concerned.”

“He called you,” I said. At least, I was pretty sure he had.

Marek nodded. “Yes, thank god. He was really worried. We both were too.”

I sighed. “I was just... It was just dehydration, I’m sure. I feel better now.”

“It was more than that,” Leon said softly. “Dehydration, yes. But you hadn’t eaten in two days or slept properly. Fitch said you just lay there staring at nothing. He talked to you but you didn’t hear him.”

“And you said some things that worry me,” Marek added gently. “That you could normally lock the pain away, but you couldn’t this time, that you didn’t feel right.”

I slow blinked, the tiredness coming back to me like a wave. “I, uh...” I tried to swallow but my mouth was too dry. “I tried telling you both how I felt, how much I needed you. And you rejected me. I wasn’t... My whole life I’ve been rejected, and I finally allowed myself to feel and dared to think you could want me...”

Leon put my hand to his lips. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll forever be sorry about that. But wedowant you. Marek and I talked it over, eventually, and we both admitted our feelings for you.”

I looked at him, then at Marek. “You did?”

Marek smiled sadly. “I’ll admit, I think my reaction was similar to yours in a lot of ways. To pull back, to retreat, to protect myself. Then after a day or two, we kind of yelled about it and the truth came out.”

Hearing that made me both happy and sad. “I’m sorry I made you fight.”

Leon let out a sigh. “We needed to clear the air as well. And then Fitch called us and it made everything clear. In that instant, we knew we had to go to you.”

“I’m glad you did. I almost didn’t believe it was really you,” I said, trying to smile. “Thought my mind had finally cracked.”

Marek held my hand in both of his. “Do you retreat into your mind a lot? To protect yourself?”

I stared at him, then at our joined hands, and conceded a nod. “I would do it when I was younger when... things were bad.”

Leon closed his eyes slowly and Marek put my hand to his cheek.

---