I don’t think I’ve ever been in this house. The man and I don’t exactly get along, so it’s not like I expected an invitation for tea and crumpets. But standing here, seeing his space and the touches that Tori has left behind—throw pillows on the couch, picture frames showcasing the evolution of their relationship, and a few candles on the tables—it makes my anger and confusion about how we all got here grow even stronger.
I pick up the phone to call my best friend.
“Dilynne?” Laney answers after the first ring.
“Hey. How are you?”
She blows out a shaky breath. “I’m…okay, I guess. Still processing.”
“I just wanted to check in on you.” Tucking my leg under my ass, I take a seat on Elliot’s couch. “Make sure you and Fletcher are lying low until things die down.”
“This entire day was insane.”
I blow out a breath. “I know. Is Fletcher okay?”
“He has a black eye and a bruised rib or two, but he’ll be all right.”
“All of the boys kind of went crazy, huh?” Glancing out the front window of Elliot’s living room, I watch dusk take over the sky.
“Yeah. How’s Elliot?”
My eyes drift back toward his room. “Well, he just woke up completely disoriented asking for Tori, so…” I shrug, even though she can’t see me. “You do the math.”
“He’s going to get through this, right?”
“Only time will tell. But I have a feeling if he wakes up tomorrow and sees me here, he’s going to be even more pissed.”
“Maybe Henley can switch places with you.”
“Yeah, I think it might be for the best. The last person he’s going to want to see when he sobers up is me.”
Laney grows quiet for a beat. “You know, on second thought, you might be the best person right now, Dil.”
“Did you get hit in the head at some point in all of the scuffling today?” I ask her, mildly confused by her suggestion.
“No. But come on, Dilynne. You’re no stranger to heartbreak.”
Laney’s words make that familiar pang of anger and hurt radiate in the center of my chest. “That may be true, but you and I both know the last person Elliot would want help from is me. Especially since I’m the one who tried to warn him that Tori was the Wicked Witch of the West.”
“Then don’t let him tell you no.”
I huff out a laugh. “Normally, I would fight him on anything, Laney. But this? How am I supposed to hold back from telling him I told you so? That I always knew Tori was a two-faced bitch and he should have listened to me?”
“Youdon’ttell him that, Dilynne. You just help him heal. The boys are going to show up for him in a different way than you can. Because Tori didn’t just leave him, she betrayed him. And you’re the only person I know who shares that experience.”
Laney is the only person who truly knows how devastated I was after I broke up with my ex, so I understand what she’s trying to say.
But this is me and Elliot.
We’re about as compatible as oil and water.
Elliot’s groans filter down the hall, and even though I really hate my best friend right now, I can’t deny that she has a point. Even though Elliot and I barely tolerate each other on a good day, I can admit that he doesn’t deserve what Tori did to him.
And I’ll never say this to his face, but he’s still a part of our family—our friend group, the kids that took me and my brother under their wings when we moved to Blossom Peak and got placed with our foster parents.
We look after each other. We show up when shit hits the fan.
We may fight and bicker, but at the end of the day, we lean on and support each other when we can’t stand on our own.