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He arched his eyebrows, nodding.

“Falling in love is easy, staying in love with someone. That’s harder.” Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair. “There are always reasons to leave. People change. The person you fell in love with today might be harder to love in a few years.”

I tied my hair up.

“I love Vince. And I know he will always love me differently. But I’ve made peace with that.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “Because he is everything to me.” Taking the painkillers and put the water down. “Now Bas, will you tell me what’s really going on?”

“I’m worried that my brother's life depends on you being a part of his. What happens if you leave, or he screws up, which he does, regularly. And then you leave him. Or you fall in love with one of your fuck boys?—”

“Bas, stop.” Grabbing his arms, I stood in front of him. “You’re over thinking this.”

This felt like a child worried their parents were going to split up.

“You’re right. Vince will screw up. So will I. And when it happens, we’ll talk it through. That won’t change. The only time I will leave him is if I die. Otherwise, I’ll be here. Friend, wife, whatever.” I smiled, “Though, even if I die, I could see myself haunting him. You know. For fun.”

That caused Bas to smile. I never thought I’d miss seeing it.

“Now, are you okay?” I touched his cheek lightly, trying to inspect the damage without hurting him. “Vince didn’t say it was this bad. But it makes sense. I’ve never seen him so upset.”

He sighed, “I’m fine. I sort of deserved it.”

“I doubt that.” Lowering my hand. “Have you two spoken since?” By his expression, I would take it as a no.

“Sorry,” he looked away from me.

“For?”

“For coming here, waking you up, demanding answers to questions that I shouldn’t ask.” He looked guilty all of a sudden. “Maybe I’m the one with the problem.”

“God forbid you ask a question. You know, I still don’t get that in your family. Why is asking a direct question so hard?” Holding my temples for a moment.

He moved to hug me, but I stepped back.

“I am in no fit state to be touched. I committed a crime last night. I slept in these clothes.” I was still disgusted by my own actions. “Like a psychopath. I slept fully clothed.” Making sure he understood, “When I find out who is purposely ruining my life, they will get pay back for this. Bastion. I even nearly lit my own cigarette.”

He grinned. Perhaps the only good thing to come from me sleeping fully clothed was seeing Bastion back to his normal self.

I woke up to the feeling of Vince stroking my back. I wasn’t even sure when I had fallen asleep. His fingers moved through my hair before slowly running down my back again.

“I’m sorry,” I opened my eyes, rolling on to my back. How long had I been sleeping on him? “You should have woken me.” I frowned when seeing his expression. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re working you in to the ground.” He slowly traced my cheek. “It really pisses me off that they think this is okay.”

“They stood me down,” I stretched my arms, “Nathaniel took over as of this morning.”

“Really, cause your phone hasn’t stopped.”

I turned my head on his leg and reached for my phone off the coffee table.

“Fuck. I shouldn’t have said anything. Don’t call them back. Please.”

I looked at the number of calls. “Something must have happened.”

“Something always has happened.” His jaw tightened. "Please. Madeline. Don’t call them back.”