*FREE WITH PAID BONUS CHAPTER*After being dumped by her boyfriend, Elodie Shepherd resigns herself to loving her older brother's best friend from afar, just like she always has, even though he only sees her as his best friend's immature kid sister.
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"You need to get out of the house. Get out of bed, do something man, this doesn't seem healthy. You want me to call Elodie and get her to get your ass up?"
"NO! I mean...no, no please don't do that. We're...not really talking right now."
Eli gave me a 'duh' kind of look over the steaming bowl of nacho cheese before dipping a lime flavored tortilla chip inside and stuffing the whole thing in his mouth, not giving a shit about the yellow liquid dripping down onto his shirt. He scooped that up with a chip, too.
"No shit, man. You both are acting like someone killed your puppy. I had to force you to talk to me after she dumped your ass, like you thought you could get rid of me or something. Nah man, I'm here to stay."
He wasn't wrong.
I'd been so in my head about what Elodie had said to me that I almost cut my best friend off from my life entirely, and he wasn't having any of it.
The very next day after he realized I'd been ignoring and avoiding him, he'd shown up with a six pack of beers and we'd talked all our issues out.
I knew I was just projecting what had happened with Elodie onto him, but it was hard not to look at him and remember that she was his little sister--all the more reason for me to stay far, far away from her.
Once and for all.
Even if it ripped me to shreds inside to even think about staying away from her.
Even if my head was telling me to screw all her boundaries and show up at her dorm and make her talk to me about where it had all come from.
Even if, and I would never admit this to anyone besides myself, I'd cried for the first time in an entire year the night she'd walked away from me.
The night I'd let her walk away from me.
The night she'd tried to explain her thoughts and her mind, and I'd let my anger and the miserable, sickening feeling that I was losing the best thing that had ever happened to me get the better of me.
I'd given her space, just like she'd asked, but part of me wondered if she was right.
Was she better off by herself, finding herself, than being stuck with someone like me?
I was still messed up myself, still floating along in life and dealing with issues of exes and emotional damage from my parents.
Was I even worth it for her to tie herself down to, when she still had so much living left to do?
"Hey. It'll be alright. She'll come around. I mean, she's been in love with you since she laid eyes on you at six years old, so..."
"What?"
"Yeah man, it was hilarious watching her moon after you for so long and you had no idea. Actually, it was kind of sad that you didn't notice her crush on you, but after a while she stopped making it so obvious. But a big bro always knows."
