Our Broken Pieces

Chapter 31

Mystic~

I sat at the bar and watched my brother cook dinner. It was nice, and it hadn't been until I'd gotten home to find him napping on my couch that I realized how much I missed him. After all, he was the only family that I considered to have left, Aunt Rosie aside. When I had awoken him, we had fallen back into our natural routine as if it hadn't been months since I'd seen him. He'd told me all about work and his new girlfriend, and how she wasn't the one, but she was a great girl to hang out with. Now, while we had steered clear of anything Mom, Dad, or Destiny related, I'd known that the subject was going to come up eventually. Especially, once I took my work clothes off.

Gage had stayed true to his word and had left me a goddamn mess this morning. I had battle wounds every damn place, and I'd had to wear a long sleeve blouse, slacks, and a scarf to hide it all. I also ached like a sonofabitch, every movement uncomfortable and sore.

However, I knew that Alaric would know that something was up if I were to sleep in my work attire, so I'd had to bite the bullet. When I had walked out of the room in a simple t-shirt and sweats, his eyes had widened, and I wasn't going to lie, he looked slightly sick.

He had given me a onceover, and with evident struggle, he had ignored my appearance, then had prattled on about what he was cooking me for dinner. I had given him space and let cooking distract him as I wondered if I was going to lose my brother over this.

"Grab the plates," he instructed. "Chicken Alfredo a 'la Alaric Anderson is finished."

I chuckled, then got up from the barstool to set out the plates and utensils. "Is that a copyright?"

"I think you mean trademark," he teased. "And I'm thinking about it."

We silently set up dinner, and it wasn't until we were sitting comfortably next to each other that he finally broke. "Wanna tell me about it?"

"Gage Evans," was all I said.

Alaric angled his body, so that he could face me. "Wait? What?" he asked incredulously. "Like...like you've met someone like him, or are we talking about the Gage Evans?"

I kept my face staring down at the plate of pasta. I wasn't exactly embarrassed as I was wary. I could also admit that I was a bit scared. I didn't want to lose my brother, and asking him to accept something that was going on versus something that had ended once upon a time was tricky. He was my brother, and I knew that he took the role seriously.

"The second one," I mumbled, my mouth full of food and bad manners.

He turned back around, then started eating in silence. I knew that he was absorbing the news and trying to tamp down his initial reaction to what was best for me. I appreciated it, but it didn't suck any less knowing that he was struggling with the news.

"How?" he finally asked.

"He's best friends and business associates with my boss, Mr. Cavanaugh," I told him. "Mr. Cavanaugh assigned me to a joint venture with Gage's company, and that's how we...uh, reconnected."

"Reconnected..." he echoed, deep in thought.

"He came over last night, demanding answers, and...uh, one thing led to another," I admitted, embarrassed as hell.

It wasn't even that the sex was twisted. Talking to my brother about me having sex with a guy-at all-was embarrassing as hell. He didn't want to know that shit about me any more than I wanted to hear details about him.

He turned to face me again. "Demanding answers?"

I nodded, then finally faced him again. "He wanted to know why I left him ten years ago," I explained.

Alaric got a strange look on his face, and his eyes narrowed a bit. "Are you telling me that after ten years, he came after you for answers? He still cared, ten years later?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He was really pissed."

"What did you tell him?"

"The truth," I admitted. "I told him everything. I also pointed out how he'd given up on me after only two weeks, and that's what kicked off...uh, everything else."

Alaric let out a dark laugh. "Yeah. Regret is a motherfucker. So is hindsight."

I could feel my eyes start to water because this was where this conversation counted with my brother. "I'm not going to lie to you, Alaric. I still love him," I confessed. "I'm fairly certain that I never stopped."

His eyes searched mine, and I thanked God that all I saw was concern and not disgust. "Are you sure it's not the sex talking, Mys? I mean...I...I know you..." Alaric let out a deep, quiet, uncomfortable breath. "I know you like...uh, different things."

I shook my head, dinner forgotten. "I can see how you would think I could be blinded by what Gage does for me, but it's not that. I was lost the second that he walked into the conference room at work. Whatever bond that Gage and I had as teenagers was still there-is still there."

"I can't lie to you, Mys, and tell you this doesn't worry me," he told me honestly. "You're my sister, and I worry about you." He took my hands in his. "Even without...the sex part, your love for this guy is...is extremely intense. What if it doesn't work out again? I saw what it did to you last time, Mystic. I just don't want to see you go through something like that again."

"You don't think I've thought about that, Al?"

"Look, I support you, no matter what," he stated firmly. "I might not like it, and I might not understand it, but I do and will support you." He shrugged a shoulder. "Will I ever call him up and invite him to Thanksgiving? Probably not. Seeing bruises on you, whether consensual or not, is a hard limit for me, Mystic. But I will be happy for you if you're happy."

The tears fell because I knew that this was hard for him. His natural instinct was to defend me, and he was still struggling with understanding that I didn't need defending on this. The bite marks and bruises usually represented unhappiness, not satisfaction.

"Alaric, I don't even know what this is yet," I admitted. "He barely came over last night, but we're scheduled to talk later this week."

"Because I'm here?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He'd wanted to come over tonight, but I told him you were visiting for a couple of days, and that we had to put it off."

"What did he say to that?"

"He got mad." I winced at the admission. "He didn't like waiting so long to...clear things up."

"Sounds like he might be worried you're going to vanish again."

"I didn't vanish the last time, Alaric," I pointed out. "I was bullied."

"If you and Gage work things out, then that means there will never be any hope, will there?" he asked, the subject obvious.

"Alaric, there was never any hope of working things out with them," I replied honestly. "As long as I carry around this empty feeling, there's no way that I'd ever be able to forgive them."

"I'm not pleading their case, Mystic," he said. "But they miss you."

"I don't care, Alaric." I told him, and realized that I meant every word. "They listened to Margot's accounts of my life without even attempting to believe me or take me at my word. They sat there and listened to whatever details Margot had given them and started judging me for it. They took someone's word over mine and treated me like a leper. Screw that, Al."

He gave me a sad nod but didn't comment. He knew that it was the truth, and that there was nothing that he could say to change it. Even if I had been on good terms with my family, Gage being back in my life would have jeopardized that. The threats that they'd issued when I'd been younger were nothing compared to what they could do to his life now. However, he was no longer a teenage boy that couldn't fight back. Gage was a grown man that didn't take defeat easily.

Alaric stood up, then took me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head before saying, "I love you, kiddo." His arms tightened around me. "Just...just do me a favor and please be careful, Mys."

My arms wrapped around his waist. "Always."