“She abandoned us both a long time ago. I’ve come to terms with it. Owen hasn’t. He still believes our mom loves us and wants to take care of us. He’s young, he’ll figure it out someday.”
The bitterness in Fable’s voice makes me hurt for her. We both come from really screwed-up situations. With parents who don’t seem to give a shit about us, but in radically different ways. I wish I could help heal her heart. She may say the way her mother treats her and Owen doesn’t bother her, but I know she has to be lying. It probably hurts like hell.
My father’s indifference and neglect hurts me to do this day. My mom’s death—I sometimes feel like she abandoned me, and it wasn’t even her fault. That’s how irrational my thinking is.
And I can’t even go into what Adele’s done to me. I’m completely f**ked from the mind games she played on me for far too long.
The moment we pull into a parking slot, Fable’s already out of the truck, running toward her apartment building. I follow behind her, taking a little more time, only because I want her to get in a few private moments with her brother first.
When I finally walk into the apartment, I’m shocked. The place is literally empty. No furniture remains in the living room. The table and chairs are gone from the small dining nook. Every cabinet door is hanging open in the kitchen.
Owen and Fable are leaning against the kitchen counter. She has her arms around him and his face his pressed against her shoulder. Tears are streaming down her face but she doesn’t look sad.
She looks majorly pissed.
“I hate her,” she says vehemently. “I can’t believe she would do this. She took my bed, Drew. She took Owen’s too. And all the furniture in our rooms. It’s like they dumped out all our stuff that was in the drawers and left everything in a pile on our floor.”
“How could she have done this, hauled everything out of here so fast?” I glance around the empty room, amazed that everything’s gone. I’ve only been inside her apartment once but I remember it crammed packed with a bunch of stuff.
“She has friends. Or I’m sure her loser boyfriend has a ton of friends. I bet they plied them with beer and they hauled everything out as fast as they could.” She shakes her head. “Owen and I both left before six.”
And it’s past eleven now. “So they had at least five hours.”
“It’s amazing how fast you can work when you need to.” Her mouth screws up into an angry twist.
My arms literally ache to comfort her. Pull her into a hug and tell her everything’s going to be okay. But she’s too busy taking care of her brother and right now he’s her number one priority.
Feeling helpless, I walk down the hall and glance into Fable’s room. There’s nothing but a pile of clothes and miscellaneous stuff lying in the floor as she mentioned. Same with Owen’s room, though his is an incredible mess. Her mom’s room is completely empty.
This is truly some of the craziest shit I’ve ever seen.
An idea comes over me so perfect I stride back into the living area, excited to tell her. It’s the perfect solution to their now very major problem.
“I want you to move in with me.”
Chapter Seventeen
True love isn’t easy, but it must be fought for. Once you find it, it can never be replaced. – Unknown
Fable
Shock washes over me at Drew’s words. “You can’t be serious.” Owen pulls out of my embrace, his body stiff. His eyes are swollen and his cheeks red from the crying. He was in a total state of panic when he called. So freaked out over what Mom did, I could hardly understand him at first.
“I’m dead serious.” Drew takes a few steps toward me but stops just before he reaches me. He can probably feel Owen’s animosity. It’s rolling off him in huge waves. “I have the space. Owen can even have his own room.”
“Where will Fabes sleep?” Owen asks, his look pointed, his expression fiercely protective.
I rest my hand on his tense arm. “Stop. He’s trying to be nice.”
“Or he’s just using you for free sex. Maybe make you his little woman once you move in with him and not let you go anywhere or do anything. Don’t do it. I don’t want to move in with him,” Owen says vehemently.
I don’t quite understand Owen’s hostility. Though maybe it all stems from when I was an emotional wreck after I came back from Carmel and Drew ditched me. He’s run before…
Just like Mom.
I’m tempted, though. So, so tempted to say yes. But I need to prove my independence, not move from my mom’s to Drew’s without every experiencing time living on my own.
“You don’t have to make the decision now,” Drew says softly, his gaze pleading. “But you don’t want to stay the night here. The place is empty. There’s no bed to sleep on.”
He’s right. Even though I know Mom is responsible for taking everything and we weren’t robbed or anything crazy, I’d feel creepy staying the night here. The apartment feels too hollow. Almost violated.
“I don’t want to stay here,” I murmur to Owen, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. “Besides, we have nowhere else to go. His apartment is nice and he has a spare bedroom.”
“I’m sure his apartment is badass. I still don’t want to stay there,” Owen retorts. He’s so angry, so hurt by what she’s done to us, my heart breaks for him.
“Come on. Do this for me.” Owen glances up, his gaze meeting mine. “I love him,” I whisper. “He’d do anything to help me. To help us. I know it.”