Page 51 of Agony of Our Regret

“I’ll take one, too, then. My dad told me about what’s going on. I wanted to come check on you guys.” Sky marched past him into the kitchen like he’d been there before. He sat the bags on the counter and looked around. “Wow, nice place.”

“We like it.” Gavin eyed him up and down. “What did you bring?”

“Well, I was going to get Ave the General Tso’s she likes, but then I remembered it was pretty spicy. Mom said spicy foods can either be a craving or a trigger in pregnancy. Dad said he saw you guys eating teriyaki bowls recently, so I went that route.”

He pulled out four bowls and began pulling open drawers until he found forks.

Luca and Gavin didn’t budge at first, but when I grabbed silverware and one of the bowls, they followed. Sky’s tense shoulders relaxed.

I kicked off my shoes on the way to the couch, sat, and curled my legs under me before stabbing a carrot with my fork.

The guys sat around me. Sky took the same chair Vince had the night before. We ate in silence for a few minutes before Luca cracked. I thought he’d hold out the longest, but his patience evaporated.

“If you spoke to your dad then you know we have security and everything is fine for now, so what is this?”

Sky shrugged. “I wanted to see with my own eyes.”

Luca glared. “Vince came, so now you’re free to show up without warning and expect to be let in? What if we had plans? What if we went out after work and didn’t come home for hours?”

Sky fought back a smile, and I narrowed my eyes. “I have my ways.”

“You asked my mom.” Gavin sounded surprised. “I thought it was odd she asked what we were doing tonight without inviting us to something. She doesn’t normally check in like that.”

I fought back a smirk. “Of course you did.”

Sky shrugged. “Tessa is an ally. Always has been.”

“Whatever.” Luca let out a frustrated sigh. “At least you know better than to show up empty-handed, but seriously, what do you want?”

Sky finally turned serious. “To be forgiven. To remind you all that I always planned on being here. Yes, I took some time off, but I just graduated. I haven’t taken a break since the summer after our junior year in high school.”

“Neither have I,” Gavin shot back. “I went to school year-round just like you did.”

“I didn’t even get to go to school. I’ve been working this whole time,” Luca added.

Sky lowered his fork. “And if you have the chance to explore and relax for a little while, would you?”

Gavin stayed quiet, but Luca relented. “Yeah, I guess. But not for months.”

Sky let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t plan to stay gone for so long, but I didn’t want to leave without Noah. Ave couldn’t stay. She needed to go to Vince and be with you guys, but there was something off about him. It scared me. You felt it right? When we were in the Philippines?”

He turned to me, waiting. I had felt it. I worried about Noah the moment I saw him. He was there, I could touch him, but he wasn’t present, not like he wasbefore.

“Felt what?” Gavin asked.

“He was so distant. Even sitting in the same room talking, he was a million miles away.” Sky explained.

I nodded. “He was detached. He was there, but not really.”

“Yeah, like he’d been dissociating for so long he didn’t remember who he was.” Sky frowned. “I couldn’t leave him. I don’t think either of you would have if you’d been there.”

He stirred his food before continuing.

“It took about two weeks, if not more, for him to start coming back. Having someone around who really knew him and called him on shit helped. He has control over his visions now. I’m surprised he let the one come through at your parents' house,” Sky said, looking at Luca.

“Why do think he did?” I asked.

“He must have sensed it was about you or one of you guys. Anyway, I told him he had no reason to stay away any longer. He accomplished what he set out to do, and it was time to stop being selfish. He has an amazing ability that can help people if he’d only stop running. I reminded him he had his family, plus you guys, waiting for him. He kept insisting he had one more spot to show me. Then another. Then another. He was delaying, but I didn’t know why. I told him last week I was coming back, with or without him. If the call hadn’t come from the Society, I was returning anyway. It was perfect timing to convince him to come with me without arguments.”

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