A. Jackson - When We Met

But not once in the last two years had I tried to forget him . Not once until this past Saturday . . . and I hated that I’d spit on his memory that way. Two years without him—and instead of drinking to forget about Dean and my parents like I had been doing, I drank to forget my own twin brother.

I was a mess. I was drowning. I felt so fucking lost and was tired of pretending that everything was okay. And for the first time in two years, I was trying to pull myself up without using someone else, and I knew I was failing.

But I wouldn’t go back to where I’d been. I couldn’t. No matter the amount of pain and craving to make it go away, Ian would hate me if he knew what I’d done after his death.

So until I was sure I was okay, I wasn’t leaving this attic. I couldn’t put myself near any temptation. No one was home; no one would hear my anguished cries. The pillows, blankets, and memories of Ian were all I needed right now.

My eyes cracked open sometime later. The room around me was dark except for the glow of the streetlights filtering in through the attic’s window. My bladder was full, my eyes hurt from crying for hours, and my body was sore from the tension of restraining myself from giving in to my cravings. I licked at my dry lips and reached around me for another blanket before pulling it on top of the other two already surrounding me. It was freezing up here.

Just as my eyes started shutting again, I heard a deep voice call my name. I held my breath and didn’t move as I heard muted voices talking back and forth, and then the sound of quick feet climbing. Before I knew what was happening, the door to the attic opened.

“Where’s the li—”

“Don’t turn it on,” I pled.

“Oh!” Courtney gasped. “God, you scared me! I was coming up to see if you were in here, but still.”

“I’m here.” Obviously. That was stupid, Indy.

“I have to go back to work, but that quiet guy from next door is here looking for you,” she said in a singsong voice.

My heart pounded as I thought about my embarrassing conversation with Kier yesterday. “Did he say why?”

“No,” she said, drawing out the word.

“Uh, can you tell him I’m not here?”

“I guess. If you really want me to.”

“I really want you to.”

She sighed and didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “Okay. Well, I’ll be back late. Text me if you need anything.”

“Bye,” I mumbled into the pillow.

I tried going back to sleep after she left and I heard the front door shut, but I couldn’t. I had to pee, and now that I’d been awake for more than a few minutes, my stomach was letting me know how neglected it felt. With a groan, I pushed myself awkwardly off the pillows, letting the blankets fall off me, and stumbled my way over to the door and down the stairs. After using the bathroom, I had begun walking toward the main stairs leading to the first floor when something caught my eye, and I paused.

Turning to look on my left, I noticed a light coming through my cracked-open door and raised an eyebrow. I had a bad habit of leaving my door wide-open, and I hated having lights on.

Trying to remain as quiet as possible in the old house, I tiptoed toward my room and held my breath as I reached my door, trying to listen for signs of anyone in there. When I didn’t hear any, I pushed the door open, ready to scream, or run, or turn full-on ninja.

My shoulders sagged and all the air left my chest in a depressed huff when I found nothing in my room out of place. It was super anticlimactic.

I walked out of my room and turned toward the stairs, and a scream tore through my chest as I stumbled back before tripping over myself and falling hard on my butt.

“Are you okay?”

“Why are you here?” I yelled, my breathing ragged as I stared at Kier’s worried face, his arm outstretched like he’d been about to catch me.

“I was waiting for you.” He leaned closer to help me up.

“So you wait for people by popping up out of nowhere and scaring the shit out of them?”

“Didn’t mean to scare you. I was just coming back upstairs.”

I sighed heavily and pressed a hand to my chest. “Christ, you about gave me a heart attack. Have you been in my bedroom?”

He glanced at my door and shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Do you have a habit of inviting yourself to wait for people in their rooms?”

His lips tilted up on one side in a charming, lopsided smirk. “Uh, not exactly. Your housemate told me she didn’t think you’d be upstairs much longer and to wait in your room. I’d been in there, but I realized I left my phone in my car, so I went to get it and was coming back.”

“Traitor,” I hissed.

“Excuse me?”

“She was supposed to tell you I wasn’t here.”

Kier didn’t look hurt or shocked by this. His smirk just turned into a full-on grin. Ass . “She told me that, too.”

I crossed my arms under my chest and glared at him. “What all did she tell you?”

“First, are you okay? That looked like it hurt.”

“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth.

His golden eyes danced. “All right. She came downstairs, said you’d told her to tell me you were gone even though you were hiding out upstairs in the pillow room—whatever the fuck a pillow room is—and she thought you’d been up there for a while and probably wouldn’t last in there much longer, so to wait for you in your room.”

“Lovely,” I groaned.

“What’s a pillow room?”

“It’s a room full of pillows.”

His expression went deadpan for a few seconds before he rolled his eyes and sighed. “Anyway. I wanted to check on you.”

I’d started turning away from him, but at his admission, my head snapped back to look at him. “Why?”

“Because of yesterday.”

My cheeks burned and I took a self-conscious step back. “What about it?”

“You were obviously freaking out, and I don’t think I made it easier for you. So I wanted to see how you were doing.”

“I’m fine.”

He studied my face for a few seconds. “Are you sure about that?”

I broke down most of yesterday and today. No, I’m not fine. “Positive.”

“Indy . . . ,” he mumbled, his tone conveying his disbelief.

I had humiliated myself in front of this guy yesterday, and after the days I’d been having, I didn’t need him bringing that humiliation back up. “Did you need something else? As much as I appreciate you checking up on me, I’m fine, and I’m kind of busy.”

Kier’s head jerked back and his eyebrows rose. “Look, I’m sorry if I embarrassed you yest—”

“For a guy who doesn’t talk a lot, you’ve sure seemed to do nothing but talk the last couple days. I’m sorry, but I need you to leave.”

Even as I said the words, I wanted to take them back. I didn’t want Kier to leave. I wanted him to keep talking to me. I wanted to know everything about him. I wanted this safe feeling to never go away, but I hated knowing he could see how close I was to breaking for the second time today. I hated knowing he probably thought I was some ridiculous girl. And right now . . . right now—no matter how much I wanted him here—I needed to be alone.

With a small nod, he took two steps backward before turning and walking down the stairs.

I didn’t even wait until I heard the front door shut. Ignoring the hunger pains in my stomach, I turned and bolted up the stairs and into the attic as the sadistic cravings got to be too much and a tortured sob burst from my chest.

I tripped over pillows and blankets, falling onto a mass of more of the same as hard sobs racked my body and tears streamed down my cheeks. My hands fisted, and I pressed them against the tops of my thighs as I chanted the words over and over again until sleep finally claimed me.