I was pretty sure one voice was Shelly’s. Knitting my brows together, I couldn’t recognize the other one. It sounded deeper, so that ruled out Lizzy, Lori, and Rebecca. Who was she bringing to work with her? Did she finally make some friends? That possibility she might have some buddies made me a little happy. More than a nice office and the option to work from home, that lady deserved some genuine friends.
The door opened and my sister walked in with a tall guy who had to be at least six-five. They were both looking at each other, hands locked together, and hadn’t noticed me, somehow. He had black hair in a similar cut to mine but was clean-shaven with a slight tan. He had a prominent chin, and from what I could tell from my bad angle, a square jaw. His blue eyes sparkled when he looked at my sister. He was muscular in a way that suited his frame nicely. He could have played a superhero in a movie, be a football player, or maybe both. The guy looked good, what could I say?
“You know I have too much work to do to play your games,” Shelly said with a laugh. No, a giggle. That sound nearly made me choke up. As much as I made myself believe I was coming back, part of me was terrified I wouldn’t ever get to hear my loved ones again. She turned to me and screamed, which wasn’t the reaction I hoped to get from the sister I had been separated from.
“Who are you!?” Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome held out a fist. A translucent energy swirled around his hand until it formed a ball. “What are you doing here!?”
“Wait, hold on! I’m a friend, I promise!” I stood up, maybe a little too fast, because he flinched and the energy swirl tightened. I held my hands up and looked toward my sister, seeing recognition hit her like a truck. “A little help here?”
“Ethan? How? I don’t understand.” Shelly put her hands over her mouth. Tears freely ran down her face almost instantly. Her shoulders shook and her chest heaved. Shelly was trying so damn hard to keep it all together. Seeing her cry made a new lump form in my throat. If she reacted like that, one of the strongest women I had in my life, I had no idea how I was going to handle a string of crying women.
“That’s Ethan? I thought he was...you know?” The guy slowly lowered his hand, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Eh, things aren’t that good at getting rid of me. I’m like a rat infestation. Just easier to burn the whole thing down, and this is where I realize the analogy doesn’t make much sense.” I walked around the table and sat on the edge of the desk, careful not to knock over Shelly’s lamp. “I was gone, yes, but I’m alive and well. You see-”
Shelly charged me with a fierce hug. My eyes popped out of my skull and I was positive my ribs were going to shatter. She kept squeezing me tighter. All the muscle I put on didn’t do a damn thing to protect me. And I didn’t dare tell her it felt like I was about to be snapped in two. She sobbed into my chest, soaking my shirt. I put my arms around her and was shocked by how small she felt. Maybe that was partially my gently mangled hands making her feel small in my own hug.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said. I was embarrassed about having the guy there. Like the good soul he must have been, he kept his head turned to give as much privacy as he could. Looking down at her blonde hair, my vision started to get blurry and my nose threatened to run. “I’m home now and I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Finally, she pulled away, letting a small chuckle slip when she saw the mess on my T-shirt. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes, her usual hard look trying with difficulty to make a comeback. “What the hell happened? Ethan, I don’t know where to even start.”
“Trust me, if you don’t know where to start, then wait until you hear my story.” I gestured to the guy standing awkwardly in the office, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “But there’s a lot of time for that and a lot of people to tell. What’s important is that I’m here now, so why don’t you introduce me to your...friend?” I let the inflection in the last word ask a whole new series of questions for me.
“Oh. Oh!” Shelly blushed and wiped her eyes, suddenly very shy and nervous. “This is Quinn. He’s, uh, he’s...”
“He’s your boyfriend?” I said with a grin. The lack of a response from either of them was answer enough for me. I stuck out the better of my two hands and gave him the firmest handshake I could muster, doing my best to shove down the pain that raged through my finger. “Nice to meet you, Quinn. Sorry about the little scare here. I panicked and hid away in here.”
“I can’t say how great it is to see you.” He clapped his free hand on mine and I yelped a little, which earned me a couple of suspicious looks from both of them. Cocking his head and staring at me, Quinn must have thought something was off. His eyes darted between Shelly and myself. “How about I go make everyone some lunch? Let you two catch up a little bit.”
When he left and the door was shut, Shelly turned to face me in a panic. “Ethan, I’m so sorry about that.”
“What? Why would you be sorry?” I shook my head, confused about what the issue was. “Does he make you happy?”
“He does, but it wasn’t to date when-”
“No buts. I think it’s great you found someone.” The mood in the room fell and I knew I couldn’t dance around it forever. “I’m glad you found someone during my absence. You deserve to be happy. I was so worried about how you would take it. About how everyone would take it. If he helped get you through it and made you feel less alone, then you don’t have to explain a single thing to me. I hope he’s as nice as he looks.”
“Ethan, you weren’t absent. You were dead.” Shelly had to wipe her eyes again. “We had a funeral. We grieved for months. Rebecca still blames herself. She’s strong for Megan, but I’ve seen her when she thinks she’s alone. She cries herself to sleep on the couch because she can’t make herself sleep in the bed you two shared. What happened on the mountain hit all of us hard.”
“Does that mean everyone’s okay?” I chewed on my bottom lip, antsy that there was some bad news being left out. “Physically, I mean.”
“I’d say ‘okay’ is a strong word. None of us are missing any limbs or are bound to wheelchairs if that’s what you meant. We buried an empty casket for you. It took them a full day just to get off the mountain. I lost the last family I had left. I threw myself into my work. I didn’t know what to do until I met Quinn.” She sniffled and I went to hug her again, but that’s when she saw my hands. “Your hands! Oh my God, what happened to them?”
“Your security guard should probably get a raise. He’s very dedicated to his craft.” I winced when she held my hands, taking in the damage. “I’ll get them healed soon. I just couldn’t wait to talk to you guys anymore. I’d keep my hands like this for another week if it meant seeing everyone again.”
“I’m going to have a serious chat with him.” Shelly looked like she was ready to slaughter the guy and mail his limbs back to his family members.
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“Nah, don’t do that,” I said with a painful wave of my hand. “He was just doing his job. Actually, maybe talk to him about how easily he let me in when Chloe batted her eyelashes a little. That could be a security concern.”
“Chloe Landon, the girl with the green hair? How do you know her?” After I explained to her about the chance meeting we had back in Ohio, Shelly shook her head in disbelief. “Small world. If I had known, I would have invited her to bring Ryan over for a playdate with Megan. Anyway, where the hell have you been? I’ve never wanted to both hug and throttle a teenager so bad before. You’re worse than my first boyfriend.”
“There’s my sister again! That’s a story I’ll tell everyone at once.” I rubbed the scar on my bicep, remembering how close I was to kicking the bucket in that fight. Shelly eyed it with concern, thankfully not pushing the matter further. “It’s a weird one, I’ll tell you that. That’s why I look like, well, a little more like Alex now.”
“That was my next question,” Shelly said, her shoulders slumping. “Rebecca will be overjoyed to see you. She’s had such a hard time handling this.”
I swallowed and tried to focus my eyes on anything in the office. Rebecca and I both had unique situations when it came to family, hers being way harder to deal with than my own. In some ways, I liked to think of myself as a traditional guy despite not thinking I had a manly bone in my body. Rebecca didn’t seem like the kind of woman who wanted truly traditional either. It left me in a weird spot when it came to asking for someone’s blessing.
“That was something I wanted to talk to you about.” I fidgeted nervously with the ring in my back pocket.
“Is it urgent? I’m already behind on paperwork and this is going to add more to it.” That hurt, and I must have looked devastated, because Shelly’s eyes went huge. “I’m sorry. Yes, I have all the time in the world to talk. I’ve been throwing myself into work so much that it’s just become a habit to push everyone out. Don’t ever think you can’t talk to me.”
She sat down and gave me her full attention. I almost wished she carried on and pushed me out. It was easier to make up scenarios in my head for weeks. When I was presented with the real deal, it was a whole different animal. I couldn’t do much to stop Magnus from reading my mind, but actively saying out loud with my own willpower? I’d rather be filled with that Heavy Green poison all over again.
“I have this,” I said, lamely, putting the box down on the desk. “I was wondering if you could tell me what to do with it.”
The box was the same size as any ring box you’d get on Earth. The feel of it was slightly different, but there was no mistaking what it was. Her eyes widened again when she grabbed it. “Ethan, is this what I think it is?”
“Please, this is already the worst thing I’ve ever done.” My face was burning. If I had trouble telling my sister, I had no idea how I was going to face my girlfriend. “Can you just open it and tell me if I’m stupid?”
“You’re stupid,” she said with a grin, not even opening the box. She opened the box and gasped, rotating it around. I could see the change in light on her face. “It’s stunning! How did you get this?”
“Uh, I had some part-time work and got that. It’s not made in America, I’ll tell you that much.”
“Why are you showing this to me?” She closed the box, but it looked like she had to force herself to do it. “You know I love you, right? I don’t love you like this. I don’t need anyone making strange holiday coffee commercials with incestuous undertones about us.”
I couldn’t stop the snort of laughter that left me. We had been watching a compilation video of horrible advertisements on Shelly’s work laptop one weekend back when the world was just our small little apartment in Oregon. That one especially grossed us out, and I couldn’t believe it was coming back to haunt me like it was.
“You’ve always been the one to help me out when things got overwhelming, and let me tell you, I’ve been overwhelmed these past few months. Do you think I’m an idiot for wanting to...you know?”
“To marry the girl you’re beyond crazy about?” I wanted to die when she asked it that way. I nodded, hanging my head and trying to control my breathing. “Ethan, I can’t tell you what’s best for you here. If you thought about her enough to get her an engagement ring while you were...wherever you were, then I think that says you care a lot about her. I think I told you before that I knew people who got married young and after dating for just a few months. One worked, one didn’t. You two already live together and practically have a child together. I’ve never seen you guys fight about anything. Your communication lines are always open, and somehow, you two seem to meld together despite living in vastly different time periods. You work together like a couple should. To be frank, you’re probably years ahead of where you should be. Most boys your age are only interested in who has the biggest chest or ass and if they’re a flirt.”
I didn’t know if that was true or not. Those things didn’t apply much to me, so it wasn’t really the point. I didn’t argue it either way. I just stared at the box I left on her desk.
“Okay, here’s what I think.” She clapped her hands together and took a deep breath. “I'd make sure that your relationship is still in good health. She’s nuts about you, but four months away and being separated like that is not an easy experience to cope with. If it looks good, then just know it’s a commitment. You’re promising your life to her and asking her to do the same in return. That’s not something everyone can do. If you’re prepared for that, and I’ll take a stab in the dark and say you are, then it’s up to you. Only you can know if you’re ready for it.”
I heard something that sounded an awful lot like a front door closing. More muffled chatter came from the living room. I was starting to feel a little lightheaded from how anxious I was. How could being back home be such a great and miserable feeling at the same time?
“I’m texting Rebecca to come to the office. I can’t wait to see that girl’s face.” Shelly was smiling, her grin nothing but pure evil. In haste, I picked up the box and hid it in my back pocket. I couldn’t make myself face the door, so I just lamely stared at the curtains behind Shelly. My heartbeat had to be echoing in the small room.
“What’s up, is everything okay?” The door shut behind me and I tried to plead with Shelly using just my eyes. Plead for what, I didn’t know. To make Rebecca go away? To make Rebecca come closer? To give me a few minutes after I had months to decide what I wanted to do? To make Rebecca say yes to marrying her little brother?
Hearing my girlfriend’s—I hoped she still was—voice was enough to make my heart feel calm and do jumping jacks at the same time. I wanted to turn around so bad, throw my arms up, and surprise her. If it wasn’t for the nausea trying to take up long-term residence in my stomach, I might have done just that. I was not the leading expert on girls on either planet I’d visited. For all my lack of game, I figured throwing up on one wasn’t the best way to ask for her hand in marriage.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Just thought you might want to meet someone.”
I turned and smiled awkwardly. It took her a second to register what she was seeing, but when she processed it, the bottle of water she had in her hand fell to the floor. I thought she would pause and cover her mouth like Shelly did. I was wrong about that.
Instead, she charged me, attempting to take off in a full sprint even though I was a few feet in front of her.
I had no time to brace myself. Instead of running into me to give me a hug, the woman tackled me to the ground to the ground like we were playing football. With my hands being in the condition they were in, I couldn’t use them to break my fall. My head missed Shelly’s desk by maybe an inch and my back took the near entirety of the fall, with my head getting a solid smack on the ground for my trouble. Just another thing to add to the mess that was my disaster of a body. Well, if there was a girl worth getting concussed for, it was the one I wanted to marry.
I tried to regain my senses by blinking out some of the black spots that were in my eyes. I tried to say something, but I couldn’t quite get my mouth to work. It turned out that keeping my mouth shut was the right thing. Before I could even see her face clearly, Rebecca pulled me close and kissed me. I was already dizzy and I couldn’t tell if that made the feeling better or worse. The only thing I could figure out was that Rebecca probably still liked me a little bit if she was going to kiss me.
She pulled away right when holding my breath started to hurt. She put her hands on my cheeks, set her nose against mine, and started to cry. “I’m not missing the chance to tell you again. Never again. I love you, okay? I love you, Ethan Harper.”
“I love you too,” I whispered back immediately. I wasn’t quite all there in the head for a few reasons. Rebecca started to cry, placing her face against my chest, and I was preparing myself for a few more instances of having snot and tears all over my clothes. I rubbed her back and looked up at the ceiling, happy to be home.
“Told you someone was nuts for you,” Shelly said, leaning over her desk with a smug grin on her face.