Page 30 of Fragile hearts

“You can ta—” I want to say, when my phone pings again, Alexis goes back to her puzzle. I don’t want to overwhelm her, by talking to me, so I let it go.

I reply to my mother’s text when I come up with an idea. “Do you want to come to the beach with us?” I would also invite her to lunch, but I need to tell my family my problems on my own.

Alexis said she feels alone in this town, so maybe joining my family and me will help her loneliness. Alexis pauses, searching my face to see if I mean it.

“You sure?” she asks hesitantly.

“Yeah, of course. My family loves you, and I uhm—” I cough, the words stuck in my throat. I feel my cheeks redden. “I would like that.”

Her face lights up with a smile. “Okay sure, why not?”

“Can I ask you something?” Alexis asks. I look up from where I’m kneeling on the floor as I tie my shoelaces.

“Of course.”

“You said that your friends died when they were on their way to pick up their son.” She bites her lip, watching me carefully. “They were picking up Colton, weren’t they? Colton is their son.”

I stand and lean against the front door, brushing off the breadcrumbs from my shirt.

“Yeah, Joey was Connor’s best friend. He and Melissa granted Connor full custody of Colton.

“And he accepted that?” She doesn’t mean it as an insult. I can hear it in her voice. She’s just curious. “Yeah, he’s always been very close with Colton. It took some time to get used to it, which is understandable, but yeah, he loves Colton like his own.”

“Well, I’m glad Colton has someone like Connor.” She doesn’t say it, but I can hear what she means. No one had done that for her when she was a kid. So hearing an innocent boy who lost both parents end up in the care of someone he already knew and loved must be refreshing.

I smile at her in understanding. I hope she knows how welcome she is here.

“Alexis says hi,” I say to my family when I take a seat at the dinner table in my childhood home, the rest of my family already seated. “Did you see her today?” Mom asks, placing a fresh out of the oven croissant on my plate.

I nod, biting into my croissant. “I went by her house last night to give her a gift.” I don’t tell her about the part where I slept on her couch. I will tell them the story in a minute. I just have to find the courage. Fuck I haven’t been so nervous since I was in high school and had to tell them I failed math.

“Oh, that’s nice. How is she doing?”

“Good. I uhm—I actually want to tell you guys, something.” I twiddle with the end of my knife. I open my mouth to start when the front door opens. My best friend enters the room with a big smile on his face. “Good afternoon, family,” he greets, ignoring my brother’s stare. They have always been good friends, but something happened five months ago that caused them to drift apart. I have been dwelling on my own issues for so long that I’ve neglected our friendship. I asked them once what was going on, but they told me it was nothing to worry about. “Why do you all look like that?” He looks around the room, noticing the tense atmosphere.

“Carson was about to tell us something,” My mom says.

Killian gasps loudly, “Did you get laid?”

Connor sputters from beside me. I groan, banging my head on the table. Then a pair of grey sneakers come into view, followed by a hard slap on my back. “Finally, man!” he triumphs. “Please tell you let her c—”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Connor interrupts loudly, pinching his nose.

“Just because you’re not getting laid doesn’t mean you have to be such a snob about it,” Killian shoots back.

“Well, whose fault—”

“Stop it!”

Connor and Killian both finally shut up. “I don’t know what’s up with you two.” I point between my brother and best friend. “Neither of you want to talk about it. Either fight it out or do this when you’re alone.” I close my eyes in frustration.

“Can I now please tell you what’s been bothering me?”

“You can tell us anything, honey.” My mom soothes me, patting my hand.

“I have been having trouble sleeping,” Connor gives Killian a worried look.

“Okay,” Mom pauses, giving my dad a look I can’t decipher. “And how long has this been going on?”