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I felt my stomach roil as I stared at my sister.
“I’m alive,” I said softly.
And so tired that I could literally go right back to bed.
But tigers wouldn’t feed themselves. And I had to learn Simi’s routine, which was why she was here.
“I brought you something to eat.” She held out her peace offering, as if food alone would help with this hole in my heart.
“Thanks,” I said quietly, taking the tinfoil-covered plate. “Are you ready?”
She nodded, her eyes serious, as she said, “I wish I hadn’t had to ask you to come home.”
I wished she hadn’t, either.
“Do you like it here, Simi?” I asked morosely.
She eyed the circus that was quickly coming to life all around us.
“I like being here with y’all,” she said softly. “But I think if we all lived in the same town, I would be just as happy.”
Same.
So much same.
My entire soul craved the stability that putting down roots gave you.
Yet…that wasn’t in the cards for me.
Not any time soon, anyway.
“Where to?” I asked, taking a peek under the tinfoil.
“Coffey set up the silk near the food truck because he wanted me to help keep an eye on you,” she said softly. “And the cats are around here…” she trailed off. “There’s Coco.”
I looked up to find Coco in the tree above the food truck. There she was, staring at a piece of steak that, from what I could smell, was grilling away on Coffey’s flat top.
“I feel like maybe I should tell him,” she said softly. “But then it wouldn’t be anywhere near as entertaining. He should know better.”
I couldn’t even crack a smile, I was so depressed.
“How would he?” I asked. “He’s been here for a very short amount of time. And he’s yet to experience how mischievous they are.”
“You’re right…” she trailed off. “Do you want to grab breakfast before we start? I know that you do better when you eat first.”
It wouldn’t matter if I ate or not. I was so tired that it was an inevitability—the going to sleep thing was my reality on days like today.
“I guess,” I muttered, watching Hades talk with Val.
The fact that she was just so normal right now really ticked me off. Like…how the fuck? Why was she the way that she was? Why was me being home the sign she needed to be okay?
That’s when we realized that her behavior with me was also obsessive to the point of worrisome.
When we were separated, I finally realized just how hard it was to breathe when she was around. Not that I didn’t love her, but she was suffocating sometimes, and we allowed it to happen.
“Well,” I said as I held the plate up. “Didn’t you already bring me breakfast?”
She smiled. “No. I brought you a cookie from last night. Coffey made them to try out, and they were so delicious I couldn’t stop myself from eating them all.” Her face scrunched up into a tortured expression. “Then I threw them all up.”
