Page 163 of The Plan

I smile at how light he seems talking about this. He sounded like he was suffocating when he first opened up about his abuse. He looks back at the shelf and picks up a cool-shaped rock. It’s iridescent, shining a few shades of blue and green when he turns it.

“This was from the first time I went camping with the twins and our parents.” He turns it in his hand, a grin spreading on his face. “August and I fell into a poison ivy bush while fighting over this rock.” He shakes his head with the biggest smile, and I throw my head back, laughing at the idea of that.

“Was it worth it?”

“Fuck yeah. Look how cool this shit is.” He holds it up, and it shines a shade of blue, almost purple. It is pretty cool. He picks up a pink seashell next. “This one is from the first time I went on a real family trip with them. I was terrified to swim because… Well, you know.” He shakes his head softly. “Anyways, I learned to swim that trip and dove for this.”

I smile to myself because I'm starting to notice a pattern with everything on this shelf. It’s reserved for everything Sage and August related.

“Where’d you guys go?”

“Puerto Rico. They were planning on going somewhere else. I can’t remember right now, but I didn’t have my passport, so they switched the location last minute.” He hands me the seashell, and I turn it in my hand.

“Did they already adopt you by then, or was that before?”

“No, we went on this trip before I was adopted.” I remember he got adopted at fifteen, so it must’ve been before high school. Maybe it was a few years after their first Christmas.

“I was twelve.”

I give him a small smile as I think about that. I doubt my mom would’ve let me travel with any of my friends at twelve, besides Hazel, of course, but we went on family trips together. Her mom and mine, just the four of us. I wonder if Fiona even knew he went on that trip. “How much convincing did it take to let you go?”

“Not much.” He shrugs. “I told Sage to ask for me, afraid to ask myself, but our mom of course said yes.”

I smile, but that’s not what I met. “Did it take much convincing from Fiona?” Realization crosses his face, and he shrugs again, turning to the shelf.

“I wouldn’t know since I didn’t ask her.” He sounds bitter, angry almost. “She was AWOL that week, and it was either go with them or stay home alone and risk starving.” I freeze at how mad he sounds, and his switch gives me whiplash. When he turns back to me, his tense shoulders immediately drop.

“Sorry… I don’t want to talk about her anymore.”

“Okay.” I keep my voice light and grab the bubble wrap between us. We wrap the few glass things on this shelf, but after a while, I speak up again. “Have you ever considered going to therapy?” I make sure to keep my tone casual so he isn’t offended.

He turns to me and studies me for a second before shaking his head.

I nod and turn back the shelf, picking up his little league trophy. “After the break-in, I was thinking I should go, but I don’t know.” I put the trophy in the box, and I feel him watching me, so I turn back to him.

“Maybe you should.” He shrugs. “MaybeIshould.” He sounds like he’s just thinking out loud now, but I give him a small smile and lean forward to kiss the sour expression off his face.

I pull away, and he reaches above me for something on the second shelf. He took his shirt off a little while ago, but as he leans over me now, my eyes land on his tattoo, and with the fresh conversation of Fiona, my mind goes to the scars he covered.

I reach for his side, rubbing his tattoo softly, and now that I know they’re there, I can feel them so easily. My heart suddenly feels heavy, but I lean over and plant a soft kiss on his scars.

I feel him go still, and when I glance up at him, he’s only staring at me dumbfounded. I trace my thumb along his side, feeling for the rest of them, and every time I feel a round-shaped scar, I leave a soft kiss.

He suddenly takes a step back, and before I can question him, he cups my face, and his kiss tells me everything I need to know.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Vidia

Well the game isn’t overyet,” Sage says shyly as we enter our private booth, and I can’t help but laugh. We get free tickets to the boys’ game, and since she hasn’t seen them play in a while, here we are.

“Maybe not, but it’s halfway done. I don’t get why you changed four times if you were going to wear your first option.” Each outfit was more dramatic than the last, so I’m glad she decided on the first one, but did she need to take an hour?

“I didn’t know I’d end up picking the first—” She gasps, and my head snaps to her. “They have M&M’s!” She rushes over to the table of candy and picks up the entire bowl of M&M’s, taking them to the couch with her, only to trip and spill half of them onto the ground.

“Omg! Do you think this will get us banned?!” She quickly bends over and pushes them all into a pile.

“Yes,” I answer without missing a beat and look out to the field. I’ve never watched from up here. It's actually really pretty.

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