Page 68 of Forged Forever

“Patrick’s hair. Took it in case you wanted to test his DNA against Lily’s.”

I sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the hair. When Patrick first claimed to be Lily bee’s father, I wanted proof, but now…do I want to know? Or would it be better to keep it a mystery? Lily bee didn’t seem to care who he was when she was alive. Maybe Nick wants to find out?

Nick drops down beside me. “Your choice, Shortie.”

“I’ll think about it. I’m not sure right now.”

Nodding, he takes the bag from me and puts it back in his pocket. Grabbing my hand, he pulls me to standing and gives me a hug, then leads me into the living room. I offer to help E with dinner, but he tells me to relax, so I watch the video game battle happening around me.

We help carry food downstairs for dinner when E's ready. The meal is delicious, as always. There seem to be several distinct conversations happening around the table tonight. Troy, Zander, and Steven are discussing business. Gabby and Bay are talking about Olivia. Seb and E about options for college. I sit quietly beside Nick, his hand on my thigh, absorbing the words floating by and the camaraderie.

After we retire back to the apartment, I make sure to thank Gabby for my clean clothes. She and Troy are sleeping back home tonight while the rest of us will stay here one last night.

Chapter 39

You wouldn’t know anything happened to me, us, at school on Friday. Other than Holly and Jaxon, no one seems to know anything. Probably for the best.

We cruise through classes and lunch. Alex and Bay have their diving finals tonight at our school, and Seb, E, and I decide to grab a bite to eat at the diner before the meet. Nick is waiting in the Jeep beside E’s truck when we walk outside. He shaved his beard today, and now he looks more like himself. “Hi Grumpy!” I smile as he picks me up under my butt for a hug. Seb tells him about the diner, and we hop into the Jeep.

A short drive later, we grab a booth and order drinks and food. “What did you do today?” I ask Nick.

“Medical clinic, your house, Markus.”

Alarmed, I scan him. He said he was fine. “What’s wrong?”

Nick shakes his head. “Nothing.” Leaning closer, he tells me he wanted to get checked for blood borne illnesses from all the fighting he had to do. Ah, that makes sense.

Seb attempts to squish in 8 months of gossip while we eat so Nick is up to date. It’s too fast and too much, but Nick listens intently the entire time.

When we enter the pool area at school, Troy, Gabby, Steven, and Dad are sitting in the second row. Taking seats in front of them, I check the scoreboard to see we’re on the last set of singles divers.

David, Olivia, Jake, Will, and Ray enter as the last diver takes position. We make room for everyone as Jake sits beside me. Olivia squeals when she sees Nick, jumping into his lap and hugging him. “It’s about time you came home, Nick. I missed you.” She tells him about her life, talking a mile a minute. David interrupts, asking her to get down and let other people see Nick. “Fine,” she sighs, moving to sit beside Gabby.

I introduce Will and Ray first, then Jake. “Handsome, this is Nick. Nick, this is Jake.”

Nick reaches over to offer a handshake to Jake. “Nice to meet you, Jake.”

“You too, man,” Jake smiles in return. Nick nods, then our focus is pulled to the water as the doubles divers are announced. Our guys have won all their meets but one this year, so I’m expecting a win tonight.

Alex and Bay crush it, easily winning the meet. We cheer as they receive their medals, both guys blushing from the attention. It’s crazy they completed their last high school dive at this school tonight.

We all go our separate ways afterwards. I have my last meet in the morning, and it’s my 18th birthday!

Dad and I are staying at home tonight. I find myself walking through the rooms when we arrive, observing the changes. The air feels different, so I open the windows and doors as I go to hopefully change the energy. I find Nick’s present on the shelf in the spare room closet, still intact. Smiling, I put it in my bag to give to him tomorrow.

Everyone is home and safe. Everyone is relatively healthy. All the pieces of my heart are close, but I’m jittery.

Grabbing a change of clothes, I shower in Dad’s bathroom and then grab some fruit and sit on the couch, which looks like it was steam cleaned today. I call Jake after turning on the tv. “Hey Sum.”

“Hi handsome.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Dunno, feeling unsettled in the house.”

“That’s normal, Sum. Will you be okay sleeping there?”

“Yeah, I guess so. It feels empty, even though everything has been fixed or replaced.”