Page 125 of Meet Me at the Metro

Kim takes a deep breath. “I just—when I walked in on you playing it the other day, it got me thinking. It’s been sitting in that dreadful music room foryearsnow—”

“Until I buy a place with enough space for it.”

“I–I know. I just thought that maybe, in the meantime, I could put it in storage for you. Keep itsafe.”

“Mum.”Connor nudges her as if he knows just how sacred that piano is to Theo and how risky of a conversation she’s treading into.

“Fuck no. Dad left that for me. It’s mine.”

Dad left that for me.

The sound of desperation behind those words brings the most heartbreaking ache to my chest.

“I know it’s yours,” Kim starts, her tone growing harsher. “I just thought—”

“Thought what?You needed something else from him for yourself. Was the house not enough? Or the life insurance?”

“You know you’ll get his inheritance when you graduate.”

“I don’t give a damn about it. I don’t care about the fucking money. He left you with so much, but I guess it wasn’t enough to satiate your needs, was it?”

Kimberley flinches. “That’s not what I’m saying, Theo. I just thought that maybe you’d like his piano to be in a safe place rather than out in the open for the whole campus body to put their hands on. That’s all I meant for this conversation to be about.”

The legs of Theo’s chair scratch against the hardwood floor as he straightens in it. I grip his thigh, desperate to break through the veil of anger falling over him.

“It hasn’t been a fucking issue in the last 10 years that it’s been there, so I’m not sure why you’re suddenly interested in it now?”

“Watch your tone, Theo,” Connor snaps protectively.

“Watch your mouth,” Theo growls.

It’s clear that the statement hastwomeanings.

I glance between the three people sitting around the dinner table.

Mother. Son. Stepson.

This entire night has so quickly turned to turmoil.

“Let’s just calm down, Theo,” Kimberley sighs, subtly rolling her eyes.

“Calm down?” he scoffs. “I’ve been as calm as I can possibly be given my current circumstances, Kim. What the hell are you wanting Dad’s piano for, huh?”

“Watch. Your. Tone.” Connor snaps again.

“It’s always going to be this, isn’t it?” Theo snarls, rising from the table. I try to grab him as he stands, but he slips his arm away from my grasp. “It’s always going to be you two and then me. And you know what? Thinking about it now, it’s been that way the second Dad died. And now you both want to try and steal away the only piece of him I’ve got left.”

“We’re not trying to steal away anythi—”

“You two are a piece of fucking work.”

“No, you are,” Connor argues, raising his voice. “You’re the one who’s pushed us away. We tried being there for you.I tried being there for you!And what did you do? You pushed me away. Shut me out.”

“I did what I needed to do to cope.”

“Yeah, and what about now, Theo?Still coping?Because you’re doing the same thing you’ve always done—pushing us away. That’s the sad part. You won’t ever change your ways. You’re still that lost and angry boy you became 10 years ago, who wants to fester in his grief and force out anyone in his life that actually cares about him.”

“Fuck you!” Theo growls, his fingernails digging into the denim covering his thighs.

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