Page 19 of Her Brother's Keeper

She looked thoughtful after that, for a time, making no extra comment. Instead, she got that real thoughtful look on her face again and leaned her head back on the rest, watching me as I drove. I tried not to let it distract me, and instead, kept my eye on the icy streets as I piloted my cage through them.

Finally, I pulled into her driveway, the house dark, not even a porch light on. I shut off the car and sighed, and when I turned to her, I found her eyes shut, head still tilted in my direction, but her expression, where it’d been pinched before, was now smooth and slack with sleep. I watched her for a minute or two, listening to the engine tick, the cold pressing in, creeping through the vents and into the car.

I touched her cheek with my thumb, cradling her face in my hand, and sighed, bummed I would have to break the magic and wake her up. As much as I wanted to carry her, to her door, I needed her keys and the footing wasn’t safe enough even after salting the drive.

“Maren, Angel, wake up, we’re here,” I said softly.

A small wrinkle between her brows and her head jerked, she pulled back and sucked in a deep, tremulous breath. I dropped my hand before she could open her eyes and see I touched her. She blinked several times and huffed a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured and fished in her coat pocket, her keys ringing.

“Don’t be, come on, I’ll help you.” I popped my door and went around to her side, and opened her door for her. She held up my cut to me and I paused, looking at it for a moment in her delicate hands. I took it from her and swung it on deftly, holding out my hands for her to take.

She placed hers in mine and leveraged herself out of the seat, and I was struck by it. It was the action of an old person, or the heavily burdened, the way she got out of my cage and it made me want to lift it from her shoulders so badly. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let her lean on me. She tried once, twice, and before she could try a third, I took her keys gently from her fingers and unlocked her door for her.

She took off her coat and scarf and hung them up, and went immediately to the couch, dropping onto it with a heavy sigh, kicking off her shoes. I sat down on one end, lifting the pillow off of it and setting it in my lap. Maren just flopped over without a second thought, her head hit the pillow and she went limp like she was just done, and I couldn’t blame her. Instead, I propped my heels on her coffee table, feeling pretty guiltless about it because a magazine was conveniently where I’d put ‘em, cushioning my boot heels from the wood.

“Long day, huh?”

“Mm,” and that wasit. Her breathing evened and deepened and she wasout.

I sighed, and settled back, closing my eyes and just kind of enjoyed the closeness. A secret, guilty little pleasure, smoothing my fingers through her hair brushing it back off her face. I knew I couldn’t sleep here. I wanted to, though, I wanted to rest here, with her, and share her load, just for one night, but I knew I couldn’t so I did the next best thing.

I kept it appropriate. I let her fall into a deep, deep slumber, then I eased out from under her, found her room and turned down her bed, and I went and did what I’d wanted to in the first place… I went down, lifted her in my arms and carried her up to bed.

I didn’t do anything I really wanted to do, like undress her so she would be more comfortable. Instead, I settled for pulling off her socks so she wouldn’t get too warm, and pulled the blankets up over her, folding them beneath her chin.

I allowed myself the one guilty pleasure I could and kissed her forehead before I went down and let myself out, locking the place up tight behind me before exiting. It was the hardest thing I’d done in a while, leaving her alone like that. It just didn’t feel right.

Chapter 8

Maren

The last time I’d seen Nox, he’d picked me up from work. I’d been so tired, I’d forgotten to buy the groceries, but then again, I’d been too tired to care. I remember him waking me up to go in the house and then I remember waking up the next morning, tucked into my bed when I could have sworn I’d fallen into an exhausted sleep on the couch. I’d immediately felt both incredibly rude and incredibly guilty, guessing I’d fallen asleep and he’d brought me up and tucked me in.

I’d raced downstairs to see if he was there, but of course, he’d gone. I’d found my phone in the pocket of my coat and there had been no messages. I had texted him, apologizing profusely but I hadn’t heard anything back, at least not right away.

He’d texted back later that evening apologizing, saying that he’d been at work, and I had felt so incredibly stupid and so incredibly relieved at the same time it wasn’t even funny. I had cried after the first three hours had gone by without a response. After two more, I had almost given up hope of ever hearing from him again.

Stupid, I know, but true. I didn’t have any real friends anymore… he was my first one in a long time and I was surprised at how starved I had been for some positive human interaction.

Now it was the thirty-first and my brother was with Ian and a group of boys over at Ian’s house. Ariel had put together a New Year’s Eve party for them. It left me home soaking up the quiet which eventually let my mind wander, which naturally led to me wondering what Nox was up to tonight.

I was in front of the fire in the living room, a cup of tea at my elbow, and a book in my hands staring at my phone, wondering if I should text when the screen lit up, saving me from having to be the one.

God, I was pathetic.

Nox: So what are U doing for NYE?

Me: Sage is at a party, so I’m home alone catching up on some reading.

Those dots bounced forever, so I was expecting a long reply, but then they would stop, and then they would start and what finally came through surprised me…

Nox: That’s bullshit. U can’t bring in the NY alone.

I considered what to send back, capturing the inside of my cheek with my teeth and sighing. Nothing that came to mind didn’t sound horribly desperate or lame…

Me: I just don’t have any plans I guess.

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