Until May (Until Her/Him)

“Bye.” I frown at my phone, then bite back a curse when my cell rings and my sister’s number pops up on the screen. I don’t want to answer it, but with her never calling me, I slide my finger across the screen.

“Bridgett,” I answer, hearing someone crying as I put the call on speaker. “What happened?”

“I… I left Conner,” she sobs. “I n-need to go somewhere. I… I can’t be here when he gets b-back.”

“Where are you now?”

“In my car, i-in our drive-driveway. He… he said he w-was going for a drive.”

“All right, take a breath and calm down. You don’t need to be driving while you’re so upset. Let me get dressed, and I’ll come pick you up. I haven’t been staying at my place. You can stay there.”

“Thank… thank you.” She sniffles.

“I’ll be there soon. Just sit tight.”

“Hurry,” she whispers.

“I will.” I hang up the call and start to turn for the bedroom but stop when I find May standing in the middle of the living room with a blanket wrapped around her.

“I’ll go with you. You can drive her car, and I’ll drive mine.”

“Thanks, baby,” I whisper, overwhelmed that after the way my sister treated her, she’s still willing to help her out. With a nod, she turns for the bedroom, and we both hurry to get dressed and are in her car in less than ten minutes.

When we pull up to my sister’s house, I lean over to kiss May, then hop out of her car and head to the driver side door of my sister’s Mercedes. When I knock on the window, her puffy red eyes meet mine through the glass, and even though we don’t get along, I fucking despise seeing her so upset.

“Hey.” I open her door, then accept her weight as she falls against me.

“He wants a divorce,” she whispers, then she starts to laugh, which freaks me the fuck out. “He’s cheated on me constantly since we got together, but he is the one who asked me for a divorce.” She crumbles in my arms and begins to sob and I wonder why she said she left him earlier if he’s the one who asked her for a divorce. “I ha-hate him s-so much.”

“Do you have some stuff packed?” I ask, pulling her from the car, and she nods.

“All right.” I hold onto her as I walk her around to the passenger side of the car. Once I have her in her seat and buckled in, I jog around then look at May through the windshield of her car that is still parked behind my sister’s, motioning for her to follow me. After I get her nod, I get in behind the wheel and then put the car in reverse.

“I’m sure your girlfriend is loving this,” my sister whispers, sounding miserable, and I glance over at her, the anger I felt at the gala coming back full force.

“You’re wrong. She hates that you’re hurting,” I bite out while backing out of the driveway. “She doesn’t fucking get off on other people’s pain like you and Mom do.”

“That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair is the way you treated her without even fucking knowing one goddamn thing about her,” I snap, twisting my hands on the steering wheel.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, and I want to believe that she does feel bad, but I know right now she is only concerned for herself. She knows that if I stop the car and get out, she’s on her own. She won’t go stay with one of her uptight friends, because she’d have to admit that things weren’t as perfect between her and her husband as she made them all believe. And she won’t ask to stay at our parents’ house, because the first thing our mother would do is tell her she needs to go back to her husband and figure things out.

A long fifteen minutes later, I park in front of my place, then get out from behind the wheel and walk around the back of the car to the trunk, opening it up. As May pulls into the space next to us, I drag out the two large suitcases and set them on the ground.

“Is she okay?” she asks, and I shake my head, watching her lips pressing together.

“Stay in the car, babe. I’ll deal with her.”

“When are you going to learn that I really don’t like being told what to do?” she asks, spinning on her heels and heading to the passenger side door.

“May,” I call out, and she ignores me while opening the door, and I bite back a curse, because even in my sister’s state, I will chew her ass out if she tries to disrespect my girl right now.

“Hey, let’s get you settled.” May starts to help her from the car, then her eyes widen when Bridgett wraps her arms around her and begins to sob. “It’s okay.” She pats her back awkwardly. “Let’s get you inside.” Her eyes come to me. “Can I have the key?”

“Yeah.” I hand it over to her, then watch her and my sister walk to my front door while I drag both her bags with me into the house. When I get inside, my sister is on the couch, and May is in the kitchen going through the cabinets, so I take the bags back to the bedroom and roll them into the closet.

“What are you searching for, doll?” I ask her as I stop at the mouth of the kitchen.

“Looking for alcohol,” she mutters, closing one cabinet, then opening another.

“There’s a bottle of rum under the sink.” I walk into the kitchen and pull it out from where I put it when I moved in, and she takes it from me.

“Thanks, do you have a glass?”

“A coffee mug.” I shrug, getting one down for her, and she takes it, then pours a huge glug of the alcohol into the cup, shaking her head and adding a little more. When she’s done, she hands me the bottle back, then leans up and kisses the edge of my jaw before leaving the kitchen.

“Here, drink this,” I hear her say to my sister, but with the layout of the kitchen and the high bar, I can’t see into the living room. So I walk around the edge of the counter and find Bridgett with the cup in her hands while May sits next to her and rubs her back.

“This is so gross.” Bridgett coughs after taking a drink.

“Sorry, it’s all your brother has. As you can see, he’s a minimalist.” She grins at me, and Bridgett laughs, then looks around before meeting my gaze.

“Do you even live here?”

“I’ve been staying with May.”