Bloodcurse

Love

(This chapter is written from Grayson's perspective. Enjoy!)

Oh, for fuck's sake.

"You couldn't have just kept it a secret from him for one blessed day?"

"That was my fault," Seth says sheepishly, stepping up to Adam's side. "I knocked because I wanted to borrow your phone."

"Why would you need to borrow my phone?"

"Uh... no reason."

What the hell is it with these brothers and keeping secrets? I swear, I'm going to die of old age before I ever get a straight answer out of either of them.

'Sorry,' Adam mouths, looking like he just stepped on a rusty nail.

Sorry? Yeah. He better be. Waking up alone made me remember just how elusive he is. He's always done this: he gives you his attention only to pull it out from underneath you like a rug before you know what's happening. Why the fuck do I love this guy again?

"I'll get you some coffee," he mumbles as he pushes past me... and I remember why.

Because he knows me.

He knows me better than anyone else ever cared to. Lord knows why he ever gave a shit about me, but he did - and it seems like he still does. At least enough to tell me the bare minimum of what happened. I have to let out a long breath to manage my anger at his lies, the abandonment... the fact that I can't bring myself to hate him, no matter how many times I've tried. I've come close at one point, but the second I saw him again all of my efforts were wasted. It's maddening. He only needs to open his mouth, and I can't do anything but forgive him.

Seth is already looking at me like he's never going to let this go. "What are you looking at?"

The kid has the audacity to grin. "You."

Ugh. "Well, stop. It's annoying."

He doesn't. "So, I've been thinking..."

"That's shocking."

Seth clicks his tongue. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

He did. "Just tell me."

"Alright, well... I need to stay with my Dad for a while."

It's hard to miss that he says the word 'Dad' as if it's his first time. "I'm sure not many orphans get to say that."

"Yeah," he sighs deeply. "Adam only told me, like... yesterday."

Sometimes I forget just how much this kid has had to suffer already. I act like I went through a lot with his brother, now try being dependent on that motherfucker. And his 'Dad'? These two grown-ass men couldn't find the common sense between them not to leave an eight-year-old to fend for himself. Yet somehow, Seth is being a lot more courteous about it than I am.

"Okay," I say, raising a brow at him. "And what does any of this have to do with me?"

"This is gonna sound a bit crazy..."