The Flame by Evelyn L. Marchand

Author:Evelyn L. Marchand [Marchand, Evelyn L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

19

Sitting on my bed at home, I curled my arms around my pillow and closed my eyes. My dad had left the night before. Where he had gone, I didn’t know or care. All I knew was that I wanted to be alone with my thoughts today. It was officially seven years since my mom had passed away.

A soft knock sounded on my door, and I rolled out of bed. I hadn’t even bothered getting ready today, and had stayed in a pair of sweatpants, an oversized sweater with a messy bun. The knock sounded again, and I padded up to the door, opening it to reveal Kade standing with two foam cups in his hands.

“Peppermint?” I asked, and he nodded.

Moving out of the door, I silently invited him into my house. This was the first time he would ever see it, and it was on one of the bad days. My father had trashed the kitchen and the living room in his rage of grief. There were shattered glasses and vases, the chairs were all in pieces and the table was leaning on the floor as two of the legs had been knocked out from underneath it. I just didn’t have the mental capacity to try and clean it all up. At least not today. Maybe tomorrow.

“Sorry for the mess, we can go to my room and hang out there if that’s what you’d prefer,” I said, and he just shrugged.

“Wherever you’re comfortable,” he responded gently.

Walking back over to my room, I took a seat on the bed with my back against the wall. Kade followed me, closing the door softly. Looking around for a moment, he decided to sit on the bed with me, his shoulder pressed against mine. Taking the hot chocolate from him, I wrapped my hands around the warm cup, and curled my knees to my chest.

“Is that… a crossbow?” he asked a little nervously.

Looking up at the wall, I nodded. “My dad used to take me hunting. He tried to use it as an excuse for the alcohol, but I knew better than to believe it,” I said quietly.

“It’s not loaded, is it?”

Looking at him out of the corner of my eye, I smirked. “Why? Worried I’ll shoot you?”

Chuckling, he shook his head before leaning back against the wall. “Not at all, Zell. We both know you would never hurt me.” Sitting in silence for a few moments he brought his hand to my leg, rubbing gently as I looked over at him. “Want to talk about it?”

“Not really, I’d rather just sit here, if you don’t mind,” I answered quietly, he just nodded.

Our silence permeated through the room and didn’t require anything. Taking a sip of my drink, I began tapping on the side of the cup. Kade sat there, holding his own drink with one hand and my thigh with the other. His head was resting against the wall and his eyes were closed. He’d just lost his own mother, a little over a week ago, and here he was trying to comfort me.

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