Rille (Tribes, Book 2)

Chapter 9

He had used breakfast to butter her up—no pun intended. Brielle only realized that after she arrived at her and Lou's apartment door. Breakfast had probably been meant to desensitize her to any tricks he was about to play.

"Why don't you let me talk to Lou alone?" Brielle suggested.

Preston, leaning comfortably against the wall beside the door, gave a nod. "But I suggest you leave the door cracked in case something happens and I need to intervene."

"Oh, please, what's Lou gonna do to me? Murder me? He's not that brave."

"No, but he might be that stupid." Preston shrugged. "It's a safety suggestion. Take it or leave it, but I won't pay for the door if I have to break it down."

"Why would you have to—" Brielle shook her head, bringing herself out of the perpetual cycle of questions. "You know what? Never mind. Just... stay here while Lou and I talk. You can leave once I've proven that I don't need you."

That sentence should not have made Preston smile, but he did. It was annoying, how his reactions didn't match what Brielle thought they would be. He should be frowning, asking her to let him in. And yet there he stood, grinning form ear to ear and allowing Brielle to do whatever the heck she wanted.

Weirdo.

Brielle unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside. The door, released behind her, might or might not have shut all the way. Brielle left it up to chance.

"Lou?"

She shouldn't have expected Lou to be pacing and worried. After all, she'd only gone missing for thirty-six hours without a word or a text. Why would he worry about that?

He could have at least had the decency to be around when she came home.

Brielle came to a stand-still in the entryway, wondering whether to check the bedroom or the living room first. "Lou, I'm home."

A shuffling of sleep-drunk feet echoed down the hall from the direction of the bedroom. Lou followed close behind the sound, his eyes half-closed and his hair a mess.

"You finally came back?" Lou yawned, already making his way past Brielle toward the refrigerator.

He had slept? She had gone missing and Lou had managed to fall asleep without worrying? Even as bad as he had been lately, Brielle thought he cared deeper than that. They had been together for so long, after all.

"Aren't you curious where I was?" Brielle asked softly, trying not to begin another argument.

"I got a call from the hospital." Lou grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge door. "Figured you'd be back when they discharged you. Here you are."

Preston hadn't said anything about that. A deliberate move, or hadn't he known? He had left for a while at the beginning. Brielle wasn't sure if anything happened during that time.

"The hospital called you?"

Lou nodded in response.

A ball of anger-induced nausea rose up in Brielle's throat. Lou had known, and he had stayed home to sleep? When had he become so distant and detached?

"The hospital called you..." Brielle took a breath, forcing herself to remain calm. This wasn't the point of her return. "And you... said okay? Didn't do anything? Did you even consider calling to see if I was alright?"

"I mean..." Lou motioned a hand toward her. "Clearly you're fine."

"Fine?" Brielle pressed a hand to her forehead, barely managing to contain her rising rage. "Lou, I'm not fine. I almost died!"