Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 75

(Thomas's POV)

The night air was crisp and carried the faint scent of pine and damp grass. Angel sat beside me on the porch steps and her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulder. It was the same spot where everything between us had changed and now it felt like a fragile bubble that could burst with one wrong move.

She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and stared out at the darkness. I couldn't help but watch her, the curve of her profile lit by the pale moonlight. She was stunning, but it wasn't just that. There was something about Angel that made me want to protect her even when she pretended she didn't need it.

I leaned back and let my shoulder brush against hers. "You always look like you're carrying the weight of the world. Do you know that?"

She glanced at me and her lips curved into a small smile. "Maybe I am."

Her voice was light but I could tell there was more to it. There always was.

It wasn't lost on me that things with Hendrix were far from settled. The guy had issues-no, we had issues-but I wasn't about to let that ruin what I had with Angel. If anything, it made me more determined to hold on to her even if I didn't know how long we'd have in a place like this.

I shifted and rested my hands on my knees. "You ever think about what happens after this place?"

Angel turned to me and her brow furrowed slightly. "After?"

"Yeah," I said and stared out at the empty yard. "Do we go back to who we were before? Or does this place leave its mark on us forever?"

She didn't answer right away and I didn't push. Maybe I didn't want to know the answer.

•

(Angel's POV)

I couldn't focus.

my mom's voice in the back of my mind, her absence, the journal that was no longer

just about Thomas. It was everything. The way we had let things spiral between us, the way we had crossed lines that could never be uncrossed. And

noise and

"Yeah?"

softly as he leaned in.

my head. "It's

wasn't nothing. It was

called in weeks. Not once. It wasn't like her. And even before this silence from her? I hadn't answered her calls or texts but that didn't stop the guilt from creeping in. And then there was

right. But now it was gone and I couldn't even bring myself to tell the others.

•

(Thomas's POV)

Her silence was deafening.

to meet her eyes. "Angel, come

in that

of my mind that she was thinking

have anything to do with that

knew I

.

(Angel's POV)

brushed against mine as he leaned in slightly, his eyes narrowing with concern. "Angel, I'm not stupid. I know something's

my heart raced. "It's not what you

me what it is," he

twisted my fingers together in my lap. "I can't.

his hand on the step between us. "You've used that word

I whispered

he shook his head. "Not when it's clearly

in his gaze. "It's about the journal, okay? But