“Pizza?” Isaiah asked, leaning back in his seat. His hand made its way to my leg, and small prickles of heat coated my skin. “I thought you said you were cooking.”
The pizza was placed down on the table, and his shoulders sagged. “I burned it.”
Shiner let out a laugh. “I wasn’t gonna say anything, but I could smell that you burned something before I even sat down.”
Tate ran a hand through his hair. “I’m… I’ve never really cooked before. I always ate at the school.”
“Aw, look at Tate trying to be a family man.” Isaiah’s voice was on the brink of laughter, and I knew he was just giving him a hard time, but I thought it was sweet that he was actually trying. He was so unsure when he’d asked me to come to dinner, allowing me to invite Isaiah, too, which then turned into Cade, Brantley, and Shiner inviting themselves along. I was certain once Sloane and Mercedes caught wind that all the guys came, they’d want to come too. Tate was putting in an effort to be there for me, all while not pressuring me to act a certain way or to take control of my life.
“I can cook next week,” I said, biting my lip nervously when everyone stared at me. I desperately wanted to pull my hands to my lap to hide my wrists, but I promised myself I wasn’t going to hide my scars any longer. It was one more thing I could take back from Richard. He didn’t have control over me anymore, nor did I have to hide the scars that he’d put there.
“Oh, good idea. May I put in a request, Queen Rebel?”
I laughed, looking over at Shiner. The nickname started as soon as I had come back to school and everyone realized that Isaiah and I were a thing. It was so stupid, but I secretly loved it, too.
“No, you can’t.” Brantley sat back in his seat and shook his head. “No one wants to eat fucking liver and onions, Shiner. It’s gross, okay?”
“You haven’t had it prepared right, then.” Shiner clapped his hands as Isaiah sat forward and pulled a slice of pizza from the box. “I have a great idea. We should all take turns. Sunday dinner every week, but…” He held up his finger, silencing the room. To be honest, I think we all wanted to know what would come out of his mouth next, because he was so entertaining. “We switch. One week Gemma will cook. Next, I will cook. Then Brantley, Cade, Isaiah, and so on. We should have a competition. Jack can determine who is the best cook, although we all know it’s me.” He pulled a piece of pizza up to his mouth. “We all know that I’m a winner.”
Everyone laughed—even Cade, who had been very withdrawn since everything had happened. I knew it had to do with Journey, who I also hadn’t formally met yet. I desperately wanted to meet her, though. I didn’t even know her, and I wanted to wrap my arms around her to thank her for helping my brother get out of the Covens. Maybe it was a mutual thing. Or maybe Tobias helped her. Either way, I felt like she was a piece of Tobias, and I would take what I could get.
After we all got our pizza, I saw Tate casually push the newspaper underneath his plate so no one would see it. We caught eyes, and he paused, knowing that I saw it, but I gave him a little smile and shook my head. Isaiah squeezed my leg, and I began eating until Tate cleared his throat.
“So, about Sunday dinners, then. Is that…a thing?” He was looking directly at me. “Would you like to make this a reoccurring thing?”
There it was again, that small amount of unease that etched over his tired features. He was trying so hard, and it felt so good to have someone not force me into anything. He had no idea how much I respected that.
I nodded. “Sure, I think I would like that.” The relief came over him quickly, and his eyes lit up. I turned to Shiner. “But I’m not eating liver and onions.”
He threw his hands up as Isaiah laughed from beside me. “Oh, come on! What?”
The table was full of laughter and easy conversation. I couldn’t help but feel lighter sitting here, even though this moment and these relationships came from the most messed-up situation ever. It still felt good, though. I felt like I was surrounded by family, and it was then that I realized that feeling at home had nothing to do with where you grew up, how you grew up, or who raised you, and it had everything to do with where you felt the safest and the most loved.
And from where I was sitting, I felt loved and safe.
There was still a piece of me missing, but as for the pieces that were there, they were happy. I was happy and at ease. It felt so comforting that I didn’t have to watch my back and have fear creeping up behind me.
Shiner was still going on about liver and onions when there was a knock on the door. The table grew silent, and we all turned to Tate. There was a tiny crease present in between his eyebrows as he slowly stood up, placing his slice of pizza back on the table. As soon as he left the room, we all stood up, even Jack, and followed after him.
He turned around right before opening the door and rolled his eyes. “Go back to the dining room.”
None of us moved, and he sighed before reaching for the doorknob. The door swung open a second later, and Isaiah, being taller than me, must have seen who it was. His hand grabbed onto mine, and he clenched it.
“What's wrong?” My body instantly went into fear mode. My heart began to thump, and I felt hot.
I slowly peeked around Tate and sucked in every bit of air in the room. A gasp got stuck in my throat, and my legs almost gave out on me.
A voice I recognized, even in this next life, hit my ears. “I think I’m ready to take you up on your offer now. I think I’m ready to see my sister.”
Tate took a step back, and there, in the doorway, with the sun setting in the distance, was my twin brother holding a duffel bag over his shoulder.
“Tobias.” My whisper was the only thing floating in between us. It seemed everyone was holding their breath.
My eyes watered as Tobias took a step forward, and my heart leapt into the air. He looked different. So different. He was no longer a boy, and he was no longer the light that I grasped onto in some of the darkest times of our lives.
As soon as he was in front of me, he said, “Hey, sis.”
My hand slowly fell from Isaiah’s, and I shakily reached up and touched the side of Tobias’ face. There was a tiny thin scar that cut through his eyebrow that I zeroed in on as my palm collided with his skin. My chest caved, and I wanted to sob. He was so different.
“What did he do to you?” I whispered, dropping my hand to wrap my arms around him. At first, he was tense, so tense that I could feel every hardened muscle along his stomach, but eventually, his arms wrapped around me.
His whisper was hardly present. I doubted anyone could hear it but me. “I could ask you the same.”
I pulled back slowly, ignoring the tears on my face. Tobias was free of any emotion, but I wasn’t expecting much. “We can only go up from here, right?”
He showed me a tired smile. “Yeah.”
A few more moments passed before Tate closed the door, grabbing Tobias’ bag. “Well...do you want some pizza?”
Tobias let go of me and took a hefty step back. “Sure.”
And one by one, we all shuffled back into the dining room. Isaiah’s hand was back in mine, and a soft kiss pelted the side of my head. I peered up at him, and he gave me a reassuring smile.
Things were far from being perfect, but that was okay.
Perfect was overrated, and this right here was better than anything I’d ever had before.
The End