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Forty One

"Have you heard anything from him?" I asked Whippet, calling him yet again.

"Nah, he must have turned his phone off. All my calls go straight to voicemail," he told me.

"Everyone was so afraid of me leaving him. Nobody thought he'd be the one to leave me," I sighed, laying onto my bed.

It had been hours since Alex's confession on the beach. Hours since I heard my brother told my boyfriend he wasn't good enough. Hours since I had heard from Michael at all.

"He didn't leave you, Charley. He wouldn't. You're everything to him," he told me softly.

"If I mean so much to him, why the radio silence?"

A tear slipped down my cheek. I was angry at my brother, upset about the situation with Michael and sore from my collarbone. I never thought my brother would be the one to drive a wedge between Michael and me.

"Please let me know if you hear anything. I just want to know he's okay," I sniffled before hanging up.

Looking around my room, it was littered with things that reminded me of him. Photographs of us were wedged along the side of my mirror next to the the note that he had scribbled " I love you" on. Some of his clothes were folded on the corner of my dresser. The necklace he had given me a week prior for a Valentine's Day still hung around my neck. His smell still lingered in my bed. He was everywhere in my room.

"Please let me know you're okay. I'm really worried," I texted Mick again.

Turning my ringer on in case he called me, I turned my bedroom light off and tried to get some sleep.

***

It had been three long days of radio silence since Michael left. All of my calls and texts went unanswered. The only reason I knew he was alright was thanks to Whippet. Michael had sent him one short text about work, letting him know he would be back for his next shift. He didn't answer anymore after that. Emma had gone to Jackson's for the afternoon, leaving me alone in my house. She had invited me along but the last thing I wanted was to be around a couple. Alex had tried to call me twice since he landed back home, but I ignored him. I was too upset with him still to talk with him. I didn't have anything to say to him and there wasn't anything he could say to me to make the situation better. Nothing he could say to explain himself. I took a hot shower, standing in the stream until the water had run cold.

Surely Mick wouldn't let my brother's words get to him...right?

After changing into a tank top and shorts, I settled down on the couch with a pint of ice cream and trashy tv. My mind was reeling still, replaying the words my brother told me on the beach.

"He's not right for you."

Who was Alex to know who was and wasn't right for me?

A knock on my front door brought me out of my thoughts. It was late, well into the night. I had no idea who could be knocking at my door. Suspicious, I cracked the door open and peered outside.

"Michael!"