Dissolving

Chapter 24 - Explosion

My heart is almost beating out of my chest.

We have just turned around the corner and Jack is parking his car. I squint in the semi-darkness, averting my eyes to the floor of the car, afraid of what I may find if I look at our house. Eventually, curiosity gets the better of me and I lift my head up and glance out of the window.

I let out a breath of relief when I don't find Josh's car standing in the driveway.

For some reason, the thought of encountering Josh once we step inside has been weighing heavily on my shoulders ever since I read Jordan's text messages at the mall. My second eldest brother's reaction to my running away stunt last year is still fresh in my mind. And although this time it is a different situation, I know that Josh will not be very happy with us.

It obviously never occurred to me that I could be re-opening old wounds when I came up with the plan to get money from Kolinsky. I didn't intend to be found out. But now that we it messed up, the situation is a different one.

We could probably have gotten off fairly lightly if it weren't for that stupid physio appointment that I missed. Jack's little lie about taking us to dinner at the mall might have worked a treat and I am still beyond grateful that he tried. But because I am an unorganized fool, I stupidly and totally unnecessarily gave us away.

Nobody would have thought to contact us all afternoon if I hadn't forgotten about that session with Sam. And of course, when Jordan couldn't get hold of me, he instantly became suspicious. I am supposed to have my phone on and with me at all times. Clearly, telling from only reading his messages, his suspicion quickly turned to worry. I am not used to a panicky Jordan – I didn't even know he had it in him – but that is exactly the emotion that his texts portray.

Actually, thinking about it now, I haven't seen any messages from Josh on our family chat. There is a very slim chance that he might not even know that the twins and I dropped off the radar for a few hours.

Maybe that is the reason why he isn't here?

That would obviously be my preferred scenario. I want to avoid at all cost that the hard work I put into rebuilding my relationship with Josh is cancelled out because of this.

It would not be worth it, right?

It is bad enough that Sam will be super unimpressed with me for missing the appointment. Although we have not been fighting as much recently as we did in the beginning of my recovery phase, we are still kind of walking on egg shells around each other most of the time. I don't know if it is because he is stressed about the upcoming wedding – according to Hannah, planning a wedding is hard work – or if we are just generally growing more apart now that he is no longer living with us, but we are definitely less close to each other than we used to be.

I don't see his car in the driveway either, so maybe I am lucky and I won't have to face him. It will be tough enough to deal with Alex and Jordan, and most likely Ben.

"Ace, if you don't get your ass out of the car, you'll grow roots," Jack's voice interrupts my grim thoughts.

I look up and find him leaning in on the driver's side. He must have been waiting for me to make a move.

"Just a minute," I reply absent-mindedly.

Honestly, I am not yet ready to face the music.

"It won't get any better if you drag it out, ya know?" Jack reminds me.

Flashing me a small, encouraging smile, he gets out and shuts the door behind him. Now I am sitting by myself in his car, unsuccessfully willing my muscles to move.