Breathe

Chapter 13

Cian

I shuffled back into my house close to—but not at—midnight. Lucie's taste was still on my tongue, her touch remaining on my skin, each one of her words clinging to my eardrums. Sand dusted my hair and clothes, a reminder of the time we'd spent together. It had been a successful trip, I'd thought, considering she was no longer pissed at me. Was it that she really did trust me to handle this, however, or had she just given up on fighting me?

I tried not to think about it.

The chandelier was off, as was every other light in the house. With a sigh, I climbed the solemn staircase and headed down the hall, in the direction of my bedroom. Vinny and my parents were both likely asleep by now, and I didn't mind drifting off myself; the night was stretching long.

My hand was on the doorknob to my bedroom when I heard the front door click open. I froze for a second, wondering if it was an intruder. I hesitated there, watching the shadows dancing across the walls, listening to the unbroken silence that the night hours brought.

When I stopped, that was when I heard it. The jingle of a pair of keys.

My tension only released a little.

I risked a trip to the banister to investigate, and shivered with unease. It was my father who had walked in the door, hours later than normal. From my vantage point, I could see how rumpled his suit was, as if he'd thrown it on hastily.

He rarely worked late, and when he did, he told us first. My heart palpitated a little; I tried to convince myself it was nothing more than coincidence. An accident. Maybe he'd just forgotten to mention it to us.

Dad's head lifted towards the banister I clung to.

I slipped into the shadows.

Before Lucie had taken me, Whole Foods was the last place you'd find me. It had always seemed to competitive, as if you didn't belong if you were not obsessed with kale, quinoa, or the orange lemons Lucie always had to remind me were not actually orange lemons. Now, however, I came at least once a week. Not because Lucie dragged me there or anything; I had too much dignity for that.

They just had good cookies.

"It wouldn't kill you to gain some weight," Lucie had told me once, after I'd picked her up from school once, earlier this year. "You're practically a stick."

To which I'd replied, "Well, I'm one sexy stick." She hadn't denied it, either.

What I hadn't said was that I'd been more meaty once, had more muscle on my bones. After Vinny had died, in that dim time when I'd been trying to convince myself I still grasped that futile thing called normality, I stopped eating. It was like pulling teeth to get me to eat a piece of fruit back then, and I hadn't exactly gained the weight back. Not that it matters anymore, now that I have my brother back.

I stepped out of the Whole Foods with a chocolate chip cookie in my hand, still warm. The chocolate melted in my mouth as I took a bite; as I rounded the corner towards my Escalade, I made a mental note to buy Vince one of these sometime. He was devouring practically everything recently—I guess two years without an operating stomach had certainly built up his appetite.

Just as I was reaching into my pocket to search around for my keys, I thought I caught a flash of night black hair, disappearing behind my car. I slowed my approach, my throat feeling tight. It couldn't be her, could it? I hadn't seen her since...

"Eden?" I said. She was leaned against the backseat's exterior door, her arms folded across her chest, cascades of dark hair like a curtain around her shoulders. She looked the same as she had that day in the cave: intense midnight eyes, pensive frown, her arms folded across her chest as if she were a sentry. She was nothing like the Eden I'd known before, but I'd realized that a long time ago. "What are you doing here?"