𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄

Katherine watched Patrick haul his suitcase out of his room. Her legs are lazily dangling over the side of the sofa. Russell sits beside her with a beer in his hand, and the two pillows between them prop Katherine's head up.

"Need a hand?" Russell asks. 

"Nah, I got it." Patrick looks over his belongings and sighs. "Toothbrush, deodorant...seven pairs of boxers, seven pairs of socks...layers." He points between his suitcase and duffle as he ticks off his mental list. "All right. See you kids in a month. Don't burn the house down."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Katherine hums. Pat levels a gaze at her, and she flashes him a grin before pushing off of the sofa. She corrals Jake outside, gets him loaded into Pat's truck, and they're off. 

"They're starting where, again?"

"The Tetons," Russell replies, adjusting his hat as they watch Pat's truck roll down the black top. "Making their way east." He turns to look at her. "Would you ever go backpacking?"

Katherine shrugs. "Kind of already do. In the hiking sense?" He shrugs. "I dunno, maybe. Charlie wants to go to all of the big national parks." She swallows and looks down at her feet. "Wanted," she corrects in a soft voice. She doesn't know why she was compelled to add on to her sentence anyway.

Before she can get prickly, Russell speaks. "I do that too, still." Katherine looks up and meets his gaze. Eyes squinted, upper lip a little wrinkled. "If I'm ever talking about Heather, it's always in the present-tense."

Katherine's big blue eyes sweep over his face. Hers is always so hard to read, especially with how drunk her eyes always are. She's surprisingly sober so far today...and Russell knows she didn't sleep last night. 

"I didn't know," she finally murmurs.

Russell manages a fleeting smile. "You're always too drunk to know what I do and don't say anyway." He finishes his beer and heads inside. Then he stops and turns to look at her. She's still standing in that spot. "That...that sounded mean. I'm sorry."

"It's the truth." She brushes past him, and Russell knows he's lost her. He sighs, follows her inside, and closes the door.

It's already quiet in the house. That is, until Russell's phone rings from the table.

Katherine heads into Russell's room and closes the door behind her. Russell answers his phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

Paula.

Guilt is cold in his stomach. He doesn't know why. Yes, you do. You haven't called her since Katherine showed up.

"Hey!" He makes his voice light and smiles. "I was just thinking about you." Liar, liar, pants on fire.

"Oh?" Paula chuckles. "I was just thinking about you."

"What a coincidence." Russell moves to the refrigerator. "What are you up to?"

"Wondering what you're up to."

"Oh, you know me...lazy bones on Sundays." He grabs a beer and cracks it open. "Actually, Katherine and I literally just sent Pat off on his backpacking trip."

There's a brief silence. "Oh," she hums. "So it's just you two, then?"

"Yeah. The Rockies just started playing, but I think I'm gonna get into the pool here in a minute. You wanna come over?"

He hoped he didn't sound too nonchalant. 

"Yeah. I think I will."

"Cool. Bring some booze, we've only got Coors and, uh..." He frowns at the bottle. "Katherine drinks whiskey."