Page 119 of The Spider & the Storm

“Is this weird?” she finally asked quietly when my back was once again to her.

I poured a bit of oil into the pan and replied, “You being here?”

“Yeah.”

“I don't think so. Is it weird to you?”

Her nails tapped softly against the counter. “I didn't think so, but Blake thought it was, um … sudden.”

“It is,” I agreed.

“That's what I said. But Blake worries about me, so he tried to talk me out of coming.”

The oil sizzled and spat as one side of my mouth lifted in a reluctant smile. “But you came anyway.”

“I told you I wanted to tell you a story,” she said, as if that were the only reason for her return.

Tiny bubbles scattered along the bottom of the pan, bursting before they had the chance to grow, and I kept my focus on them as I said, “Well, I'm listening.”

Something told me I'd be okay to listen to her forever, if forever could ever be in the cards for me. And as she began to talk, somehow, I also began to forget all about the man across the road.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

STORMY

MASSACHUSETTS, PRESENT DAY

It blew my mind that it'd only been a month, give or take, since I had bumped into Spider outside of Village Tavern. Only a few weeks since he'd stopped that asshole from going further in doing whatever the fuck to my body and only two since he'd threatened my life in the hallway.

The passing of time felt warped, like we'd managed to cram six months into the span of a few weeks, and I wondered if it was always like that when you met the person who somehow made your entire world make sense after a lifetime of fuckups and just … getting by.

Charlie had never mentioned anything about fear or anxiety, and why would he? He hardly knew me. But as open as he'd been in certain regards over the past few days, he'd never once opened up about what kind of turmoil went on in his head. Maybe he thought it was too personal, or maybe he thought it made him seem weak. But I had told him I saw him, and I had meant that in a more multifaceted way than he even understood.

He was so clearly terrified of everything. The world and the people in it. The things he saw, the things he'd seen, and the things he didn't see at all.

Shit, I think there was a good chance he was even terrified of himself, although I couldn't understand why.

Yet, for some reason, he wasn't afraid ofme, in the same way I wasn't afraid of him. And that freaked me the fuck out and comforted me at the same time, and I could only begin to imagine the criticism I'd get from my parents for that.

But I’d deal with that another day.

What mattered right now was the stiffness of Charlie's spine as he worked on cooking us some dinner, adding rice to the vegetables in the wok. How shaken up he'd been by this douchebag who'd thought it was a good idea to trespass on a property guarded by a creepy dude who was alarmingly strong and quick with a knife.

What mattered was that I'd promised to tell him a story, and right now seemed to be as good of a time as any.

But how was I supposed to begin telling it when I wasn't sure of where it had even started?

I laughed beside myself, brushing a few strands of flyaway hair from off my forehead. Charlie didn't seem to notice as the pan sizzled and snapped with a thousand tiny bubbles, too wrapped up in his own head.

Just speak. It doesn’t matter as long as I’m speaking.

“So, I don't know what kind of kid you were,” I said, the words feeling weird and too big on my tongue as I tapped the countertop.

“The kind nobody wanted around,” he muttered quietly, as if he hadn't intended for me to hear.

Well, fuck. I hadn’t been aware that a single person could mend my heart while simultaneously breaking it. But there he was, doing just that.

“Oh. Um … well, I wasn't the greatest kid, I guess,” I said, dragging my fingers along the counter as I began walking toward the round little kitchen table. “My parents aren't assholes. I think, deep down, they always did what they thought was best for my sister and me, you know? But sometimes, I'd overhear them say shit to their friends or whoever about how, like, they had to have a second kid just to prove they could make one who wasn't destined for juvie. And looking back, I’m sure they didn’t mean anything serious by it, but I think … I think that kinda fucked with my head.”

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