Something There

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine:

"Where the hell were you?" my mom asks the moment I walk through the door.

Her, Dad, and Charlie all rushed to see me the moment I stepped into the house, and I'm glad that I had been mentally drafting ways that I'm going to apologize for the duration of the car ride over here.

"I'm really sorry. I know that I said I was going to be home last night but it was just better if I stayed the night. It won't happen again, I swear," I promise my parents, both of which look beyond mad at me.

Charlie looks worried as if he's trying to think of ways to defuse the situation, stepping forward towards me.

"Happy birthday," I say, smiling to him, but all he gives me is a brief nod of his head before switching the topic back.

"I shouldn't have left with out you. I wasn't thinking straight, and I feel awful about it even though you begged me to let you stay," Charlie says, and I feel my eyes widen at him.

"What do you mean? I begged you to let me stay?" I question, realizing that maybe Bryce left some of the story out when explaining last night to me.

Charlie looks puzzled, and so I lean forward towards him.

In a whisper so that my parents don't hear, I say, "I don't remember much of last night."

His surprise settles a little, and he responds by saying, "Well, yeah. You insisted that you couldn't leave until you worked things out with Bryce."

In as calm a manner as I can manage, I respond, "All right. Don't worry about leaving me. According to Bryce, I was a very demanding drunk."

I'm careful to lower my voice as quiet as possible at the mention of being drunk, doing a good job at making it impossible for my parents to hear

I can't help but to wonder what could have happened between Bryce and I that he didn't bother mentioning.

For example, if I went to talk to him, it must mean that we probably resolved all our issues already, rendering this morning's conversations pointless.

As soon as Charlie steps back away from me, I'm bombarded with more questions and statements, this time from my dad.

"Not to mention that you didn't even call us. All we got was a text from Bryce, not even from you. We didn't even hear anything until nearly three in the morning! Do you know how worried we were?" he starts, and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from lashing out.

This is exactly why I don't go to parties; because you never know how the night is going to end. I was lucky that it was at Bryce's house, or else I would have been stranded with no place to stay the night.

I feel the slight urge to cry as I'm mentally battling myself, and my mom seems to notice the struggle as she suddenly steps towards me, pulling me into a hug.

"I'm sorry to upset you, Lexi. We were both just terrified that you were in danger," she tells me.

Then pulling back to look me in the eyes, she continues, saying, "I don't mean to overreact, but I'm sure that you can imagine where my mind was wandering."

I nod carefully, thankful that she isn't mad at me.

It's surreal to see how far we've come these past weeks, from when we couldn't be in the same room as one another without starting an argument to bonding over our pasts.

She gives my hand a small squeeze and I give her a faint smile, then watching as she heads back over to stand by my dad. He quickly wraps an arm around her waist and she leans against his shoulder, making my brother's eyes narrow.