Lavender

Pinky Promise

I began. "My family is full of bad guys. So is the government. They look after adopted kids for a while, but it's insanely easy to dodge the system. Clean up right before they come, pretend to be perfect. Tell the social worker that my mom is out of state for a business meeting. It works because she did travel for business, even when she was with us.

Basically, my mom left after adopting me. Like, a year after. I was around seven years old when I was adopted, and I don't remember anything before that. I have five older brothers, one of which was actually nice. But he's addicted to painkillers, so I never saw him much. The rest are just the average alcoholic drug addicts. Everyone, including my dad, blamed me for mom leaving. Long story short, I hate them all except for Leo.

Dad was a mean drunk. So was the oldest, Percy. And they didn't like me. So after getting beat enough times, I ran. Landed here."

Luther scooted closer to me and I rested my head on his shoulder. Luther hesitantly spoke. "Marissa's win conditions are as follows: if I go back, if I become reliant on anybody, if I think about her for too long, if I go into survival mode, if people look at me like I'm a sad little puppy, or if I accept that she changed my life. And the bandages and the therepy and the longing sad looks just feel like losing."

Tears rolled down his cheeks. Tears rolled down mine. I left his shoulder and looked at him. "Therepy is not losing. Losing would be not being able to walk by yourself again. Losing would be never being happy again. You can't ignore this. That's a trauma response. That means she wins."

He thought about it for a little while. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I'll do it."

He held out his pinky finger. "We don't let them win."

I linked my pinky with his. "We don't let them win."

He kissed my forehead. I kissed his lips. I texted Adam that they could come back. Max and Adam returned a few minutes later. "Okay," I declared, "Luther is hurt. But he is not a sad little baby. We do not need to walk on eggshells around him, and we should support him in any way he asks. Got it?"

"Got it." Adam and Max responded.

Luther smiled. God, I love his smile.

That night, he went back to the nurses office and I slept in between Adam and Max. Adam put a hand of my upper thigh, and Max put a hand up my shirt. I think Eric might have been right. They didn't stop touching me throughout the night. When we woke up, Adam's arm was around my waist and Max's hand was on my thigh this time. He rubbed slightly, which I had to try to ignore for the sake of not getting hard. "Okay, okay. Let's get up. We gotta get Luther breakfast."

They groaned but complied. We heard howling from downstairs, and we joined in. Our heads tilted back, we howled like wolves. I saw flashes of colors and a man's face. A man who does not belong in the mansion, but I did recognize him. My body froze.

"Someone new is here!" Max got dressed quickly and happily.

My brain started entering a fog, but I forced myself out of it. I got on clothes and Adam watched me closely. "You okay?"

"The new guy."

"What about him?"

"It's my brother."