Dissolving

Chapter 43 - Dissolving (2)

"Where are you going?" I ask, when Will walks past me as I come out of the downstairs bathroom.

"Out," is his ever so eloquent reply.

"But... but the party isn't over yet," I protest lamely.

"It is for me. There's only so much family time I can stand," he grunts.

I follow behind him into the hallway and watch as he grabs his leather jacket off the pile of clothes haphazardly draped over the banister. I wonder what he needs a jacket for in the middle of summer. Probably because it makes him look more badass. Although I have lived with boys all my life, there are certain things I'll never understand.

"Wait!" I call out when he opens the front door, ready to leave.

"What now?"

I still need to tell him stuff. And give the death notice to him. This may seem weird timing, but knowing Will, he might disappear for days or a week and I won't get another chance. Also, I think I am still supposed to go to the cabin in the mountain with Sam and Hannah this weekend. I might not see him for a while.

"I'll be right back. Are you gonna wait?" I ask. "Please?"

He looks unimpressed.

"Pretty please?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Hurry up, will ya? You've got one minute. Tick-tock. Tick-tock."

Without giving it another thought, I run up the stairs and into my bedroom. I quickly grab the piece of newspaper from under the pillow, turn around and almost slip in my socked feet before runming back downstairs in record time. Of course, in my hurry to get there before Will leaves, and because this is me and bad luck follows me everywhere, I stumble over my own two feet when I am on the second to last step.

As a result, I literally fly into my waiting brother, who seems to have magically appeared at the bottom of the stairs, and right on time, too. I remain in Will's arms for a moment to catch my breath and get my bearings back. My head has landed somewhere between his stomach and his chest area and I feel his upper body tremble as he laughs quietly at my misfortune.

"You're one of a kind, runt, seriously. You'd be long dead if we'd ever let you out of sight for longer than a couple of minutes. No wonder the old guys are so overbearing around you," Will remarks dryly. "We'd have to move into a one-story building before we could ever let you stay by yourself."

He pulls me off his body and none too gently shoves me away, placing me onto my own feet in front of him. Scrutinizing me for a moment, he eventually sighs and shakes his head, like he is giving up. I have no idea what is going through his head right now, but it really doesn't matter.

"Here."

I hold out the crumpled death notice for him to take. Will's eyes grow wide for a second and he quickly checks the door to the living room behind him, making sure nobody is coming. He only briefly glances at the old piece of newspaper and then unceremoniously shoves it into the inner pocket of his jacket.

"Don't lose it!" I warn him.

"I wouldn't dare. Who wants to voluntarily face your wrath, huh?" he deadpans, amusement visibly dancing in his eyes. "Okay, I'm off."

"No, wait! There's more I have to tell you."

"About this?" He pats the jacket where he put the notice.

Instead of answering him, I pull Will outside and close the door behind us.

"How are you gonna get back into the house without anyone noticing you were out here in the first place, you genius?" he laughs, nodding his head towards the closed and now firmly locked door.