Page 114 of Loved Out Loud
“I know who you are. Why are you here?” I wave them in. “Not that you’re unwelcome, I’m just surprised.”
“So were we when we overheard Mom and Dad fighting about you,” Nate says sullenly. He drops his backpack and flops down on the couch in what I can only imagine is a typical teenage boy way.
“I hope you don’t mind us showing up randomly like this. We knew this was Blue Sunday’s last tour stop, so it’d be the easiest time to find you.”
“How did you know what hotel we were at?” Tyler asks, wrapping his arm around my waist.
“Reddit,” Nate answers.
“Reddit?” Tyler blinks looking at me incredulously.
“Yeah, there’s a whole sub about you guys. People are always posting theories about where you stay and aliases you use.”
“We just went down the list.” Sara approaches me, our eyes a perfect mirror of each other’s. She studies me, just as I do her. “This is weird.”
“It really is.” I smile at her. “But in a good way, at least for me.”
“Do your parents know you’re here?” Tyler asks.
“No.” Sara glances away, looking guilty. “I told them Nate was helping me move apartments.”
“And honestly, fuck them for lying to us so long,” Nate adds. “They don’t get to know where we are.”
“So you’ve been going around to every hotel in Miami looking for us?” My brows rise.
“We only went to two before this. Your bodyguards were walking past and heard us at the front desk.”
“Oh. Dan?”
“Yeah, I think that was the name he gave me. Apparently he was with you when you came to our house back in Chicago.”Sara’s lip trembles. “I’m sorry Dad was such a dick to you. If I had known,” she trails off.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize for, and I wasn’t really expecting him to welcome me with open arms.”
“Are you guys hungry? I can order room service for us.” Tyler reaches for the menu.
“I can’t believe I have another sister and she’s dating Stone Tyler,” Nate mumbles as he takes the menu. “I love your music.”
“Thanks. I’ll order anything you guys want.”
I sit down on one of the chairs while they relay their orders to Tyler. I wish I had my Dad’s number, so I could call and let him know they’re here and safe. I’ll have to ask them for it so I can do that. They both seem pissed enough that I doubt they told him what they were doing.
Over the next couple hours, I come to find out the details behind them realizing that I exist and who I am. Nate got home early from practice and overheard his parents arguing about whether or not they should tell them about me. Before doing anything extreme, he called Sara and they googled our dad. It took them less than an hour to figure out he had been married before and had an older child with his first wife.
It’s too soon to go into detail about my relationship with our father, so I leave everything I tell them vague. I don’t care about my father’s feelings, but I do care about theirs. Just because I’ll never have a healthy relationship with him doesn’t mean I want the same for them.
Tyler books one of the empty rooms on our floor and arranges a flight home for them tomorrow afternoon. He also extends an invitation to the concert tonight to them, whether they want to hang out with me or sit in the VIP section. Warmth spreads through me when they opt to be with me.
“We didn’t come here for special treatment from the band,” Sara says when Tyler leaves for sound check. “We really did just want to meet you.”
“I’m glad you came. I’ve wanted to meet you guys for a long time.”
“How long have you known about us?” Nate asks.
“For quite a while. I just never had a way to get connected with you.”
“Because Dad barred you from us.”
I nod. “But you’re here now, and we can finally get to know each other like siblings should.”
