While I Was Away(38)

“Apologize?” he groaned. “C'mon – he let us all believe you two were still together, and then he made out with your friend while you were dying in a bed a couple feet away.”

“They were hugging in a parking lot, the way I heard it,” she corrected him. “And I honestly wouldn't even care if they'd been humping out there. We'd broken up and I'd been unconscious for four months. The fact that he didn't sleep with her at all, didn't even put a move on her while I was away, pretty much guarantees him sainthood. So next time you see him? Apologize.”

Ocean glared at the table top for a while, then snorted.

“You believe him when he says he didn't put any moves on her?” he asked.

“Yes, Ocean, I believe him.”

Another pause.

“What a pussy. I'm glad you dumped him.”

Adele burst out laughing, and for the first time in a long time, the tears in her eyes were from happiness. It had been a stupid joke. A bad joke. But it had come from her big brother and had been said just for the sake of being silly, so it touched her heart. She snickered and snorted and wiped at her eyes.

“Jesus, Ocean, I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already making her cry!” August's voice boomed across the bar. He elbowed their big brother out of the way and wrapped a protective arm around Adele.

“What!? That's why I didn't want to tell you where we were going. You're such a bossy ...” Zoey started going off, storming over to get in Ocean's face. August let go of his sister and went in search of alcohol, ruffling her hair affectionately as he went. Adele moved over to River and stood next to him, watching the tiny, feisty girl go to town on their taciturn cop brother.

“Hey,” River said, his eyes never leaving Zoey's form.

“How are you?” Adele asked.

She always made sure to ask River that every single time she saw him, ever since he'd graduated and moved out of their family home. She felt like not enough people in his life checked in on him – not even their parents – so she'd taken it up as her job.

“Okay. Tired. Long day at work,” he sighed, then took a long pull on his beer.

“Yeah? You like it here?”

Adele tried to keep the eagerness out of her voice. August and Ocean would be going home to Pennsylvania soon – they had careers. Her parents would be moving back eventually, as well – they had a home and a mortgage and lives of their own. River was the only loose thread, as it were, and as selfish as it was, Adele was clinging to that thread.

She hoped he would stay.

“It's the same as anywhere else,” he replied with a shrug. “This job is paying really good, so I'm gonna stay until it's done. If they offer me a permanent spot on the crew, I might consider moving for good.”

For the first time since she'd woken up, Adele felt truly happy. A warmth spread out from her chest and she smiled before coiling her arms around her brother's bicep. She hugged close to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

“I would like that a lot,” she whispered, and she could feel the muscles in his jaw moving against the top of her skull. Knew he was smiling.

While they stood like that, she watched her best friend and her oldest brother argue. It was comical, Ocean was easily six-foot-two, and big. Broad shouldered, broad chested. Zoey was a slip of a girl – so tiny, if she stood behind him, she'd be gone from view.

Ocean was quiet, and taciturn, and hated any kind of sassiness or attitude. Zoey was all attitude, and twice as much sass. Yet for some reason, they harmonized when they were together. Adele smiled at the thought.

They resonate.

“I'm cramping your style,” Adele sighed as she finally pulled away from her brother.

“What? You're the whole reason I came out tonight,” he told her. Adele rolled her eyes.

“Sure I am, and that blonde at the bar hasn't been making eyes at you this whole time.”

He didn't say anything at first, but when she looked back across the room, the blonde was wiggling her fingers at him. Adele gave him a Look, and he finally cracked a smile. Then he winked at her and walked off, joining the blonde for a drink.

Adele managed to slip away after that – August had found a group of fans to adore him. Zoey and Ocean were in it for the long haul, their argument shifting onto him being a pigheaded alpha male and her being a bitchy femnazi. River had his new friend. No one needed her.

What a depressing thought.

When she got back home, she was surprised to find Charlie moving around the apartment, and he smiled at her as he carried a stack of laundry into his room. His room – she never thought of it as “their room”. She didn't ask him what he was up to, just smiled back and went to her own room. Kicked off her shoes, then laid down in bed. Left the lights off and stared up at the ceiling.

What am I supposed to do? Who am I?

She was mired deep in those thoughts when she heard her door creak open. A slice of light fell across her bed, illuminating her legs.

“You okay, babe? Adele,” Charlie hastily corrected himself. She smiled at the endearment, but didn't look at him.

“Yeah.”

She could feel him hesitate in the doorway, then he moved into the room. She was a little surprised. He'd been beyond understanding and had given her more than enough space during her recovery period. He was also gentle in the way he treated her and spoke to her, but that was it, really. They didn't spend much time together anymore. A love turned stale had broken them up, and a four month coma had ended them for good. So when he sat down on the edge of her bed, she was caught off guard