I Never Expected You (I Never 2)

Based on how tense he is and the serious look he’s giving me over his shoulder, he isn’t kidding. My hands drop from his body, and I stare at him. I begin to back up away from him.

“What? When? Is she okay? Wait, when did she call? Again, it’s not even seven in the morning.”

“Last night.”

Why is he acting all calm about this? Dani called for the first time after all these years, and he’s acting as if it isn’t a big deal.

“Last night? And you’re now just telling me?”

“You were asleep.”

“And? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I’m sorry. I was…I don’t know, processing it. I’m still trying to figure out if I dreamed it or if it really happened. I’ve looked at my phone close to ten times to make sure her name was on my call list. We had fallen asleep early, and I woke up when I heard my phone ring. I just answered it, and the moment I heard her voice, I just felt so relieved. I finally heard her voice, Hails. I’ve been waiting for years to hear her voice again, and I finally did.”

Is he for real right now? I am very happy for him and happy that something or someone knocked some fucking sense into my best friend, but at the same time all of the emotions I’ve felt and kept inside when she left are rising to the surface, ready to explode.

I soften my voice in hopes of preventing an argument before morning coffee. My mom always said nothing good ever happens before morning coffee.

“So, what did she want?” I decide now is as good a time as ever to get up out of bed. I make the bed while Zach searches for a shirt in the drawer.

“She wants to come home.”

Completely perplexed, I ask, “Did she say why?”

“No, just that she wants to come home.”

Home. This must be a joke. Home? Who is she and what has she done with my best friend? The same friend who left home without even looking. She abandoned us—abandoned me. When I needed her most, she up and left.

“Home? As in she’s moving back to Annapolis?”

I walk over to my dresser and pull out a pair of jeans and a top. Zach doesn’t answer.

“Zach?”

His eyes finally meet mine.

“No, she’s actually going to stay here for a little bit. I told her I would set up the guest room for her.”

As I pull up my jeans, I freeze before buttoning them. “What?! Are you kidding me right now? What does Kyler say about all this? She calls, and all is forgiven? What, are the four of us just going to play house?”

“Well, I don’t know. We didn’t talk much about her plans, and I didn’t say anything about having a roommate. I haven’t seen Ky yet to talk to him about it, but, I mean, I’m sure he’s cool with it.”

I completely avoid the part where he made this decision without consulting the other people who live in this house.

“You didn’t say anything about having a roommate, meaning Kyler? Or a roommate, meaning me?”

He steps up to me, running his thumb against my cheek. “I’m sorry. I was just so shocked when she called that I didn’t think of what to say to catch her up on my life and all she missed out on. And then once she said she wanted to come home, I didn’t ask why. I didn’t even care. It was just the fact that she’s coming back that I was focused on.”

Do I mean that little that he wouldn’t tell her? I feel the room beginning to cave in. I step back from him.

“Has she even called your parents? Do they know she’s moving back?”

He looks down at the floor, pretending to push something around with his foot. I know that means no, and I sure as hell don’t have any sort of call or text from her either.

“Okay, let me make sure I understand this. You’re just going to let her waltz right back into your life as if she hadn’t just left us all?”

“She’s my sister, Hails. I would do anything to have her back.”