Page 68 of As the World Falls

Shit. I forgot about the cut on my cheek. “I’m sorry,” I say again, opening my purse and digging through it for a compact mirror.

“It’s fine. I don’t care that you’re late or what happened. Just… what happened?”

“Dammit,” I grumble as I come up short in my purse and drop it back to my side before looking at him again. “It’s a long story. My brother distracted me, and then my dad showed up, and his crazy-ass wife actually slapped me, and one of her ugly fake rings cut my face open.” Huh, I guess it wasn’t that long of a story.

“Jeez, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Let’s go inside and have a nice dinner. I’m sorry I was late.”

He blinked a couple of times like he was struggling to catch up. “Uh… why don’t you just head back home? You need to take a breather and to be honest; my parents will grill you over this. I’ll tell them you’re sick or something.”

I physically feel my shoulders drop. “But it’s your birthday? I can’t miss your dinner. You were looking forward to it.”

He shrugs and smiles at me like this was no big deal. “We’ll do something another time. Maybe dinner, just us two. We can go to that bar we like with the arcade inside of it.”

I laugh. “You mean the arcade that you’re a sore loser in every time we go?”

He chuckles, his head tilting back. “Yeah, we’ll see about that next time.”

“Fine. This weekend. You and me at the arcade.”

“Looking forward to beating you for the first time.”

I smile for the first time today, and it’s like a balm over my emotional wounds. “Those are fighting words.”

He laughs again. “Alright, get out of here before my mom hunts us down. You know how she is.”

“You’re right.” I pause and meet his gaze. “Thank you for this. You’re the best.” I reach up and hug him, and he instantly pulls me in. I find comfort in the smell of the same cologne he’s worn since college.

“Go home and clean that cut out. I’ll come by and check on you later.” He releases me, and I reach up and gently pinch his nose.

“Love you, Lancelot. Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, I love you too. Now scat.” He shoves me off and heads back inside as I get back in my car, breathing a sigh of relief.

A little while later, I walk into my apartment carrying a giant pizza in both of my hands. I didn’t expect Tobias to be here anymore, but I got a bigger pizza just in case he was.

To my surprise, he’s sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating one of my pints of ice cream. He glances at me as I walk through the door, then stands, takes the pizza from my hands, and sets it on the counter.

“You’re still here,” I point out.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to leave you alone tonight after all that. I’ll crash on the couch.” He says this like it’s no big deal as he lifts the pizza box open and looks inside. “Ooo, cheese and bacon.”

Adoration fills me as I watch this new version of my brother. I grab two plates, put a slice of pizza on one for myself, and grab a drink for each of us out of my fridge.

“Do you eat on the couch?” he asks, going to sit down on it anyway.

I smile. “Yeah,” I answer, grabbing my plate and following him. It's silent momentarily when I sit down next to him, and then he starts chuckling. “What?” I ask, smiling at the sound.

“You…called her…Nosferatu,” he chokes out laughing.

I can’t help but laugh now, too. “Well, she’s kind of scary.”

He wipes a stray tear from his eye. “I was scared when I saw her on the other side of the door, and not much scares me.”

And that’s how we end our night—laughing and shit-talking.

Chapter Twenty-Two

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