By Chance (Accidentally In Luck #1)

21. The Epic Rampage of Stilettos - Cora

*Cora*

I sat on E's lap with my head on his shoulder and thought about what I just told him. Elle was the only ever person I'd ever told about what exactly happened with Daniel.

Well. Not anymore.

I figured E deserved to know after I broke down like a little girl, but I couldn't help it. I'd thought so many times of how it would be to see Daniel again and, after four years, those hopes turned into pipe dreams which means they'd become more far-fetched. I think the last time I thought of seeing Daniel again it involved a rabid dog and a Ferris wheel.

Seeing him for real was excruciating, nothing like I imagined. I felt like I was that stupid 14-year-old again, sitting on Daniel's bed completely wrapped up in his blanket, crying my eyes out for a brother I didn't think I would ever see again.

Silly me.

I was cried out, but I wasn't done wanting to cry. It didn't help anything that E seemed able to read my mind either. I got enough of "I'm so sorry!" back when Daniel died, and they never made me feel any better. Telling me you're sorry doesn't do crap when my brother is gone from this world. What I need is someone to be there with me and for me, someone to hold me after I call to him to point out something I think he'd like and he's not there. I didn't need someone's sympathies, I just needed someone.

E seemed to understand that. He didn't tell me he was sorry. He didn't say it would be ok; he didn't say I would be ok. He said that he was here. He was with me.

"Thank you," I whispered up to him, "so much."

E's arms tightened ever-so-slightly around me, and I heard him mutter back, "What for?"

I tilted my head up and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. I blushed a little when I moved back and saw him staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "For not saying you're sorry," I murmured, not wanting to break the quiet solace we were in. "Sorry doesn't help anything, it's pointless and fake. No one realized that just having someone to be with you and help you through it means so much more than sympathy. Sympathy doesn't comfort me, someone who means something to me does."

This time E's arms squeezed me. "You're welcome, Pip," he said, and I smiled just a little.

I remembered the way his breath warmed my neck as he whispered to me that he was with me and involuntarily shivered. I felt E shift beneath me, and I knew he was about to ask if I was alright, so before the dummy could ruin the moment, I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest again.

I sat there enjoying the heat radiating off of him for a while just thinking of anything but Daniel.

First my mind wandered to Theo. Obviously. Somehow my life got flipped on its head in the matter of a few days and I was loving it. I mean what other girl can say they went from sitting on the couch with their only friend watching cheesy rom-coms to sitting on the lap of the hottest singer in the world on the beach at night while he comforts you? Practically none.

I sighed softly, content with the world for a small second.

My thoughts turned to the tournament. It was tomorrow and I was both terrified and excited for it. I'd never seen a fight before and (moment of honesty) I had absolutely no clue as to what to expect.

All of a sudden, I sat bolt upright, managing to crack the back of my head into E's chin with a cry of pain.

The tournament was tomorrow. How had I been so selfish? Here I was a curled up, bawling mess of a girl on his lap and he had a super important fight that he should be resting up for.