Page 162 of Next to Everything We Wanted

“I saw Gavin’s car when I opened my curtains,” Asher said. “He said he had a bad night.”

Mom frowned, concern washing over her face. “What happened? Is everything alright back at home?”

“No.” My voice broke as I opened the door. If I hadn’t cried my eyes out while driving here, I probably would’ve been on the verge of crying again. Every tear my body could possibly muster had left.

“Oh, Gavin.” Mom hugged me. “Tell us what happened inside.”

I gave her a weak nod.

When I followed them into the house, barely having the energy to stand up, Dapper greeted me at the door. Even his excitement faded as he took in my horrible appearance. Still, I rubbed behind his ears.

A loud yawn came from a few feet away. “What’s going on?”

I looked up to see Dad, who could hardly keep his eyes open. Seeing me was enough to wake him up, his dark blue eyes widening. “Gavin?”

“Hey.” I gave an awkward wave. I’d forgotten to text him that I was coming over last night. “Don’t mind the get-up.”

His brow furrowed as he took me in. “What happened to you?”

Tired of the questions and confused stares, I sat in the living room with my family and gave them a run-down of everything that had happened. By the time I finished talking, I was tired all over again, gripping onto the couch arm to stay upright.

“Oh, Gavin, I’m so sorry,” Mom said as she hugged me again, rubbing circles along my back. “You don’t deserve this.”

Dad stood behind Mom with a sympathetic expression. “You can stay here for as long as you need to.”

“Thank you,” I managed to say, a lump closing my throat.

They both gave me sad smiles.

I had to look away from them. This shouldn’t have been happening. I shouldn’t have to resort to staying with my parents because I ruined everything. But it was happening, and it left me drained and defeated.

It made me a failure.

Unable to keep sitting here, I headed into my room, changed into comfortable clothes, and tucked myself into the covers. Within a minute, I was out again.

“Wake up, Gavin.”

I opened my eyes. My room was almost completely dark, the summer sun setting outside, but I could still see Asher crack my door open with a soft smile. My suitcases and backpack sat in front of my closet, a few of my stuffed animals sitting on top of them.

I glanced at my digital clock before nearly choking.6:31 PM. Had I really slept for almost twelve hours straight? I didn’t even sleep that long when I was sick.

Yeah, I’d hit rock bottom.

Asher flopped on my bed. “How did you sleep?”

Dapper, who’d been sleeping at my feet, woke up and gave him a tired look.

I sat up and rubbed Dapper’s back. “I didn’t know I was sleeping for that long.” Was blacking out twice on the same day a bad thing? “It felt good.”

Asher nodded. “Do you feel better? About everything?”

My chest ached as memories of the past twenty-four hours poured over me like a bucket of ice water.

Asher seemed to notice the pain on my face, because he frowned and said, “Yeah, I have my answer.”

I sucked in a breath, leaning against my pillows. “I don’t know what to do. As much as staying here forever would be nice, I need to do something with my life eventually, even if it’s the last thing I want to do after losing almost everyone I care about.”

“I’m sorry everything went badly. I was hoping . . .” Asher sighed, intensity growing in his gaze as his eyes locked with mine. “I was hoping you’d finally get your happy ending.”