Page 128 of The Story of You

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Darius

We’d been wondering for months if Dad was looking for us. Now we knew and he’d come alone to get us. All we could do was speculate over his plans. If you asked me, it was a stupid,arrogantplan.

If that were me, I would have brought a team of people to grab all three of us. Better yet, I wouldn’t have come myself. I would have hired someone I didn’t know. If Dad had, he would have got us that day. Finally, if it were me, I would have gone to the apartment first. He’d already dumped me once proving me worthless, why spend the time coming to my work rather than retrieving his prized son and the one he needed to control said prized son?

Dad never did anything by accident and that would be all we could know for certain. His intentions that day remain a mystery and will haunt me to my dying days.

Silas was certain it was because Dad thought he could talk to and reason with him. By coming alone, he would appear non-threatening. The note they’d left things on could have gone either way according to Silas. He wondered if maybe we should allow him to have his say.

I wouldn’t fucking let him.

It was a few days back to The Home. We were on high alert. We slept in the car. Oliver was a nightmare. We arrived at The Home bedraggled in the middle of the night.

Silas didn’t like the plan. He didn’t want us separated for a second. We operated as if Dad was hot on our trail. But after all the weird shit with the “sign” I got—a fucking last-minute one, it would have been infinitely more helpful if the universe had spelled out “run” with my Alphagetti days before—and our luck with Mrs. Sharma, Silas followed my tingles of intuition. He heeded my advice.

Damn. Mrs. Sharma’s probably dead by now and we never saw her again. Unless she’s lived to her hundreds. She was a tough old bird. It’s possible.

And I believe she was an honest to God angel. Maybe she’s the energy powering my bedside lamp now? Sometimes, she visits me in my dreams.

“I won’t be long. If something happens, just go. There are lots of places for me to hide on the farm.”

“No. I won’t leave you. Nonnegotiable, Darius.”

That calmed my frayed soul. I meant what I said—him leaving to save the two of them—but was relieved to hear he wouldn’t do it. It was many moments like that over the years that went a long way to building any semblance of trust and faith. It’s still hard to have with most people, but not with Silas.

No matter how royally he can piss me off, I’ll never stop believing in him or following him into battle.

Climbing up to my old window was easy. I knew where a ladder was. Simon slept peacefully and it pissed fifteen-year-old me off. Didn’t he miss me enough to lose sleep over me?

I shook him awake. He almost screamed. I slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shhh.” When I knew he wasn’t going to yell, I released him.

“Darius? Where the hell have you been?” he whispered ready to wring me out right there. We didn’t have time.

“I’ll explain in the car. Grab some stuff, I’m gonna grab my wallet. Then we’ll grab the big lug.” I’d finally have my ID back and that would make some things easier. The two grand in there would help too.

The Simon of now times would have argued with me. Probably would list eighty-seven reasons why he wasn’t coming with me until I went through a comprehensive PowerPoint explaining where we were going and what the objective was and how many illegal things he’d have to do along the way.

Past (young) Simon was ready to follow me to the end of the earth at a moment’s notice.

He nodded. “I’ll get Shane and we’ll meet you downstairs. You should go talk to Asher. He’s lost without you.”

I didn’t think that could be true. I wished Simon hadn’t said anything. I’d put Asher out of my mind—mostly. Sure, he came up, but I was too tired and too busy surviving to waste spare change on him.

Now that I was here, I was compelled to see him. Touch him. We’d left on bad terms. As it turned out, even his anger had a shelf-life. Guess it ran off in the months I’d been gone.

When he set groggy eyes on me, he smiled. “You came back,” he said.

We locked. I don’t know what. Our atoms? Energy? Space? Time? No idea, but something “clicked” in the air, and I knew I wasn’t leaving without him.

“Can’t stay, Asher. I’m either here to kiss you goodbye or bring you with me.” Silas was going to be pissed. I’d asked about Simon and Shane. He had to think about it for months. He only agreed because we had no other choice.

“I’m never kissing you goodbye again,” he said. What a fucking fool I was believing him.

He grabbed a duffle and threw together a runaway bag. Thank fuck Silas’s car had a large trunk. Simon and Shane were climbing down the ladder as we made our way through Simon’s room.

We loaded up the trunk and I took a breath. I knew there wasn’t enough room in the car. We’d be driving illegally, and Silas would have to get used to a brand-new person he’d never heard of real quick. The Monte Carlo had bucket seats in the front. Simon and Shane got in on either side of Oliver’s car seat in the back. I tossed Asher into the bucket seat on the passenger side and then sat in his lap, shutting the door.