Page 117 of Speechless
A whimper came out of me, tears rushing to the surface. I pushed them back. Swallowed. Sighed. He wouldn’t leave until I answered. When I looked through the peephole, his hands were braced on either side of the door frame, head bowed, shoulders weighted like the world was on them.
“Why are you here?”
His head snapped up, and I had to be imagining the relief on his face. “Because I need to make sure you’re okay. And I need to apologize.”
“Okay.”
I heard him swallow. “Will you let me in?”
Of course I wanted to let him in. But it wouldn’t change anything. He read my hesitation. “Please, Rin. Let me apologize to you and not your door.”
I opened the door, and he studied my face. I knew what he was seeing. Puffy red eyes and messy hair. Messy apartment. Messy everything.
Leaving the door open, I went back to the living room and kept sweeping. The door closed softly. His footsteps approached, and he sighed. “They did a number on this place, didn’t they? We should have helped you clean this up before now. Helped you get the rest of your stuff.”
When I still said nothing, he sighed. “I’m sorry, Trinity.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. No matter the situation, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. Especially about something like your meds. I—” Hescrubbed a hand over his face. “I was afraid for you, and it got the better of me. I’m so sorry.”
Keeping my eyes on the ground, I nodded once. “Thank you.”
He came closer, stopping a few feet away, watching me. Finally, I looked up and couldn’t interpret his expression.
“Thank you,” I said again.
“What can I do to help clean this up?”
“Nothing, it’s fine.”
“I’d like to help if I can.”
Somehow, I managed to smile, even though I felt like I was shattering all over again. “It’s okay, Brooks. You apologized. The rest doesn’t matter anymore. You don’t have to clean just to make me feel better.”
Brooks frowned. “What do you mean, the rest of it doesn’t matter?”
I shrugged. “You came. You apologized. I’ll make sure to get my stuff when I can. You don’t have to worry.”
His mouth dropped open briefly. “Rin, sweetheart, what are you talking about?”
My throat closed, and I had to look away. “I know we’re done. It’s okay. I just need to be alone now.”
He came straight to me and took the broom out of my hand. “Is that what you want? To be done?”
I said nothing, becauseno, of course not. But it didn’t matter. I wrapped my arms around myself out of instinct. It did nothing to ease the pain.
“I didn’t think so. You’ll have to tell us you never want to see us again to be done, and even then, we still might try to convince you.”
My head snapped up. “You still want me?”
Shock shattered across his expression. “Of course we want you. Of courseIwant you. I can’t think of a single thing that would ever make me not want you. Why would you say that?”
Tears were welling again, and I fought them back. “But I yelled at you.”
It felt like I watched his heart break in front of my eyes.
“Trinity.” He let the broom fall and reached for me, pulling me in, and I let him. Taking my face in his hands, he pressed a kiss to the center of my forehead, and I broke. I felt him shaking just like I was. “Baby, I was out of line and an asshole. Not only did you have every right to respond that way, you were right to do it. If I’d known you walked out because you thought we wouldn’twantyou after that, I never would have let you take a step.”
