Page 151 of String Boys

Kelly’s sister had the round face Kelly’d had as a child, but it looked like hers, pleasing and soft, would follow her into adulthood.

Her round eyes looked even more horrified in that delicate little circle.

“Shower,” she muttered. “Do you even have any clean clothes?”

“When was Denver?” he asked.

“Holy fucking God. I’ll get you some out of your drawers. There’s got to be some sweats that won’t slide off your bony ass.”

Good idea. Well, Kelly’s sisters really were all super geniuses, right?

Seth emerged fifteen minutes later feeling a little better—clean, at least, and moisturized. His dad still kept cocoa butter in the bathroom, which sort of hurt a little. Agnes was right—his old sweats were just about perfect, and there were even some old underwear and… oh God.

Kelly’s old black shirt.

The one they’d used the first time they made love on his dad’s couch.

He almost put it back in the drawer and went through his dad’s drawers for a plain white one, but he couldn’t.

Kelly.

He was so close.

Agnes had some chicken and veggies ready for him when he was done, and he ate it, almost falling asleep at the table.

“Where’s Kelly again?”

“Go lie down, honey,” she told him, tousling his hair. He grinned at her, because he’d done the same thing to her as a child.

“You’ll wake me up when he’s here, right?”

“Sure.”

Without quite knowing how it happened, Kelly’s little sister, who was the same age Kelly had been when they’d fallen in love, had Seth by the elbow and was taking him through the apartment. She had him lay down in his bed and pulled his old comforter over his shoulders, then kissed his forehead.

“I really love your brother,” he told her, because she might not know this. “I fell in love with him when he was your age. And we feel so grown-up now, but a little part of me is still in love with that same boy. And most of me is in love with who he is now. Isn’t that weird?”

She kissed his forehead again, and this time something wet fell. She wiped it off with her thumb.

“That’s totally amazing,” she whispered. “I love you, Seth. Get some sleep.”

He was probably asleep before she turned off the light.

He wasn’t sure when Kelly crawled into bed with him, turning so his back was to Seth’s front. He only knew it felt right.

“Kelly?”

“Anyone else climbing into bed with you?” Kelly asked, and his voice sounded thick.

“No. Caleb sleeps on the couch. Amara and I only have bunk beds, you know.”

Kelly’s chuckle was strained, and he pulled Seth’s arms around his middle. “You’ll have to tell me when you wake up.”

“I missed you so bad. Any time is forever when you’re not at the end of it.”

“I missed you too. I thought it would hurt, chasing the dream of you again. And then I didn’t even have the dream of you, and it was like I had no heart anymore.”

Seth rubbed his chest, his body heat seeping in through Seth’s sleep-addled brain like a balm. “Gotta make it better,” he said. “You need your heart.”