Page 47 of Our Little Moments

“Is that how you play music? Does the melody just come to you out of thin air?”

“I like to think that I didn’t find music, rather that it foundme.” I clear my throat. “I was struggling to handle the . . . pressure that came with having powers. The weight of expectations from the city, the pressure and my success became a necessity. I was still a child, and I had nothing figured out. So, I often escaped in the middle of the night, desperate for a space where I could breathe. I found a forest close to home, and the piano appeared without me thinking about it. I’ve always been curious about everything, so I started playing. My fingers hitting the notes became a source of peace and control I didn’t have in my teenage years. And, alone in the forest, I could sing my lungs out and say everything I wanted to because no one would hear or see me.”

Adrian stays quiet besides me.

“What about you?” I ask. “Did you have an escape when you started taking care of your sisters? A hobby? Something to have a little fun with for a while?”

His brows furrow in confusion. “Why would I have needed an escape?”

“From the pressure? Expectations? Way too much responsibility for a teenager to handle?”

“I didn’t.”

My heart aches for this man. I can’t imagine having the responsibility of three younger siblings fall on your shoulders and not have any kind of distraction.

“Which is why Jay and I got so close as children,” Adrian continues. “We lived close to each other and we both needed an escape from our struggles. He used laughter to help me escape from the weight of my responsibility, and I made sure he felt important.”

I sigh heavily, heartbroken by the weight he had to carry on his shoulders for so long. “You shouldn’t have had to take care of everyone around you like that.”

“Maybe. But someone had to step up. And I was our best choice.”

“How did . . . How did your sisters handle it?”

“Isabella stepped up pretty quickly. I took care of most of our responsibilities, but she saw our sisters. She saw how much they needed support and rushed in to help. She soothed all of us and, now, I think that she was the one most in need of soothing. Layla was just . . . in another world. She escaped reality and hid away in her head. She was always quiet and always daydreaming, but Hazel was the hardest to read. She was only a baby when we lost our parents.” Adrian’s voice cracks, and my heart cracks along with it. “Layla stepped up to take care of Hazel, but . . . she’snever been as close to us as I wish. Hazel is very . . . distant. I noticed it even more recently, but I don’t know how to fix it. I think I’m too late for her.” A tear slips through his eyes, and I’m absolutely shattered as I watch pure regret wash over his features. Adrian does—and always has done—so much for his sisters, and it breaks me to see him regret things that are out of his control.

“Adrian, you’re not too late for her. It’s never too late to reconnect with the people we care about. You lost your parents as children; you had to handle your grief in the only ways you were able to. And for Hazel, it was probably by being distant.”

“I know, but she never had to be distant from me. I would have done, and still would do, anything she asked.”

“Maybe she doesn’t know what she needs,” I say softly.

Adrian’s eyes snap to mine, and understanding shines in them.

“Maybe,” he finally replies quietly.

The last bit of sunlight fades away, leaving us in darkness as we sit on the ground, next to each other. Silence reigns in the air and with it, I feel calm again. The emotions from earlier fade away, only for tranquility to take their place.

We return to the town soon after that, and when I look in my room’s bathroom mirror, I find a giddy smile still etched on my face. It’s so unfamiliar that, for a moment, it feels like I’m staring at a stranger, but then I remember the photos of myself that I had as a teenager that I found with my notebook.

This is my real smile. I just haven’t shown it to the world, or myself, for way too long.

I won’t make that mistake ever again.

Chapter 18

Adrian

Inever thought I’d see the day my sisters would be quiet at our dinner. It’s making me overthink. Is something going on? Do they know something I don’t? Do they need help?

All three of my sisters look at each other and stay quiet. Then, as if they communicated telepathically, they turn to look at me.

Confused doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel.

“You have some explaining to do,” Isabella says.

I chuckle. “For what?”

“You’re acting weird lately.”

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