\u201cWhen are we going to talk about all of it? About how you ghosted me after our parents died? About how you disappeared for months\u00a0<\/p>\n
when I needed you most? About when\u2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOrion!\u201d Tristan cut in, his voice sharp. \u201cI\u2019m not doing this here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, you are. I\u2019ve giving you enough time, haven\u2019t I?\u201d Orion shot back, and I could hear his alpha authority creeping into his voice now. \u201cAthena is unconscious for the next few hours, and this conversation is long overdue. We\u2019re talking about it. Right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their voices clashed like thunder, raw and heavy with years of unspoken pain. Things were getting completely out of control and I knew that if I didn\u2019t stop this soon, they were going to say things that couldn\u2019t be taken back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had to stop this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With every ounce of strength I had left, I Slowly and painfully manage to crack my eyes open. Sunlight was streaming through the curtains, hitting me directly in the face and making me wince.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was still in my room at Tristan\u2019s place, but there was an IV line in my arm. How long had I been unconscious?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I checked the clock on the nightstand and felt shock run through me like electricity. It was past three in the afternoon. I\u2019d never slept this long after taking the pills, not even during the worst days with Daxon when I\u2019d used them regularly just to cope with the constant\u00a0<\/p>\n
fear and pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The medication had always helped me sleep through the worst of it. The pills helped me calm down, helped me forget about the physical and emotional pain, helped me escape into dreamless oblivion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But last night had been a mistake. I shouldn\u2019t have taken them, not after promising myself I\u2019d stay clean. The doctor in London had warned me about the side effects, about how easy it would be to accidentally take too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I disconnected the IV and slipped on my flip\u2013flops as I headed toward the door, their voices becoming clearer as I got closer to the\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright,\u201d Tristan said. \u201cWhat do you want to talk about, then?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s talk about how you ghosted me for months after our parents\u2018 funeral,\u201d Orion shot back. \u201cI was hurting too. I lost them too. And then my only sister left to \u2018figure out life.\u2018 I couldn\u2019t stop her, I had to be the older brother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I froze. My hand on the doorknob. My heart cracked, the guilt hit me like a physical blow, making it hard to breathe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion\u2019s voice broke as he continued. \u201cWe all lost our parents,\u201d Orion continued, his voice thick with emotion. \u201cWe were all supposed to be there for each other. Mom told me on her deathbed that she knew I\u2019d take good care of you guys. How do you think I feel right now,\u00a0<\/p>\n
knowing I failed her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:38 Fri, Jan 2 d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 49\u00a0<\/p>\n
low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to hurt you, man. I just\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to burden you, when you were dealing with so much already.\u201d Tristan said, voice\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHere you go again,\u201d Orion interrupted, and his voice was breaking now in a way that made my heart shatter. \u201cWho am I to you,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan? Who do you see me as?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d never heard Orion sound like this\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013\u00a0<\/p>\n
so lost, so vulnerable, so completely stripped of the strong facade he always wore. He\u2019d always been the mature one among us, organized and careful and thoughtful. Our parents used to say he was born to be a leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But hearing someone I\u2019d always seen as an unshakeable pillar of strength sound so broken, so hurt, made me realize how selfish I\u2019d been. How much damage my running away had caused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What have I done? I\u2019d left thinking only about my own pain, my own need to escape. I\u2019d never stopped to consider how it felt for him to lose his parents and then watch his little sister abandon the family when they needed each other most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019d lost his parents too, there weren\u2019t just mine. And we were supposed to heal together, to support each other through the grief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, I\u2019d failed them both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMan, you know you\u2019re my brother,\u201d Tristan said, his voice thick with emotion. \u201cYou know I care about you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why do you always push me away when you\u2019re in pain?\u201d Orion demanded. \u201cWhy do you run from me the same way she did?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why don\u2019t you ever just talk to me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
If we excuse Athena as a child what about? Aren\u2019t you supposed to communicate with me? Why do you always push me away when you\u2019re hurting? Why do you always run from me instead of talking to me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So many why\u2019s, but that could show how much he was hurting. How much he\u2019d had to carry the pain before speaking out, because Orion hardly calls anyone out this way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do talk to you,\u201d Tristan protested, but even he sounded unsure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do?\u201d Orion\u2019s laugh was bitter. \u201cThen what about Jess?\u201d Orion\u2019s voice dropped, just a whisper now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jess?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan let out a grunt, like he\u2019d just been stabbed in the gut. I could hear his footsteps\u2013angry, pacing. Like he wanted to punch\u00a0<\/p>\n
something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing to talk about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean? You lost your pregnant mate and you think there\u2019s nothing to talk about?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:38 Fri, Jan 2 d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 49\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOrion.\u201d Tristan was genuinely pissed right now, I think he might shift if care is not taken.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand what you\u2019re going through, I know it isn\u2019t easy. But you\u2019d do the same if I was in your shoe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
46\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you\u2019re not in my shoe\u2018 Tristan voice drip with thick malice. I think Orion would have ended the conversation when Tristan asked\u00a0<\/p>\n
him to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This won\u2019t end well, I might even witness the two Alpha throw fist after many years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, Tristan and Orion used to fight a lot. Our parents would always separate them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But one day, they tried separating them but they refused. So they left them to fight, I think they were like seventeen then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They fought for hours none stop, our parents acted like they were not aware of their fights. When they got tired of fighting, they both\u00a0<\/p>\n
came inside to apologize to our parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since then, they\u2019ve never gotten into another fist fight again, but I think today might be an exception.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not the one that lost his pub. You\u2019re not the one that had to bury his pregnant mate\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit me like a freight train, blood drained from my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All the air left my lungs at once, and I had to grab the doorframe to keep from collapsing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan had lost a mate. A pregnant mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A gasp escaped my lips before I could stop it, loud enough that I was sure they\u2019d heard me through the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 49 \u201cWhen are we going to talk about all of it? About […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}