“To the Green Monstrosity?”

“Yeah. There’s something I need to do.”

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

I kiss him lightly. “Probably not. But if it ends like I think it will, then none of that will matter anymore.”

“I need to call Stacey,” he says. “Check in with her first.”

“She says to call her tomorrow, that Ben is fine. They had a blast on their trip. Seems Ben likes cotton candy far too much and Mickey gave him a hug.”

He smiles. “Oh yeah? And when did she say that?”

“Earlier. We talked.”

“Good?”

“Good.”

He holds me close.

“YOU SURE about this?” I ask, looking out the window at the Green Monstrosity.

He snorts. “Are you asking for me or for you?”

“For you, of course.” That’s a total lie.

“I’m fine,” he says cheerfully.

Bastard. “Lucky you,” I mutter. I get out of the SUV. He meets me around front. He kisses me once.

Then the door opens.

Bear.

I don’t know which one of us runs first. Maybe we both start at the same time. But one moment we’re watching each other, and the next we’re crashing into each other and I’m struggling to maintain composure as my brother hugs me as hard as he can. I allow myself to think how high that kite flies for just a moment, but then it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that despite everything that happened to us, Bear and I survived. We might not be perfect. Far from it, in fact. We think too much. We worry too much. We never stop talking. But that’s okay. We’re alive and there’s the possibility of a future, however uncertain it might be.

That’s enough.

“SO YOU guys are fucking now?” Bear asks evenly as he leans against the counter.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t enough. “Bear!” I yelp, shocked.

“Oh Lord,” Otter groans.

“What?” Bear asks. “If he’s old enough to make these kinds of choices, then he’s old enough for me to tell it like it is.” There’s a harshness to his voice I haven’t heard in a very long time. It doesn’t bode well for how this conversation is going to go.

“Don’t be so crass,” Otter admonishes him lightly.

“And besides,” I say, “you were only one year older than me when you and Otter started fucking.”

“That’s… you don’t….” Bear sputters. “You can’t… you watch your mouth!”

“Are you sure you want to be in this?” Otter asks Dominic. “It’s too late for me, but you still have a chance to run.”

“It really is too late for you,” Bear agrees. “You try to escape, I’ll go Annie Wilkes on your legs.”

Otter sighs. “It’s good to know that even after all this time, you can still make my heart jump with romantic threats of violence.”

“I figured that out a long time ago,” Dom says to Otter. “I probably couldn’t get away even if I tried. He’s surprisingly resourceful.”

“They both are,” Otter says. “It’s scary. You just wait.”