Page 85 of Falling Together

Nolan looked between Sydney and Erin and then back at April. “Will you give her back?”

April nodded, and with the way she was smiling, Erin could tell she was holding back a laugh. “I will give her back. I promise.”

“Okay!” Nolan turned to face Sydney again. “Get me out, please.”

Once Sydney got him out and they were almost inside the house, April gave Erin what could only be described as her sister-look. It was the one she gave Erin every time she was about to force information out of her. “So, what’s up? It’s not that I don’t love having you here, but you hate last minute plans.”

Erin pointed toward the sidewalk that looped around April’s neighborhood. “Wanna go for a walk? This might take a bit.”

“Of course.” April put her arm around Erin’s shoulder and began walking. “So, what’s going on with Blair?”

Erin’s body stiffened just at the mention of Blair. “How do you know this is about her?”

“Because I haven’t seen you look this rattled since Bianca left. Honestly, you might look worse this time.”

“Well, gee, thanks,” Erin said sarcastically.

April rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. I can tell something is wrong, and you’re normally pretty good at hiding it, which means something isreallywrong.”

“I think I might’ve really messed things up.”

April waved her hand in a go-on motion. “You’re gonna have to give me more than that if I’m going to tell you what an idiot you are.”

“She asked me to be her girlfriend.”

“Okay… You do know that is supposed to be a good thing, right?”

“I know.” Erin threw her hands up in the air. “So, why do I feel like I’m going to throw up at the thought of it? I want it so bad, but at the same time, I don’t know how to stop being scared.”

“Can I give you the hard truth?”

“I’m sure you would even if I said no.”

April laughed. “This is true. That’s what big sisters are for.” She stopped walking and turned to face Erin. “There are always going to be things that scare you in life, but sometimes the scariest things are the most worthwhile. Tell me this, do you worry about Nolan?”

“Every second of every minute of every hour of every day.”

“If you had the chance to give him up so you didn’t have to worry anymore, would you?”

Why would she even ask that? Erin wasn’t Bianca. Not that Bianca seemed to worry about him even before she gave him up. “Of course not.”

A shit-eating grin took over April’s face. “Exactly, because some people are worth being scared for.”

Point made. Erin had never actually thought of it that way. She was too stuck in her own fear to see everything she was missing out on. Unfortunately, that still didn’t help her get rid of the sick feeling in her gut. “Can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything.”

"How did you get past dad leaving?" Erin didn’t know how her sister would react to her question, since their dad had always been a taboo subject that no one really spoke about.

To her surprise, her sister laughed. "Aside from years of therapy? Meeting a good man like Wyatt helped. I put him through the wringer when we first started dating."

“Really?” Erin never knew that.

“Oh yeah. I had a lot of trouble trusting men because of the man who claims to be our father. But thank god I did, because if not, I’d be missing out on the man who will wake the kids up early to sneak out and get donuts. The man who is not only at every single softball game of Sydney’s, but also in the backyard with her afterward helping her with things she struggled with.” April reached out and took Erin’s hand. “Even though we never really talked about it, I know, just like me, you always dreamed of having the family you felt like we missed out on. And you really thought Bianca was the one you were going to make that family with, and then she let you down even worse than Dad did. I don’t blame you for being skeptical. That’s a lot to go through. But I also know you deserve to be happy, and I’ve never seen you happier than you’ve been these past few months.”

That all made sense. There was just one burning question in Erin’s brain that she couldn’t let go of, no matter how hard she tried. “Why do you think Bianca left me?”

“Aside from the fact that she’s a bitch?” April asked with a laugh. “I really don’t know. What bullshit excuse did she give you?”

---