Lost & Found

You Say Goodbye for Today

Lauren’s POV

    I woke up to three blurry faces. When I tried to make sense of them, all I got was young and male for all three. Slowly, the image cleared.

    “Wait, I think she’s waking up,” one said, pushing his way past the others. He got close enough that I could see it was Tristen. Behind him, the faces of Devon and the guy from earlier sharpened.

    “Morning, sleeping beauty,” Devon joked. Tristen shoved him in the arm and gave him a disapproving glare.

    “Are you feeling okay, Laur? This guy told us you took a nasty fall right outside Starbucks,” Tristen told me.

    “I feel fine, I think,” I answered, sitting up. I was knocked back by a sudden pain in my temple. I hissed and pressed my palm to it.

    “I guess I’ll go get some ice,” Devon muttered, somewhat alarmed. Tristen followed quickly, whispering something about irresponsibility and the medical capabilities of a monkey. The only ones left were me and the guy.

    “Hey, you good now?” he asked. I nodded slightly, not wanting the pain to come back. The guy nodded. “That’s good. I left but I heard a thud and saw that you passed out. I called one of your emergency contacts and your brothers came and brought you home.”

    “Then why are you here?” I groaned.

    “I wanted to make sure you were okay,” the guy explained vaguely, shrugging. He moved some magazines and sat on the coffee table across from me.

   “Well, thanks…” I realized that I never learned his name. He noticed my pause and laughed.

    “Um, Nate,” he said, holding out his hand. I tentatively shook it.

    “Lauren,” I replied, trying to keep the dull throbbing at ease.

   “Well, nice to meet you, Lauren,” he said, emphasizing my name, almost as if making sure he didn’t mess up the pronunciation. It felt strangely natural to hear my name in his voice. “Your brothers… Tristen and Devon, right? Yeah, are they twins?” I nodded. “That’s cool, that’s cool.”

    As conversation dwindled down, another silence overtook the room. It was strange. Whenever I looked at him, he looked away. Always at the ground or past me, 'admiring’ the picture frames on the fireplace, but never at me. Then, when he would look at me, I felt unable to look him in the eyes, so I had to turn away. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, there was a crash in the next room.

   “That’s why we don’t play catch in the house with icepacks, Devon!”

    A few more silent minutes later, the boys came into the living room. Tristen held a small bag of ice in a washcloth. He handed it to me and sat by my feet.

    “Sorry for the wait,” he said, pointedly glancing at his twin. Nate cleared his throat and awkwardly stood, weaving his way around the couch and Devon.

    “I should go,” he announced, pausing mid-step. Narrowly avoiding kicking Tristen, I swung my legs over and stood, completely forgetting about my head and my ice.

    “I’ll show you out.”

    When we got to the door, Nate still shuffled in place, nervous. He rubbed the back of his neck before blurting, “We should hang out sometime.”

    Taken aback, I asked, stuttering, “What? When? Where?”

    Nate’s face turned beet red as he looked down. “I don’t know. Saturday, if you’re not busy? I could pick you up?”

    Still stunned, I checked to see if the boys were watching this pathetic interaction. Of course they were. In spite of my burning embarrassment, I managed, “Yeah. Saturday works. I’ll see you then, I guess?”

    Nate smiled and nodded before striding down the driveway to a car parked on the curb. Closing the door, I turned and saw the boys behind me, Tristen smirking as he held out the forgotten icepack.

    “Forget something, Casanova?”

    I rolled my eyes and snatched the ice from him. “You two don’t even know what that means.”

    Caught off guard, Tristen remarked, “Not the point, but you hardly know the guy.”

   “So what? That’s how every relationship starts, romantic or otherwise. Besides, we’re just hanging out.”

    Devon sighed and told Tristen, “She’s right, you know. We don’t know anything about him, but it’s not like he’s a serial killer or anything.”

    I nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Besides, you two were the ones who let him in the house first. You didn’t even know his name!”

    I could see the gears turning in Tristen's head, trying to come up with a rebuttal. Instead, he ignored me and turned to Devon. “That’s what everyone says until they realize that the ‘nice guy’ turns out to be not so nice. It’s a classic charm and harm. This, though, could be a reverse Ted Bundy. Victim gets injured, killer sees a kidnap opportunity, so he comes and saves her.”

    “Relax, Tristen. If it makes you feel any better, I will call you whenever I encounter an injured guy on the streets while I’m hanging out with Nate.”

    Devon smiled but his brother huffed. “Whatever. Your funeral.”

A/N

I'm trying something different. Dunno if I like it yet or not. Anybody out there think this is good at all or no?