Page 59 of The Only Time

Is it rude to say I’ve only known him for a couple weeks, but I don’t think he handles things very gracefully today? Probably. I’m just going to keep my mouth shut. I look over at him with raised eyebrows.

He rolls his eyes but continues. “I was in love with her. At least I thought I was,” he looks down at the comforter, picking a piece of fabric off of it.

“That was right before my dad’s business hit it big, and we were struggling financially. I only wore hand -me -down clothes. I never had the new shoes or hats like the other boys in my class. But Becca and I hung out a lot. I thought there was something there. So, one day I got the nerve to ask her out. While I was asking her out, my friend came up to us and started laughing.”

His face looks down, like retelling the story still hurts. I want to tell him he can stop, but I also want to know what happened. This feels like a big moment in his childhood. Something that really left an impact.

“He threw his arm around her. He told her she can do better than a kid like me who couldn’t even afford to go to the movies with her. She smiled softly and walked away with him.”

I’m filled with anger. Anger for the man sitting in front of me, for the injustice of someone being treated that way at such a young age with no repercussions. For the twelve-year-old Eric who found out how shallow and cold the world can be.

I grab his hand and thread my fingers through his. We both look down where our fingers are laced together. It makes me feel something that I can’t describe. Like I’ve been searching for something my entire life and I’ve finally found it.

A small tear drips down my cheek. I look up at him. “I’m sorry. I wish I could go back in time and be there. I would punch your friend and tell off the girl for not only letting him get away with it, but for walking away with him.”

He smiles. “I can see you doing that, even at a young age. You definitely have this ability to move through life without anybody getting you down.”

I wish that were the case. “It may seem that way. I put on a brave face a lot, but I have my own demons. We all do.”

He rests his head back against the headboard, still looking at me. “What are your demons?” he asks softly.

I know it hasn’t been easy for him to open up to me. As much as I don’t want to say any of this out loud, I want him to know me. I trust him despite every action of his telling me that I shouldn’t.

“I’m afraid I’ll never find someone who will fight for me or love me the way my brothers have fought for their wives,” I start, hoping the tears that threaten to come can hold off. “I’m the youngest of the four, but I’ve always been the one who looks out for them. I’ve had to talk them through their hiccups in life, been around to make sure they don’t do anything stupid or help them pick up the pieces when they inevitably do.”

His fingers begin to slide along mine back and forth as I continue. “Whether it was every girl on the block or my own friends, I was always watching everyone around me do anything they could to get to my brothers. I guess I’ve always just felt—invisible.”

A single tear escapes despite me trying to blink it away. He takes his free hand and with the back of his finger, wipes it away. Then grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. His face is serious.

“You’re not invisible to me, Mia.”

But would you fight for me?

I don’t speak those words because I think I know deep down what the answer would be, and I don’t think I can handle it.

The sound of footsteps running up the stairs breaks the moment. We both jump off the bed just as Layla walks in.

Her eyebrows raise when she walks in. “There you guys are. I’ve been looking all over for you. Dinners ready.”

I walk quickly towards the door, leaving behind the yearbooks spread out on the bed. “I’m sorry. We were just looking at his yearbooks.”

“Oh, gosh. Did he show you his awkward years? He was such a dork,” she laughs as we all walk downstairs.

I look over at Eric. “No, I didn’t see any awkward years. But I’d love to see them after dinner.”

“Oh, please. Layla, you had plenty of your own awkward years. Should we pull out the old photo albums?” Eric pushes her shoulder just as we make it to the dining room.

“I’ve never seen any awkward pictures of Layla. I’ll bet that’s not possible,” Josh says as he gives her a kiss.

“Ha!” Liam laughs. “Trust me, it was possible.”

“Stop it,” Stella says. “All of my kids were exactly who they were supposed to be. No one was awkward.”

“You did dress them awfully odd when they were younger,” Dan, their father quips.

“It was the eighties. I dressed them the way every other parent dressed their children back then.”

“Aww, Ash has an old box of photos at our house. We went through them a couple months ago,” Charlotte says as she rubs her growing belly.

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