Chapter 26: Chapter 24 - Poetic Justice

Adrian

I wake up early in the morning, feeling completely rested despite the insane weekend we’ve just had. It’s Monday so we should be going to school today, although it’s been the last thing on my mind. Sofia’s alarm hasn’t gone off yet and she’s still sleeping, looking as beautiful as always. She ended up falling asleep in my room last night and I didn’t have the heart to take her back to hers.

I know I’m probably abusing the code of conduct with her parents, but it’s extremely difficult not being able to be with her and my protective instincts have completely taken over. Last night is not necessarily something I want to be happening with her parents under the same roof, but the circumstances have just played out that way with everything that’s been going on.

The tone of Sofia’s alarm sounds and I quickly turn over to the nightstand to silence it. She sighs against the pillow and rubs the sleep out of her eyes.

She peeks over at me curiously. “You were awake already?”

“Yeah,” I respond, tracing my fingers down her cheek. I love the sight of her sleepy face in the morning and I don’t think I’ll be getting over it anytime soon.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”

“I thought you could use the extra rest,” I shrug. I have been overworking her lately and I would feel bad had it not been the best experiences of my life. I’ve already made love to her four times in less than 48 hours so I really need to get it under control.

But that’s not the only reason I didn’t wake her and I hesitate whether I should volunteer the extra information. “I was also kind of afraid to,” I end up admitting.

“Why?” she asks curiously.

“Because of what happened yesterday. I thought it would be best to wait until you woke up on your own or with the alarm.”

Her face falls and she frowns. “I think that was an outlier. I hadn’t had a nightmare like that in a while, but I guess they pop in every once in a while.”

“But I think I provoked it or made it worse because I was touching you,” I respond, still feeling remorse about it.

“Adrian, that wasn’t your fault. I can clearly remember another time you woke me up on the couch and that didn’t happen. It actually felt really nice that time. Maybe yesterday was because of the different setting or something.”

I sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s best if I refrain from doing it for now until you get completely used to sleeping together in the same bed.”

“But I love when you wake me up like that,” she says pouting.

“Trust me, I love it too. Let’s just give it some time, okay?” I say wrapping my arms around her. I don’t like the idea of it either, but I couldn’t bear it if she had another nightmare and I provoked it somehow.

“Okay. Can we go eat? I’m starving,” she says, completely changing the subject.

“You starving at this hour? Never thought I’d see the day.”

“That’s your fault. I’ve been burning a lot of calories because of you.”

I smile at her, so glad that her appetite is back in full swing and possibly even increasing. “Okay, let’s go feed you then.”

“You’re gonna make me overweight now, you know,” Sofia jokes as we head towards the kitchen.

“Well, my plan all along was to make you nice and plump so I can eat you afterwards like the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel,” I joke back.

“Adrian!” she giggles as I pick her up and pretend to bite her neck.

I settle her down on the kitchen counter as she continues laughing. “How messed up is that story? I don’t know how children don’t get traumatized by it.”

Someone clears their throat and I turn around to see Sofia’s parents standing in the far corner of the kitchen, staring right at us. Judging by the expressions on their faces, I think they just witnessed that whole interaction.

I quickly bring Sofia down from the counter and settle her by my side. “Um … good morning,” I say a bit nervously.

“I’m afraid we have some news to share about Uncle Frank,” Mr. Durant says quite seriously. His expression is somber and he has dark circles under his eyes. I look towards Mrs. Durant and hers are completely bloodshot. By the looks of it I don’t think either of them got much sleep last night.

“What’s happened?” Sofia asks.

He sighs and I immediately grab her hand. “After I made some phone calls last night, the police went to his house to arrest him for interrogation … and he was found dead from alcohol poisoning.”

Sofia squeezes my hand and I bring her closer to me to make sure she doesn’t fall. She ends up turning around towards me. Her face has gone completely pale and I think she may pass out. I wrap my arms around her and she buries her head in my chest.

I end up picking her up and sitting her down on one of the stools. I hand her a glass of orange juice and she drinks it with trembling hands.

“How? Do they know how it happened?” she finally asks.

Mr. Durant shakes his head. “They still need to perform the autopsy, but it appears it happened Saturday night or early Sunday morning.”

“Was it … intentional? Or an accident?” her voice quivers.

“Sofia, please don’t blame yourself for this,” Mr. Durant says worriedly. “But with the amount of alcohol he consumed it had to be intentional.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Sofia whispers.

“Honey, it wasn’t your fault,” she immediately responds. “He was a sick man and battled alcoholism for a very long time.”

I squeeze her hand, trying to reassure her, and she takes a deep breath. “Did he say anything during lunch on Saturday or before he left?” she asks.

“No, honey. But looking back at it, he was incredibly quiet that day. I don’t think he had expected Adrian to be here, and when you both left the table your father and I were talking about how much you had changed for the better and it seemed to be developing from your relationship with Adrian. So maybe he felt threatened or couldn’t cope with the guilt of what he had done to you any longer. We’ll never know, but sometimes things happen for a reason.”

Sofia sighs heavily and I soothe her back. I can’t help but think that son of a bitch got what he deserved. Personally, I think he felt threatened and worried that Sofia would tell me what he had done to her. Well, turns out he was right and decided to take the easy way out before he ended up in prison and shamed from the entire family.

Honestly, I feel incredibly relieved and I think this is going to be a huge weight off of Sofia after the shock wears out. Although I’m not sure if she’ll ever get true closure from it.

“I need to go make some more phone calls before I head to the office, but if you two want to take the day off that is completely fine by me,” Mr. Durant says.

Sofia nods and she stands up to give both her parents a hug. Usually it’s the other way around, and I can see they’re both surprised by the gesture.

“Everything is going to be fine now, Sofia. I promise,” Mr. Durant tells her.

“Thank you, daddy,” she responds quietly.

I almost choke at hearing her say those words. I’ve certainly never heard her call him that in all the years I’ve known her.

“What’s going on?” Nico says, suddenly entering the room.

Sofia turns around and shakes her head. “Can I eat first? I’m so hungry,” she complains.

Mr. Durant actually chuckles and motions for Nico to follow him and Mrs. Durant out of the kitchen. “C’mon. Let’s give your sister a chance to get nice and plump for Adrian,” he says.

My jaw drops at his exact use of my words from earlier and I think I blush for the first time in my life. Nico shoots me a confused look as they exit the kitchen, and I’m so glad that Mr. Durant is going to be the one to deliver the news to him. I can’t imagine what kind of reaction he’ll let out, and frankly, I’m very terrified of it.

Half an hour later we’re back in my room looking at universities in DC for Sofia when Nico walks in silently. His eyes are red and by the look on his face, I’m positive he’s been crying. The only other time I’ve seen him cry was when Ana broke up with him and even then it seemed more anger than sadness. This is different. He looks completely gutted and I can already tell he blames himself for what happened.

He approaches Sofia and wordlessly envelops her in a tight hug. He doesn’t let her go for a long time, and for a moment I consider if I should leave my room to give them some privacy, but I can’t seem to move either.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sofia.”

“Nico, stop. I don’t want to hear it. It’s not your fault,” she replies.

“I should have known. All those times you came into my room … I thought they were just nightmares.”

“You were just a kid, Nico. We both were. I didn’t even understand it.”

“I hate him. I fucking hate him. I wish he were still alive so I could kill him myself.”

Sofia grimaces, but I don’t blame Nico for saying something like that. When I heard the news, the same thing crossed my mind.

“Nico, it’s over now. We don’t have to worry about him ever again.”

“God, I wish we could have been poor and lived in a shack so we would have had to sleep in the same bed all the time when we were little.”

Sofia surprisingly chuckles at his comment. “That sounds really weird, Nico. But I guess I follow your logic.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. It was just you and me for the longest time and I … I failed you, Sofia. I would have done anything. I would have traded places with you. Anything, so you wouldn’t have gotten hurt,” he says, tears falling from his eyes.

“Nico, no. Don’t say that. It’s not true.”

He wipes his face and sighs. “I’m sorry about your nickname. I’ll try not to call you that again.”

It’s like he’s not even hearing anything Sofia is saying and is simply letting everything off of his chest. No filter whatsoever.

“And I’m sorry I would complain about your feet all the time. They’re really not that smelly,” he sniffles.

“Nico! For the millionth time, my feet are not smelly!” Sofia complains, a tear running down her cheek.

“Back me up here, Adrian,” Nico says, addressing me for the first time since he entered the room.

I shake my head, my own eyes suddenly filling with tears. “They’re just really cold. Bad circulation,” I whisper hoarsely.

Sofia turns around and looks at me in shock. “Adrian, no. Not you too.”

“Sorry. I can’t help it.”

I’ve already had two days to process this, but it’s still difficult to watch people’s reactions and this one was definitely the hardest. She leans over to hug me, and I immediately feel better once she’s in my arms. It’s crazy how she’s the one consoling us after reducing every single person in this house to tears.

“Can we change the subject now?” Sofia pleads.

“One last thing. It’s more of a heads up, but just so you know, mom is making us all go to therapy, so be prepared,” Nico says.

Sofia makes a displeased face, probably the same look I had when Mrs. Durant informed me of the same thing after my parents died.

“Don’t worry. Dr. Lucic really grows on you after a while,” I tell them.

They both groan, but I know they won’t be complaining about it after the first few sessions with him. I actually looked forward to them every week.

Nico plops down in between us with a heavy sigh. “So you guys are really moving, huh?” he asks, signaling towards the laptop next to me with our current research.

“Yeah, in the summer. I just need to start working on my applications,” Sofia answers.

“The house is gonna be so empty now. Next year is gonna blow,” Nico says sadly.

I frown, thinking about how he’s practically going to be on his own once we leave. I wish there were a way he could come with us too, but he’s basically in the middle of his degree and still has two years left of college. “We’ll come visit every chance we get,” I tell him. “Plus, you’ll have Ana. You guys can come visit us too.”

Nico stops short and shoots me a look that tells me that something has happened. He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair.

“What happened, bud?”

“It’s a long story. I don’t want to bother you guys with it,” he responds.

“Nico, you can tell us. We want to know,” Sofia says concerned.

He looks towards me and I also nod for him to continue.

He takes a deep breath and shakes his head again. “It’s over. For good this time. I … broke up with her.”

“What happened?” Sofia asks worriedly.

“She lied to me. Ruiz never took advantage of her that time. It was mutual, which means she did cheat on me. Apparently they used to know each other as kids and had lost contact over the years. Some sob story I didn’t care to hear the rest of,” he explains.

“Nico that’s just crazy,” Sofia says. “Why didn’t she tell you in the first place?”

“I know, but either way I should’ve known. She had started acting really distant at the beginning of last semester, which was when Ruiz joined the team. I guess they started seeing each other whenever we would have parties after our matches, and even that night they hooked up we had fought because she said I was being possessive and needed space.”

“But why lie about if she really wanted to be with him?” I ask.

“I don’t know, I guess she was scared or felt guilty. Ruiz is no saint either. She told me he had a lot of baggage and his family was going through some stuff, so I suppose she saw me as the safer option. Either way, she played both of us.”

“I’m sorry, Nico. You deserve so much better than that,” Sofia tells him.

“I’m just so over it. I feel like I wasted so much time on her and I’m done with relationships now. It’s not worth it. For me, at least.”

“Nico, she just wasn’t the right girl for you in the end. But you’ll find her,” she says.

He simply rolls his eyes at her. I’m honestly very surprised he’s so calm telling us all this.

“Hey, you’re a Durant. Don’t forget that,” Sofia continues. “I’m sure your waiting list is pretty hefty at this point.”

“Not interested. All those girls are after the same thing.”

“So have a little fun,” she shrugs.

I chuckle at Sofia’s suggestion. “You’re actually encouraging your brother to become a player?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she responds.

“Well now that I have Sofia’s approval, maybe I’ll give it a try. See what all the hype is about,” Nico smiles for the first time.

I don’t want to burst Nico’s bubble and tell him that it’s completely overrated and meaningless, but I think it actually might be good for him to put himself out there. He’s only really been with Ana all these years, so it wouldn’t hurt for him to do a little more exploring.

“Brace yourselves,” I say, and we all end up laughing.