Page 67 of Julien (Confessions 2)

They wouldn’t have to see you…

Wouldn’t have to acknowledge that you exist.

Julien brought his hand down to his mouth and covered it as he ran to the sink, nausea twisting at his gut, the pain inside him now wanting to expel itself from his body the fastest route possible. But with the way he’d been feeling lately, Julien had thought it best not to eat before he got on the plane, so there was nothing in there to get rid of.

Well, it was time to rectify that, wasn’t it?

His parents might’ve cleaned out the fridge, but he knew one place they would’ve left as is, a place they never stepped inside of anymore, and on wobbly legs Julien managed to leave what was once his favorite room and go in search of the one he hated the most, the room that had the only cure to this kind of pain—a lot of fucking alcohol.

“UMM, PRIEST?” ROBBIE said, as he came around the back of the car, and when Priest looked over at him, he noticed Robbie’s eyes fixated on the looming home in front of them.

“Yes?”

“I, ah… I don’t know how to act in a house like that.”

Priest popped the trunk and reached for Robbie’s bag, and once he’d handed it to him, he lifted his and Julien’s out and shut it. “Neither do the people who live in it, so you’ll be in good company.”

“I’m serious,” Robbie said, as he aimed his eyes back to the doors Julien had just disappeared inside of. “I know this might come as a shock to you, considering how exceptionally put together I am, but I come from very humble beginnings.”

Priest hadn’t thought it was possible for him to feel anything other than stressed about what they were about to do. But he found himself grinning at the earnest expression on Robbie’s face. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Robbie said, and then smacked Priest on the arm. “Stop laughing at me.”

Priest stepped forward until he had Robbie backed up against the SUV. “I’m not laughing at you.”

“You were so. I saw your mouth actually curve.”

“Watching my mouth, were you?”

“Maybe?”

Priest leaned in and said by Robbie’s ear, “You have nothing to worry about in there. But if you keep looking at my mouth, you might have something to worry about out here.”

As Priest straightened, Robbie reached down and pressed the heel of his hand over the zipper of his tight jeans. “That was mean.”

“No, that was a way to stop you from having a meltdown.”

Robbie’s hand halted in place, and one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows rose. “I don’t have meltdowns.”

“Yes, you do,” Priest said as he picked up the bags. “Spectacular ones. As for how to behave in there? Just be yourself. Trust me, I’ve known Julien’s parents for years, and not once have they ever shown that they are aware of what good manners are. In fact, most of the time, you’ll barely know they’re there.”

Robbie shrugged his bag up his shoulder and frowned. “What do you mean? It’s their house.”

“Yes, it is,” Priest said as they started across the drive to the doors. “That’s the only reason I show them any respect, especially with how they treat Julien. But what I mean is they’re virtual ghosts. They hardly talk. At least not to Julien, and certainly not to me, and they won’t talk to you either. He insists on coming back each year to check in with them. But the main reason he comes back here is to punish himself.”

“Why would he do that?” Robbie said, his feet coming to a halt halfway across the drive.

“Because he feels he deserves it.” Priest looked up to the open door ahead of them. “It’s his story to tell, and it’s not an easy one. But something you should know? Julien loved his sister and parents very much. Their family was as perfect as one could be until the night she died. And that night, Julien lost all of them. It took him a long time to decide that his life was worth living again after that. A long time and some really bad decisions.”

“Like stealing a car?” Robbie whispered, and when Priest looked over at him, he noticed Robbie’s eyes were a little glassy.

“Like stealing a car…”

Robbie gnawed on his lower lip. “I can’t imagine him like that.”

“I know. And seeing him like this is going to be hard too. But this is part of him. A really big part of him.”

Robbie nodded, and Priest gestured to the door with a tilt of his head.

“You ready?”

“Yes. Let’s go and find him,” Robbie said, and Priest led the two of them inside to go and find their man.

JULIEN CRACKED THE seal on the lid of the Grey Goose he’d just taken from his dad’s bar and went about unscrewing it as he stared over at the locked door of the game room.

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