Faster Ways to Fall {BOOK TWO}

TWENTY-TWO

WINTER

I wake to a foot in my face and the sound of The Killers blasting from the speakers in the living room, groaning as I push Cody from my body in a frenzy of wagging tails, oversized feet and puppy saliva and slide from the bed. I land in an open suitcase with the contents strewn over the floor, my messy hair falling in my face as I shove myself up and cringe. Mr. Brightside is playing by the time I manage to finally make my way to the door and whack it open, disregarding the flashing clock telling me it's four AM in the corner of my eye. When I step out into the hallway the smell of fresh coffee and maple syrup slams into me, the music volume cranking up to full and making the house practically shake when I shake my head in dismay. "ALEXANDER!" my eyes snap open when two voices join my chorus and I look first to the other end of the hallway where Josh is standing and then the stairs where my father is leaning heavily against the railing, his eyes half shut.

"He's a maniac" Josh mutters when he's standing beside me and I nod

"I won't dispute that fact when he's in the kitchen singing at four in the morning". Josh grins and gives me a brief hug before we suddenly pull apart as a loud CRASH-SCRATCH-SCUTTLE comes from my room and the hallway, the blurred ball of darkness running toward us making me squeal and hit the wall. "Cody!?" all I get in response is a loud breathing sound that makes it apparent he's choking on his own spit. I shake my head and look to my father, smiling at the fact he still hasn't noticed me because he's half asleep.

"Alex, babe, I love you but SHUT UP!" Josh goes sprinting down the hallway, leaving me alone with Jake as another heavy THUD comes from the kitchen and I shuffle towards him.

"Jake" I whisper and he groans, running a hand through his ginger auburn hair and opening one silver eye to look at me. The other quickly follows.

"Hello" he says and I grin

"Hey"

"You aren't addicted to drugs?" I shake my head "Pregnant?" I snort "You didn't murder anyone"

"No!" I say and he smiles

"Then I'm a happy man" I lean back against the wall, the music still blasting from the next room as we stay there watching each other, a question burning behind his eyes until finally I say

"What is it?" Jake frowning slightly as he stands and says

"What did he do?" which makes me sigh and fold my arms. Anger shoots through me as I say

"Decided it would be a good idea to attract the imminent attention of the son of the man who killed his parents" Jake swallows and eyes me, his hair messy, his face barely worn with the tiresome years Alex and I have managed to provide, not to mention my mom when she was around. He finds his slippers with a foot, toeing them over before slipping them on as he speaks to me

"Why'd he do it?" and I love him in this moment- think he's the best father to have ever existed- because, not only is he accepting Sean for who he is, he isn't questioning my decision to still be with him.

"I think when his parents died it created a whole world of hell for him and I think that maybe, even though seven years have passed he might still be working through that hell. He might still be burning it off" I wring my hands in front of me as I speak, ignoring the crash from the kitchen as though my dog isn't barking his head off while my brother sings and his boyfriend protests. Jake narrows his eyes in thought, looking at the light above our heads and cracking his knuckles in quick succession.

"Maybe he needs to burn it off fully before you can help him" Jake says and I shrug

"I thought he had. I thought he finished burning it off last year but the world turned to shit and neither of us coped, let alone coped together. We kind of just shoved each other away and we were just starting to figure shit out when he.... Argh!" I curl my hands into fists in front of my face to express my anger and my dad simply watches.