I’m tired, though. Today has been weirdly draining. I’m not in a panic, not yet. I can still breathe, so at least there’s that. But I can’t help but feel the rug has been pulled out from under me, and I’ve somehow tumbled down a rabbit hole where I’m late, I’m late, and nothing makes sense because it’s all brightly colored and upside down.

If I could just find some control, everything would be okay. I know it would.

I slide off my sandals and curl my toes in the grass. It’s cool against my skin.

“Hey,” someone says from behind me.

“Hey, yourself,” I say back.

Bear stands next to me and brushes his arm against mine. I feel better now that it’s just the two of us. “You sure about this?”

“About what?”

“You know.”

Yeah. “Honestly?”

“Sure, Kid.”

“I want everything to go back the way it was.”

He laughs quietly. “It wasn’t always that great.”

I nudge his shoulder. “We had our moments, you and me.”

“We did, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, Papa Bear.”

“I’ll kill him, you know.”

This startles me. “What? Who?”

“Dominic.” Bear’s voice has gone hard.

“Bear—”

“If he hurts you,” Bear says, “I’ll kill him. I don’t care that he’s family. I don’t care that he’s one of us. You were mine first, and I swear on all that I have, if he does you wrong, it’ll be the last thing he does.”

I’m absurdly touched, even if his anger is misplaced. “Don’t think it’ll come to that,” I say roughly. “It’s not him, you know. It’s me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

I laugh. “That’s not even remotely true.”

He moves then to stand in front of me, facing each other and eye-to-eye. I don’t remember when that happened, the moment he didn’t have to look down anymore. It’s almost like looking into a mirror. It’s odd, really. But it’s home, too, so I don’t question it.

“It is,” he insists, his eyes flashing angrily. I don’t know who he’s pissed off at right now, me, Dom, himself, or this whole situation. “You are just the way you need to be. If anybody tries to tell you otherwise, I’ll knock them flat on their ass.”

“Sure, Bear,” I say, because I have no other words.

He nods and takes a step back. His eyes soften and a faraway look crosses his face. “I never thought we’d get to this point,” he says.

“What point?”

He shrugs. “Here. Now. You and me. You… you’ve grown up.”

“Everyone does, Bear,” I say lightly.

“I know. It’s just that….” He shakes his head. “I just thought there’d be more time. I thought I’d have longer.”

I roll my eyes. “We only have the rest of our lives. You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m not leaving forever. It’s just a week.”

A small smile curves his lips. “Yeah?”

“We’re brothers, right?”

“Sure, Kid. Brothers.”

“And brothers stick together. No matter what.”

“No matter what.”