Page 16 of Never Stop
CHAPTER FIVE
Brooke
Afew days had passed, and I was trying not to think about the ongoing C word that seemed to consume my every thought. My colonoscopy wasn’t scheduled for another week, and my blood had been drawn for the genetic testing. However, the test could take a month or more to come back with the results because they had to send it to a special lab for testing. It was as if I was in a revolving door and it was spinning round and round with no exit in sight. I wanted answers, and I wanted answers now. I didn’t want to wait. If I had cancer, I wanted to take action and fight it, not wait for a test to come back.
Luckily I did have something—orsomeoneto keep my mind off of it. I was finally going to see my sister. I couldn’t wait to see her, hug her, wrap her in my arms and squeeze the shit out of her. But first, I needed to stop at Nicole’s parents’ house and check on her. She was still avoiding everyone, but she’d texted to let us know she was okay and staying with her parents. For so long she’d told me how much of a piece of shit Jared was. She was always giving me tough love, and she never sugar-coated anything, so I needed to do the same to her. I knew her heart was breaking, but Avery was a good guy. He was perfect for her and made her happy, and I knew if she were still pregnant, they would still be together. I also knew in my heart that if she never would have gotten pregnant, they would still be together. I had never seen her happier or more alive than I had when she was with Avery. They had something special.
And she was throwing it away.
I pulled in front of Nicole’s parents’ house after the long drive. The entire way I’d thought about how I was going to convince my sister to move to the Big Apple. Even being four and a half hours apart was too far. Before I moved to New York, she’d already had plans to move back to Boston. It was easier to move back to what you knew and where you’d grown up. That was probably why Nicole ran back to Boston, but New York was where our new lives were. Easton and Avery moved from California and made new lives for themselves, and it was finally time we all did the same.
I just needed to convince my two favorite girls.
After I’d texted Easton that I made it to Boston, I got out of my car and made my way to the front door. Knocking on Nicole’s parents’ door felt awkward. They were like the parents I’d never had. Even though I had a mother, she was never around much when we were growing up. When I met Nicole, we were fifteen, and Iknewher parents were keeping an eye on me. They never said anything, but they always invited my sister and me over for dinner, and they would come to all of our softball games. When it was my turn to have snacks after the game, Nicole’s mom wouldjust happento have a bag of oranges and bottles of water in her car. So knocking on the door felt weird, but they didn’t know I was coming.
When Nicole’s mom opened the door, and she wasn’t surprised to see me, I relaxed. “It’s about time you showed up.”
“Sorry, I had a doctor’s appointment that I couldn’t miss.” I wrapped Robin in a hug, wanting to tell her about the appointment even though I couldn’t yet. I didn’t want to tell anyone until I knew for sure. If they knew, I’d have to answer questions like how I was feeling or if I’d heard anything yet. I wasn’t ready.
“She’s on the couch.” She pointed toward the living room, and I sighed as I shook my head, already knowing Nicole was in her pajamas at three in the afternoon… orstillin her pajamas for that matter.
When I rounded the corner, my eyes locked with Nicole’s eyes, and she began to sob. My heart cracked a little bit more. I hated seeing her hurting, but I needed to be strong even if I had to fake it. Once she and Avery were back together, I would have my best friend back. Then I could tell her what was going on in my life and we could be there foreach other.
“Come talk to me.” I motioned with my head toward her bedroom.
She sat up, her dad watching her. “Make her take a shower too.”
She groaned, wiping her tears as she followed me to her room. “How is he?” Nicole closed the door behind us.
“Pissed.” I chuckled under my breath and sat on the bed.
She started to cry again. I pulled her to me on the bed and wrapped her in my arms. We didn’t speak for several minutes as I rubbed her back until her tears started to subside. “Do you blame him?” I finally asked.
“No.” She shook her head, not lifting it from my shoulder.
“I can’t even imagine what you’re going through, Nic, but you have to know that Avery would’ve helped you through it. He loves you.”
“I know,” she sniffed. “But I didn’t want him to feel like he had to.”
“Had to help you through it?”
“Yeah,” she said dryly.
“Are you insane?”
“What?” She lifted her head and turned to me.
“I’m gonna give it to you straight. For years, you told me to leave Jared. You knew my feelings for him, but yet you were still a bitch about it. Do you know why you were such a bitch?”
She stared at me, her eyes wide. “I didn’t like the guy because he wasn’t good for you.”
“Exactly. Youknewhe wasn’t, andIknow that Averyisgood for you. So I’m going to give you the same treatment. You need to pack up your shit and go home, Nic. Avery’s your home now. I know why you came here. You wanted your mom and dad to take care of you. I get it. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through, but moving back in with your parents isn’t going to solve anything.”
“I know. I just needed time.”
“I came here wanting to see how you were doing, and the first thing you asked me was about Avery. You obviously miss him and want to be with him. Why are you two hurting when you can be together and happy?”
“He probably doesn’t want me back. I broke his heart—I lost our baby.”
