Page 21 of Euphoria
Chapter 8
Phoenix
“So you cuffher and tell her to get out of it to fix her bed frame but here you are, making me do manual labor while we put her bed frame together,” Orion complains.
I snicker. “Manual labor?” I shake my head. “You lift dead bodies for a living.”
Orion chuckles. “Shut up but I need you to know what you guys are doing to her isn’t okay bro.”
“I can’t speak for Bowie, for him, it hurts differently. You know he’s never had it good. His parents weren’t all that good to him. I can’t tell him to get over it.”
“I know. I’ll talk to Bowie too, but I’m talking to you right now. I told you before that talking is what’s normal to those who aren’t like you or those who don’t understand you.”
I stop what I’m doing and tilt my head. “She doesn’t understand me. How so? She knows me.”
Orion shakes his head. “No, she knows the 18-year-old Phoenix, the one who was obsessed with the ground that she walked on, not the 32-year-old who has evolved and is the personification of the mythical bird. She doesn’t understand what you understand. Remember, her process and yours are different.”
I stay quiet for a beat and continue working on the bed frame. We finish that off, adding the box spring and mattress. When we’re done, Orion stops me from walking out. “Hey, talk to me, what are you thinking?”
“Not really thinking but more of wondering,” I admit.
“What’s that?” He asks as he makes her bed with sheets he found in a box marked sheets.
Are you saying she doesn’t love me?” I ask. “I don’t understand.”
Orion stares at me for a beat. “I’m not saying that, Phoenix,” he sighs. “What I’m saying is, maybe you need to realize she doesn’t know you anymore to love you.”
I vehemently shake my head. “That’s bullshit. A love like ours, you don’t just forget or fall out of. She loves me.”
Orion sets the pillows as the last piece and glares at me. He stands to his full height and crosses his arms over his chest. “What if she doesn’t, Phoenix? What are you going to do about that?”
“I’ll make her love me.”
“What if she doesn’t end up loving you, Nix? Then what?” He cocks one of his bushy arched brows.
I stare into my brother’s eyes so he can see that I’m serious. “Then I’ll kill her. There’s no other way but loving me, Orion. She loves me.”
* * *
Once we getout of Bambi’s penthouse, Orion side-eyes me in the elevator as I press the button for mine. “Say it before I get off the elevator.”
“You think she’d choose between you and Bow?” I know he isn’t being malicious. He’s just genuinely asking.
I shake my head. “No. if she loves me or if I’m going to make her fall in love with me again, it has to be with the both of us. There’s no way out of it. We’re a puzzle that only fits with the right pieces.”
Orion nods. “Alright, I get it, but you need to be the one to get Bowie on board. Work as a team, make the 30-year-old Bambi see what you both are capable of now. Not just the shitty threats but also the fact that you both have never stopped loving her. You’re both just hurt, and it sucks to be fucking hurt.”
I say nothing so I can process what he’s saying. I pull my phone out and text Bowie. “Anything else, Dr. Phil?”
Orion snickers. “I’ve got nothing to add to what I said earlier. If anyone can make someone fall in love with them, it’s you,” he acknowledges.
I stare at him. I know what he means and it’s nothing mean, nor is it a jab. He’s talking about his mother. After I was kicked out by mine at the tender age of six, I made my way to the Moralis estate in Athens. When Orion’s mom saw me at the gate, she didn’t turn me away, instead she took me in as if I were her own child. That’s why her death will never be taken for granted. The way she died trying to protect both of us, her boys, she called us.
“I would’ve died for her, Ry, you know that, right?” I tell him.
He gives me a pained smile. “Yeah and she would’ve died for you, too.”
“Nah, she died for the both of us.”
