End of Story(55)

“Maybe another time,” said Lars.

“Right.” Aaron clutched the key fob in a white-knuckled grip. “I’ll go wait in the car.”

“Did he not know about you and Susie?” asked Deborah, thanks to Aaron’s dramatic exit.

“He knew.” Lars carefully stretched his neck. “It’s complicated, Mom.”

Deborah turned her questioning gaze to me.

I’d never been good at dealing with other people’s parents. Mine tended to have as little to do with me as possible so the relationship dynamics remained an unknown quantity for me. Given how precarious this situation was, I should have kept my mouth shut. But wanting people to like you is a bitch. “Our breakup was...it was messy. A lot of hurt feelings. I would just be more comfortable if...”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” said Lars.

“Are you saying he isn’t welcome here?” Deborah sighed as if she bore the world’s burdens. “But Lars is staying here, apparently. Aaron and Lars have been friends for so long. Why, they’re just like brothers.”

“We just want you to be happy, son,” said Henning.

Lars’s mother blinked wide eyes. “Well, of course we do, but—”

“Time for us to go,” Henning announced.

But Deborah wasn’t finished. “I really think we need to call him back in here and talk this out. Just sit down together and—”

“It was nice to meet you, Susie.” Henning ushered his wife out the door with a hand to the small of her back. She was not happy. That much was certain.

I tried to smile. But the whole situation was beyond awkward. “Nice to meet you both.”

Then they were gone.

“So,” I said, taking a seat. “That happened.”

“Sorry I told them about us.”

“No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not,” he agreed. “They were bound to find out sooner or later.”

“You just didn’t want to go home and have your mother fuss over you so you used me as a shield.”

He gazed at me for a moment. “You’re right. But, Susie, we are in a relationship. Have you noticed how we both keep choosing each other?”

“It’s inevitable.”

“That’s right. And I’m going to ignore your sarcastic tone for now because I feel like shit.”

“You still owe me and your mother now hates me. She thinks I’m breaking up you and your bestie.” I slumped back in the chair. “How do you handle having your parents all up in your business? Mine barely remember my birthday. But yours...”

“I’ll deal with my mother.”

“Does she expect to be told and to share her opinion about everything in your life?”

He lifted one shoulder in a small shrug and grimaced. “In all honesty, when she gets like that, I just tune her out. I love my mom. But I make my own choices.”

“Even Aunt Susan gave me space. Maybe that’s why we get divorced,” I said. “Because your mother and I never get along.”

“Not really something I can see myself getting a divorce over. But I’ve been thinking. Maybe we should just forget about the certificate.”

“Forget about it?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ve given up on being able to explain it.”

He winced. “Yeah.”

“We wouldn’t have gotten to know one another if it wasn’t for that thing. It’s like an Ouroboros.” I made a circle with my fingers. “A snake biting its own tail. Fate in an infinite loop. I don’t think it’s something we can just ignore.”

“Thought you said fate was changeable.”

“But we already found the certificate and ever so reluctantly grew feelings for one another. Those events are now established,” I said. “Though by that thinking there’s no avoiding us getting married and divorced. Because both of those events are also established by the certificate’s existence. Which is sad. And a little confusing.”

He rested his head against the back of the seat. “You just admitted you have feelings for me.”

“You already knew that.”

“No. I suspected. You were fine with friendship and sex. But when you didn’t want to date, it made me wonder.”

I sighed. “Feelings, huh?”

He just grunted.

“What we really need is a physicist to explain holes in time. How the certificate could have come to be in the wall.” I thought it over. “Do you think I should get a priest to bless the house? Or a mystic, maybe?”

“I love how science, religion, and magic all kind of happily coexist for you.”

“Got to keep an open mind. Though I’ve never really given any of them that much thought. I was always more of a creative type than a deep thinker.”

“And what am I?” he asked.

“You build and fix and plan. You’re smart and good with your hands. Very good.” I smiled back at him. “What can I do to help with the pain, Lars?”

He stared solemnly at my chest region. “Can’t think of any sex position that wouldn’t hurt, unfortunately.”

“I love that your thoughts went straight to my crotch. But I was thinking more like running you a bath or finding you a heat pack or something along those lines.”