Page 48 of Wreckage

The plane was quiet now, just the crackling of the fire and the faint sound of the wind whistling outside.

I was left alone with Adrian.

He hadn’t spoken much since the crash, at least to me, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. He had been reading earlier, but now he sat staring into the flames, his green eyes seemingly distant, lost in thought, his expression unreadable.

Minutes passed before he finally broke the silence.

“How are you feeling?”

I blinked, startled by the question.

Adrian didn’t usually ask things like that.

I cast him a glance before answering. “Better. It’s amazing what being clean can do.”

He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Good,” he murmured. “I’m glad.”

Silence settled again.

I shifted, smoothing my hands over the blanket in my lap before clearing my throat. “Are you going to wash up?”

Adrian nodded. “Yeah.”

I expected the conversation to end there, but then he spoke again, his voice softer this time.

“You were late the day we took off.”

I blinked. “Yeah, because the driver got stuck in traffic. I’ve apologized already for that, Adrian.”

Adrian nodded slowly, staring into the flames. “I thought you were trying to skip out.”

I frowned slightly. “No,” I murmured, shaking my head. “Your dad was good to me. I wanted to support him.”

Adrian’s gaze flicked to mine.

“But,” I added quietly, “I did think about it.”

His jaw tensed.

I let out a slow breath. “In retrospect, I wish I would have skipped.” A bitter laugh slipped from my lips before I shook my head. “But I could never do that to him. I knew this weekend meant a lot to him. But the feeling remains. I-I don’t belong here. Within your family.”

Adrian exhaled sharply, rubbing his palm over his face. “Don’t say that,” he snarled, his glare set on me. I shivered beneath the look. “Don’t ever fucking say that. You’re a part of our family, Elena. For better or worse.”

I tore my gaze away from him and looked at my hands on my lap. I knew I shouldn’t pursue the topic, but I did anyway. “I’ve never felt like I belonged in your family,” I whispered, my voice wavering. “Steve is good to me, but I’ve always felt like an outsider with you and Troy. If I could have changed one thing, it would have been my mom meeting Steve. Then you guys would have been happier.”

Adrian let out a soft noise I couldn’t decipher. I didn’t bother to look at him. I continued to speak.

“I don’t want you to think I’m looking for sympathy either because I’m not. That’s not me. I just wanted you to know in case s-something happens and I don’t make it. Or you guys need to make a choice. I’ll be OK dying. I don’t think I ever really belonged anywhere anyway.”

I hadn’t heard him move, but he was at my side immediately, his fingers beneath my jaw, forcing my attention on him.

“Don’t you ever fucking say those words again,” he whispered. Fiercely. “Do you hear me, butterfly?”

I swallowed hard at his words.

His hand slipped along my jaw, so he was holding my face. He gave it a shake.

“Fucking tell me, Elena. Tell me you didn’t mean what you just said.”

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