Say Hello For Me

t h i r t e e n || the discovery

It's been three days since Delilah called, and Nessa still can't get her voice out of her head. Some days, it really sounds like a broken record. For once, she wishes she can go back to having "Hey There Delilah" stuck in her head instead.

The phone rings close to ten o'clock, two minutes shy of the perfect hour.

"Liam?" Nessa answers, her voice quieter than usual just in case it's Delilah again. "Is that you?"

"Nessa," Liam says, his tone grave and serious. "It's me."

"Delilah called a couple of days," Nessa tells him. "I think she knows that you've spent some of your money this past month on AskAway."

"She asked me about it, yeah," Liam admits, his voice dropping off into a silence. "She said you were rude and that you hung up on her."

"About that . . ." Nessa laughs nervously. "Look, I'm sor—"

"Good job."

"So, what's up?" Nessa asks after another long pause. "How was camping with the boys and Delilah?"

"Delilah didn't like the woods. She complained the entire time, but we caught a catfish at the lake."

"Did Delilah come with you guys to the lake?"

"Yeah," Liam answers. "For tanning purposes anyways."

"I burn in the sun."

"Me too! My face is all red right now. Let's not even talk about my shoulders."

"I kind of want to see this," Nessa teases. "Liam with a sunburn. Probably frame worthy."

"Maybe we should trade a picture for a picture then."

"Maybe another time," she agrees.

"I actually called to talk about Delilah today."

"What did she do this time?"

"Well it all started after she called and talked to you," Liam explains. "Can you believe she started asking me questions? She wanted to know if I was cheating on her with someone. She thought I was calling you because of some stupid party I didn't want her going to last week."

Nessa can tell Liam's angry. No, wait—he's not angry. He's frustrated at himself and Delilah for how their relationship has turned out. What do you do when the love of your life isn't the love of your life? What do you do when everything you've ever known falls apart within seconds? What do you do when your heart is breaking faster than you can piece it together?

"And I got so mad that I did it, Nessa. I did it. I know I said I wasn't going to be able to, but I did it."

"What did you do?" Nessa asks.

"I looked at her phone. I scrolled through her phone calls and text messages."

Nessa knows she's the one that entertained this idea in the first place, but her heart starts to race at a thousand miles an hour when Liam tells her the news. She steadies herself by gripping on the edge of her table, scoots forward in her hair, and continues to listen to Liam.

"What did you find?" Nessa is worried about the answer as she speaks. She ends up resorting to biting her nails.

A part of her worries that Liam's not ready to face the pain that comes with a nasty breakup. Another part of her worries that she won't be able to say the right things to comfort him when the time comes.

"I know who she's cheating on me with, Nessa. I finally know."

"Who is it?"

"She's cheating on me with my brother."

Liam pauses and Nessa doesn't know if there is anything she can say to make the situation better. No matter how you spin it, it's horrible.

"My younger brother."