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“Need to sleep,” he mumbled again, his head resting against my neck, and then he didn’t move.
Bec looked at me. “I think he’s asleep,” she whispered.
Oh, man.
Not entirely sure what else I could do, I pulled him down with me so we were lying on the couch. He was tucked into my side, against the back of the sofa.
And he was out.
Now, we’d always been close. He was my best friend, my brother. Even in our Atrous days, he and I were tight. Inseparable. And that hadn’t changed over the last eighteen months. Since our last album, since Atrous bid our fans farewell.
If anything, we’d become closer.
It hadn’t been easy, this adjustment to reality. But he and I navigated it pretty well. Well, as best we could.
Sure, I’d noticed he and Vana weren’t getting along. I’d noticed his disinterest in her. I’d just assumed they were petering out. She was busy; her own girl-group Cyko had been on tour doing all the things we used to do as Atrous.
Never to the scale we had.
But still... part of me wondered whether he was jealous of her career. The concerts, the media attention, the hype of it all. If he missed that life.
Not the grueling schedules, and the physical and emotional toll.
Hell, none of that.
But we’d been Atrous for a decade, since we were sixteen.We’d known nothing else, and when we didn’t have that anymore, it hadn’t been easy.
We all still hung out. Not as much as we used to. But Maddox and Roscoe were married now, and Jer and Steve may as well have been freaking married. Plus, Roscoe was busy with his business, and so was Steve. Wes and Amy had their little girl, Benny, and he was in full dad-mode now. It was great for him. He was the best dad ever, and we were all happy for him. Not to mention that littleB-b-benny and the Jetshad the best uncles ever.
And Luke and I were doing okay. We still lived in his huge house, playing ball on his half-court, playing video games, doing all the things we’d never had time for over the last ten years.
But things had been weird these last couple of months.
He’d been weird with Bec and me, and I just put it down to him and Vana coming to an end. It was never easy to be around another couple when your own relationship was dying.
Especially when it’s your best friend and your sister.
It couldn’t have been easy for him.
Bec left us alone, taking our bags and sorting out the groceries, while I lay there with Luke, letting him sleep. He needed to sleep, clearly, and if I helped with that, then fine.
It certainly wouldn’t be the first time we’d shared sleeping spaces, shared beds, or crashed out on each other in the last twelve years.
And to be honest, it felt nice.
Nice to reconnect with him after a week away and the tense weeks before that. It felt... nice. There was a comfort, a feeling of home that I didn’t get from anyone else.
Luke and I shared a bond. A closeness not many others could understand. Everything we’d been through. Everything we’d shared, endured, we’d done together.
It wasn’t anything more than that.
But after a not-so-great week with Bec and her friends,realizing we maybe didn’t have a great deal in common, being with Luke like this felt so fucking good.
I closed my eyes for a minute, letting myself doze off, rubbing his back, letting his metered breathing calm me, center me.
I woke up, I don’t know how long later, to find Bec standing there, watching us. She held her phone. “Vana’s on her way,” she whispered. “To get the rest of her things.”
Oh.
