Page 111 of Safety Net
"I see."
Sam chuckled into his cup and took a few sips before asking, "Do me a favor?"
"Sure, I'm in your debt, aren't I?"
He smiled, remembering. "Don't let those two get too cerebral while I'm gone."
"Huh?" I frowned, confused.
"Henrik and Eden," he said. "You know how they get; all lost in the weeds. On the hunt for deeper meaning and poetic purpose."
"It's kind of endearing," I said, recalling high school and Henrik and Eden letters.
"It's kind of concerning," Sam said. "Do your own thing. But whenever you can…I don't know, get them out of their heads. They're bound to put Finn there, too. And all that will be left is you and Naomi trying to nudge them outside to touch grass and experience life as it is and not imagined."
"Unromanticized the romantics." I nodded. "Got you…question though."
"Uh oh."
"What happens if I, too, fall into romanticism? Theoretically?"
Sam frowned. "Resist, Lincoln. You must resist."
My gaze strayed to Celeste. I didn't mean it to, it just happened. And so did the confession that fell from my lips. "It's just, I think I get them more now. The letters and emails. All the writing is because there's so much to say and not enough time to say it. And putting it all down somehow immortalizes it. They have years of shared ideas forever preserved and accessible. Who wouldn't want that? I want that with Celeste. I want everything with her."
Sam stared at me blankly. I raised a brow, waiting for the disapproving response. Instead, I got a half-hearted sigh and an amused smile.
"I think I'm just too…physical for all this," he decided. "I don't get you guys and your need to talk about your feelings constantly."
"I was next door to you for a year," I said. "I know all about your physicality and talk second mentality."
He laughed. "Shut up."
"How are you two?" I asked, nudging my chin toward Aderyn. "How's the adjustment to moving been?"
Sam looked at his girlfriend, who was still trying to teach Celeste (and now, Henrik and Naomi) how to make Jacob's Ladder. "It's different from what I imagined. Leagues better and brighter. Hard. Very hard but…good. I get to be Sam with her. Every side of me fits with her."
"See, you're not too bad at this talking about feelings thing," I teased.
He shook his head, and I added, "I promise I'll get them out of their heads. It is my sworn duty, being the only trusted form of entertainment and all."
"I appreciate it." He held his cup up toward me in salute. "It's nice to know they're in good hands."
Right on cue, Eden appeared in the doorway, taking stock of the room before joining us in the kitchen.
"How's it going, Lincoln?" Her smile called attention to the piercing in her dimples. Eden's free-form locs had gotten longer and thicker since I'd last seen her. And her wardrobe had gotten baggier. The oversized black T-shirt she wore hung low enough to hit her knees, which was saying a lot considering she was my height.
I crushed her into a hug, surprised at how nostalgic the sound of her husky voice was. At one point, I'd considered her my older sister, too. I'd begged her for car rides, she tutored me in science, and we'd shared copious amounts of vacations in which we'd take turns getting Sam to face his fear of the water, animals, and anything else that was new.
"I missed you," she said, with honesty in every syllable as she took a moment to look at me and then tugged on my hair. "Why did you cut it? It was beautiful."
"Got too annoying to deal with." I laughed. "Wash days were heinous."
"Tell me about it," she lamented.
"Are you guys ready?" Naomi asked. "Finn's got the HDMI working!"
"Ready?" Eden asked.
