Page 51 of This Time Around

It feels like it only took her a few seconds to get here.

Was she sitting in the car outside?

I give her a soft smile as I shove the last few fries into my mouth.

“Hey, B.”

“Hey,” she nods. She smiles, but I don’t think it reaches her eyes. I can’t really tell because her eyes are fuzzy, and she looks a little sad.

“Shit, baby. I want your sandwich. I was just not thinkering, Isa ordered the fries.” My words are a rambling mess.

“Not sure what that means,” Isa laughs, confusion in her eyes. “He needed food, so we ordered him some fries. Is he not supposed to eat fries?”

“Not sure either,” Blake arches a brow. “Thanks for feeding him. I’m not sure he’s eaten all day.”

Ty wraps his arm around my shoulder and lifts me off the chair.

“We’ll follow you guys home and help you get him in the house. I think he’s gotten worse since we called you.” He slides his other hand in his pocket and hands his wallet to Isa. “Can you pay the tab?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you outside,” she offers him a playful smile.

“Are you two hooking up?” I whisper in his ear. Well, I thought I was whispering, but based on his reaction, it might have been a bit louder than I intended.

“What?” he hisses. “No, thanks to you. She will probably just go home after we drop you off.”

“Oh, so you want to, then?” I laugh. “It should been clear when,” a hiccup interrupts my words, “when you lie about texting me,” I slur with a wobble.

We are walking to the car. Blake parked right outside the door. Why is it taking so long to get to it?

Blake hits the unlock button and Ty slides me inside.

A few minutes later, we leave the parking lot, headed home. Blake doesn’t say much on the way home outside of asking me if I’m ok. She rolled down the window and told me to cool my face in case I puke.

“B, are you mad at me?” I ask.

“Luke, I’m not mad at you. You just need to sleep it off,” she coaxes as Ty opens the door again. I turn to look at him and everything becomes fuzzy, black infiltrating the lights in the parking garage as we make our way towards the elevator.

Dreams… Come… True…

“Oh, my life is changing everyday, in every possible way”

-The Cranberries

Blake

It’s been about a week since the accident, and while on the surface, it looks like Luke is in a better place, little things still have me worried.

Like right now, he’s in the shower in the ensuite bathroom so I can see him from our bed where I sit with my e-reader waiting for him so I can get ready. Tonight is the soft opening of Lit & Libations, and I should be over the moon, but I have a knot in my stomach as I stare over my screen at Luke while I pretend to read.

He is standing against the wall, head drooped, staring blankly at the water as it runs out of the showerhead.

This is what he does whenever he thinks I’m not paying attention or watching, but I’m always watching him.

Worried sick, constantly.

Frightened.

It’s like my perfect boyfriend disappeared in an instant the night of the accident, like a puff of smoke vanishing. The longer it takes that boy, Adam, to recover, and the more chaotic and unpredictable the journey becomes, the more I see the pieces of Luke slipping away, unraveling, fraying at the ends. I can only hope it will improve before all that’s left are fragments of who he used to be.