Page 53 of Fracture

“So-rry,” she laughs in a sing-song voice. “So, you free to come for breakfast?”

“I, uh, no, we sort of had a, uh…” I realize Lilly and the rest of the family still don’t know anything about Levi and Dylan staying here, and I have no desire to have that conversation with her right now. “A friend had a family emergency, so I’m-”

“Oh that’s sad.” Lilly sounds less than interested. “Your mom really missed you! She’s so excited to see you!”

“Yeah, I bet.” I shift on my feet, trying to pull the t-shirt down to cover more of my thighs, my cheeks burning. “It’s just-”

“The mimosas will be cold! We’re over at the Riverwood Cafe, you know, the one by the river?” She laughs lightly, and I hear others joining in around her. “Hurry, sweetie! OK, love you, bye!” The line goes dead and I decide to throw my phone off the next bridge.

“Everything alright?” Levi asks, and I can’t even look at him.

“I - my mom’s in town, and she really wants to see me.”

“Been a while since you saw her, huh?” Levi crosses his arms over his chest.

“She came to visit about four years ago, when she was freshly divorced from husband number 6.”

Levi scoffs out a laugh, shaking his head as he retrieves two cups from the glass-fronted cupboard beside him. “Living with her must have been a trip.”

My stomach twists, and that bruised feeling returns as I meet Levi’s eyes with a level gaze. “I haven’t lived with my mother since I was little.”

Levi frowns, his head giving a brief shake. “But where did you live when we… After we…”

“With your mother.” The past comes crashing down on me, all the things they still don’t know, all the things that will keep us apart and they will never understand. I turn away from Levi’s confusion, and shrug. “There’s a lot you still don’t know, and I can’t tell you right now. But I think you and Dylan both know by now, that when you pulled that trigger, neither of you were prepared for what that would mean for me.”

Levi rushes at me, grabbing my arms with his hands, his wide eyes searching my face. “What do you mean? What happened to you?”

I shrug out his grasp, and take a large step back. “Not now.”

“Then when?”

“I don’t know, maybe never.” I take a few more steps back, and bite my lip. I want to tell him. But it’s his mother. “Some things you don’t need to know, Levi. And I can’t hurt anyone else.” I rush up the stairs before he can ask me anything else, before the truth can tumble out of me and spill across the space between us with all the blood and tears those years carried with them.

Up in my bedroom, I have a quick shower, putting on a scant face of makeup and pulling on a sundress. I look for my hairbrush, knocking my book off the night stand as I pull open the drawer. My book flips open, and a black card lands at my feet.

Mallory’s card.

I stare at it for a minute, before shoving it back into the book.

There’s no point. Who would believe me? The words make bile rise in my throat, as my father’s face swims before me.No one will believe you, sweetness. Who are you? Nobody. Nothing.

I grab my purse and hurry out of the house, pasting the smile on my face as I go to meet my mother for the first time in years.

CHAPTER 12

DYLAN

Stella’s gonewhen I wake up, and the pain at her absence is visceral. I roll over and clutch the pillow she slept on to my face, drinking in the scent of vanilla that lingers. Her clothes are still draped over the chair in the corner. It could all be so normal, so different, if I wasn’t fucked up beyond repair.

She’s too good for me.

There’s a knock at the door, and before I can respond, Levi’s peering around the edge of the door, holding up a blue cup.

“Hey, pretty boy. Brought you a coffee.” He smiles warmly, coming to sit on the bed beside me and hand me the cup.

“Thanks.” I take a sip, and it soothes my throat that’s sore from crying the night before. “Where’s Stella?”

“Her mom’s back in town, she went for brunch with the family.”

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