Page 68 of Marked By Shadows
Alex ran his fingers along my bare arm, which I hadn’t thought was soothing until that moment when the hard truth about the past crashed down on me. “Do you think they stopped because of me?”
“No,” Alex said instantly. “You said you already hadn’t been going as much. So maybe enough of you being in one place to actually do it became an issue? Then there was that mess with Byrony. Sounds like she was never well liked in the group but often a part of it? When did she join up?”
I shrugged, trying to think back to all the events. “Not long before I vanished, we all did a New York thing. She was there. We did an Iron Cosplay at that one, but she didn’t participate. Melissa did. I don’t think Jonah was there either though.” I frowned trying to sort through memories. “It’s hard to pull out pieces when so many events are similar and held in the same place year after year.”
“I hear you there. Lots of military memories that all jam together. So how does this Iron Cosplay thing work?”
“Usually we are in groups and have a set goal for a costume. There’s a pile of fabric and other craft supplies and then the sewing machines. It’s limiting because you can only use what’s in the pile. Other than thread that is. And you have to share the machines. I did a lot of hand sewing because too many of us needed machines,” I explained.
“Well at least we’re in groups. I’d be completely useless on my own,” Alex said. “Dinner is a little early tonight, at six and the cosplay thing starts at seven. It does have a little notation at the bottom that asks no one be consuming alcohol before attending the event.”
“Oh yeah, that happened once.” It had been the one time I’d had Tim with and sort of my fault. Tim had gotten quite drunk because he was bored by the whole cosplay thing. I’d tried to leave him in the hotel room, but he’d insisted on coming along. He’d sat in the corner muttering comments to everyone as they worked. “Yeah…”
“Do I want to know?” Alex asked. “Drinking, much like medication, and me don’t mix. So I don’t do it.”
“Lukas doesn’t either,” I said absently. “Maybe something in your genes?”
Alex reached up and pulled me into his arms, rolling me over on the mattress. “Serious face,” he grumbled at me.
“Sorry. Lots in my head, memories and stuff. Not all good.” In fact, few of the memories I had, ever popped up as positive at first. It took effort to remember the good stuff over the bad.
“How’s your face feel? Your head? Tummy okay?”
“Mostly fine. The nap really helped.” I analyzed how I felt. My face ached with the dull echo of the bruise, but it was bearable. My head didn’t hurt at all, and my stomach was… empty. “Hmm, maybe I am hungry.”
“Good. Sounds like it’s a make your own pizza night, but we can do pizza without cheese,” Alex didn’t sound bothered by it, as it was something we did a couple times back home, even ordering from big chains a handful of times. “Would bananas be weird on a pizza?”
I laughed and tugged out of his embrace. “Let me find those water things. It’s supposed to restore electrolytes.”
“I hope they taste better than Gatorade. I hate that stuff.” Alex followed me downstairs and to the kitchen area in which I’d tried to organize stuff. The packets were in the small cupboard beside the stairs in which I’d stored the coffee supplies. He took one of the packets and turned it over to read the label. “Doesn’t look scary.”
“Not sure your brother would give us anything that looked scary. He’s more obsessed with your health than you are,” I pointed out and dug through the fridge for a fresh bottle of water.
“He’s always been that way. But he does it to Sky too. Saw him do it.” Alex opened the packet and added it to the water, then recapped the bottle and shook it.
“Does it to me too,” I admitted.
“Does Lukas know about your eating thing?”
“Yes. So does Sky. I was in rehab after I left Tim. Lukas did a lot of driving me back and forth.”
Alex tried the water, taking a sip and then a long drag of half the bottle at once. “Okay, that’s not bad. Lemonade flavor is okay, weird aftertaste, but not bad.”
“There are more flavors in the box. Nothing banana flavored, sorry.”
Alex set the water down and wrapped me in a hug, breathing deeply.
“You okay?”
He let out sigh. “Yeah. I think. Anxiety up, not sure why. Happy you’re here with me though. Excited for Iron Cosplay and more of the convention tomorrow. Can’t believe we bought such an expensive machine.”
“It’s actually a fairly simple one on the low end of the price range for mid-arms. They can run up to twelve grand.”
Alex’s mouth fell open. “Holy fuck!”
“That’s back at the shop,” I reminded him.
He laughed.