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Theo
I’d give Audrey a million dollars, and it still wouldn’t be enough to thank her. I’d upset her earlier and yet she continued to help and stay at my childhood home for hours. Em—my angsty teenage sister—had hugged her. Daniel had a crush on her, and Penny loved anyone who gave her attention.
She fit in here, and the realization made my chest feel heavy. I had no friends willing to stick this out with me. It was hard being friends with someone who always bailed, and most dudes my age? They weren’t worried about their families or home life. They were partying and living the dream.
Audrey understood. She’d lived it herself. I wanted to shower her with gifts, hugs, squeezes. There wasn’t anything I could do to thank her, and it caused an unreachable itch deep in my core. She sat at our counter, laughing as Daniel told her a story about their school gopher wreaking havoc on class. He was serious too. The school had a gopher problem, and it was hilarious.
“Have you named him yet?” Audrey asked, crossing one leg over the other. Her whole demeanor changed when she laughed, and I froze in my spot. Audrey’s smile lit up the whole fucking room. Pure joy.
My heart fluttered like a damn hummingbird.
“We named him Manders. Our teacher is named Amanda, so we named him after her because she’s scared of him.”
“I can’t tell if that’s cute or scary.” She snorted. “Have you seen the gopher?”
“Oh yeah, we watch for him all recess. We sit there and wait. Some kids try to touch the holes.”
“Wild. Your school mascot should be a gopher.” Audrey yawned, and it shook me out of my trance.
She was tired. It was late. She’d changed her plans for me, and I’d begged her to stay. She was still in her damn scrubs.
“Auds, let me take you home.”
“Oh.” She blinked as a blush covered her cheeks. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I stayed too long.”
“What? No, you didn’t.” Was she fucking serious? “You’re tired. We still gotta drive to your car.”
She licked the side of her lip before hopping off the stool and straightening her scrubs. “Thank you for letting me hang out with you. Glad you’re okay, Em, and I can’t wait to hear more about Manders!”
“You have to leave?” Daniel asked, his sad, pathetic voice echoing in the kitchen. “Are you sure?”
“She probably has other plans. Come on, don’t guilt her.”
“I don’t, but yeah, I should head back.”
“What if we do a movie and popcorn night?” Daniel begged. It was a Thursday night, a school night, and I wanted to say no.
“That sounds awesome,” Em said.
Em never wanted to hang with us. Ever.
“Yes!” Daniel jumped off the stool. “You have to stay now, Audrey. We make the best popcorn ever.”
“Oh, uh.” She glanced at me. “I’m not…sure?”
“Do you want to stay?” Something like hope bloomed in my chest. If she wanted to stay and hang with my siblings, fuck. There was no saying what I was gonna do. No one did this. No one was that kind.
She pressed her lips together and played with her fingers. “If you don’t want me to go, yeah.”
“Do you think I want you to leave?” I asked, laughing at the end. She was brilliant. Why would she possibly think that? “I begged you to come here, Auds.”
Her eyes widened before the blush returned. Then she gazed at me, her expression softening. “You did. Yeah.”
“Come on. I’ll grab you a sweatshirt so you don’t have to stay in your scrubs.”
She slid off the stool and followed me up the stairs. She walked quietly, and I waited for her at the top. She wouldn’t look at me and kept cracking her knuckles like she was nervous.
“Are you alright? Are you uncomfortable here?”
