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Chapter 8

Tristan takes me to the garden behind his house. In it is a small maze. It isn't hard to walk through, but you can spend hours there.

It has high hedges with colourful flowers decorating the green leaves and grey concrete floors. It also has marble benches placed randomly, and in the middle is a grey fountain. It has clean water but the bottom is brown with a tiny bit of green algae.

"Grey's home?" Tristan asks after ten minutes of walking through the maze in silence.

"He is."

"Is he fine?"

My laugh is bitter. "I'm not sure. He unloaded so much on me today. It was...it was strange."

"How are Seb and Lilian?" He plucks a blue flower and lets it fall to the floor.

"They're..." I stop myself. "I don't think this is the first time they've heard Grey's story."

"Grey's story?" Tristan muses. "Sounds rather bleak."

I manage a small smile. "That's one word for it."

We get to the fountain and I sit at the edge. "I just wish..." I stop myself. What do I wish for? I can't say I wish for things to go back to the way they were because I don't know how they were.

"I don't know what I wish," I admit.

"You don't know what you want?"

"I know what I want. I just don't know if I should wish it."

He sits next to me on the sun-heated concrete. "Cass, I've known your brother forever. He'll be fine. This is just something he does sometimes."

"Everyone keeps saying that. Like it's a normal thing. It's not. You didn't hear the things he was saying to his parents. The things he said to me." My voice gives away and I start crying again.

Tristan wraps me in his arms and massages my back. He doesn't say anything for five minutes, he just waits for me to finish crying.

When I'm done, I wipe my tears with my hands and run them across my shirt. "I haven't showered or anything today. I'm disgusting." I wipe my nose.

Tristan smiles and kisses me for a long time. "It is physically impossible for you to be disgusting."

I chuckle and wipe my eyes one last time. "I can't keep hiding here. I have to go back home and stay there eventually."

"Says who?" He places his chin on my shoulder and whispers in my ear. "You can stay here forever. Move in with me."

I smile. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah. My room's big enough. I have a TV there. It has everything." He slowly removes his chin from my shoulder. "It would be perfect."

I push my red hair behind my neck. "I'm sure it would." I take a very big breath and get up. "I need to go home and change my clothes."

"Will you come back?" Tristan doesn't get up.

"I don't kno..." I'm interrupted by my phone. It's Seb. "Sorry, Tristan. I have to..."

He nods. "Please."

I take the call. "Hey, Seb."

"Cassandra," his voice is calm. "My sister's on a video chat. She wants to talk about what happened with Grey."

I feel oddly relieved. "That's good, Seb. I've been so worried and shaken up for the past hour."

He sighs. "The sooner we address what happened yesterday, the better."

I frown. "What?"

"The Milton's match? The tabloids?" He reminds me. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten."