Logan

137. I Was Never Mad At You

*Natalie's POV*

I raced to my house in frustration, why did Ripley have to be so insistent? So damn stubborn! I connected my phone to my car charger and listened to the constant ping noises of messages coming in... Most of them were from messenger, some tweets, and a few voicemail ringtones.

I almost felt like some teenager in trouble, only it's a case of mistaken identity. I parked away from the house and walked down the sidewalk.

Everything was still, aside from Everett flipping through the channels. His back was turned away from me, so he didn't hear me enter. Probably because he had headphones in. I walked past him up to my room and grabbed a few more clothes and shoved them into my bag. I peeked into Alex's room and saw nothing but an unmade bed.

I came downstairs and Everett still hadn't noticed me so I decided to grab a couple of muffins.

"Natalie!" I heard him gasp, a quickness of footsteps, and before I could turn to see him, his arms were squeezing me around him. I forgot how much taller he was than me, his body swallowed mine and I felt a dampness on my cheek. A moment passed and I almost relaxed into it all the way. "I'm so glad you're-" His voice wavered and he let out a huff of breath and we both toppled to the floor.

I managed to brace our fall and landed on the carpet with him, his body was still for a moment, and I looked into his eyes. Fainting always felt the worse for the way the after effects took a toll on the day, so I stood up and grabbed a glass and filled it with lemonade. I got down on my knees and I checked his pulse, he was still breathing. His cheek was still wet from the tears, and I tapped him a little. "Everett?"

I pulled him up against the island counters, "Hey Everett? Come on dude, wake up." I held his chin and apologized before I slapped him, hard, and his eyes shot open.

"Wait, what happened?" He said.

"Everett, bud, you fainted," I held up the lemonade to his lips, "Here, take a few sips." He looked into my eyes and gulped and finished it off so fast.

"What happened?" Alex collapsed beside me and started rubbing Everett's arm. "I saw him go down when I was pulling in, but the garage door wasn't working."

"He's going to be okay," I said, "Just probably stressed out, did he eat today?"

Alex shook his head, "He's been worried... I'm going to call an ambulance." Alex shook his head, pulling out his phone.

Everett grabbed Alex's hand, "Your sister is home now, Alex," he said, taking my hand in his other "I'm sorry for everything, Natalie," he choked out.

I squeezed it, "I was never mad at you, just hurt."

"Hurt is worse," Everett said, "Because it means I can't fix the hurt inside you."

Alex looked over at me and I looked back over at Everett, "Why don't we get you standing up?"

We helped him up and then the facetime sound on Alex's laptop chimed.

"That's mom and dad, I had to tell them you were missing." He said, grimacing.

I sighed, "Shit."

We stood in front of it as Alex answered.

"Hey, its a false alarm." Alex said.

"Natalie, you look absolutely gorgeous for a missing person, but you do look a little tired. Alex, you can be so dramatic." Mom huffed.

"Thanks."

"Natalie, sweetie," I flinched at the sound of him saying my name and suddenly I was 15 again. "Your mother and I have a bit of a surprise for you."

I clenched my fist. Seeing my dad, even on a camera, made me uneasy.