Page 191 of Fragments

He gives me the side-eye, but doesn’t speak.

“I mean, you’ve never left in all the time I’ve been here,” I keep going. “This place kinda fell apart without you…”

“Yea, I heard,” he grumbles, lips twitching in mild amusement.

“Well?” My brow cocks. “Finally got around to using those vacation days?”

He huffs, shaking his head. But the little grin falls away fast, and he gets this somber air about him. I even notice his throat dip.

At first, I’m pretty sure he’s not going to answer me, but after a few more steps of silence, he mumbles, “My mom died.”

My feet stop working for a second. Gaping at him as he keeps walking, I experience something I’m not all that familiar with. I think I actually feelbad…

It doesn’t usually happen to me, especially when it comes to other people’s loss.I don’t even feel bad about my own loss, so why would I care about someone else’s?

But Velle is just the epitome of a giant chunk of stone… He’s always been an emotionless, rabid animal. You tend to forget that he’s actuallynotthat. He had a life before Alabaster Pen, and granted, I know next to nothing about it, but just like the rest of us, he’s become hardened by this place.

Sharing this little sliver of vulnerability is really humanizing him right now.

“I’m… sorry,” I mumble, scampering to keep up with him. “That sucks, Velle.”

He grunts an apathetic noise by way of response.

“So you went to… be with family or something?”

His face slants, and he sucks in a breath like he probably wants to tell me toshut uporfuck off. But instead, he says, “I brought my familywithme. To say goodbye.”

My stomach coils at his words, immediately registering what he means.

Rook and Joy are his family… That’s why they all left.

His mom died, and they went to be with him… to support him.

It’s such a fascinating concept to me. I’ve never been close like that with anyone. I’ve never had a friend, or a boyfriend, who would care enough about my life to leave theirs behind just to stand by my side during difficult times. And I’ve definitely never been that for anyone else; a shoulder to cry on, or a peaceful presence.

Sure, I love to console Lex when he’s upset or stressed, but I think I wreak more havoc on his life than anything else. Is it really a benefit if I’m the one causing the hurt I’m trying to comfort?

Back at the cafeteria, Velle delivers me when lunch is nearly over, and I go to sit down at our table, settling in with the knowledge that I guess I won’t be eating today.

But as soon as my ass is down, Lex slides a tray over to me.

“I saved you some food,” he says quietly.

I glance up at him, then down at the sandwich.

God, I just love him… How could I not? He’s fucking perfect.

“Thank you, baby,” I whisper, trying my best to disguise how goddamn smitten I am as I pick off pieces of bread.

“So what happened?” he asks.

I blink at him while chewing. His face has some tension to it, and I can’t really decipher what it means. “Velle and I talked.”

“About what?” His mouth is set in an unamused line. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was…jealous.

“Stuff,” I grumble, peeking at Kang. He too is giving me a suspicious look.

I feel like I’m being ganged up on just a tad.