By My Side (13 page)

             
“There's tension here,” Granny pointed out with an easy smile like everything was okay.

             
“The boys had a fight yesterday,” Mrs. Green, who was checking the meal in the oven, said darkly.

             
“It explains the cheek,” Granny replied, looking at Gabe's face. “But not Lily and why she's with Gabe. The last time I visited, you two were always fighting and criticizing each other.” She knew because she's smiling, but she wanted to hear it aloud. I was not sure it's a good idea with Gabe's parents here who were also intrigued. Why couldn't I disappear?

             
“Lily and I are ... um ... together,” Gabe stuttered as he searched my eyes to see if it was okay to announce it.

             
I smiled and let him take my hand in his. Granny was smiling with all teeth visible while Mr. and Mrs. Green were stunned. They looked at us both and saw the happy smile on Gabe's face. I was seeing it often, but I was not so sure about them.

             
“Together? But when?” Mrs. Green asked at a loss of words.

             
“Only recently, Mrs. Green.”

             
“Lily and I talked after I returned. Since then, we have hung out together like friends, until yesterday.” Now the fight between the Green brothers has an explanation.

             
“Well, Lily, two boys fighting for you is really fascinating. Like one of those movies,” Granny said in a laugh.

              “I'm not into that kind of movie.” I was blushing like crazy, and wanted to hide in Gabe's chest.

             
“I knew you would both open up your eyes and see you're perfect for each other. I was always telling it to your parents, Gabe.”

              “It's true,” Mr. Green acknowledged, happy to see his son not as depressed as he thought he was. “But we couldn't believe it when we heard both of you yelling at each other for years.” Gabe was as flushed as was I. His grip on my hand was very tight. If he wanted to break it, it was a good start.

             
“Wait a minute,” Mrs. Green began, a hand on her forehead. “When you said you talked, you meant about Connor?”

             
Gabe tensed at the mention of his best friend's name. With my free hand, I lightly caressed his hard stomach. I was there, and he knew it. Everyone saw my gesture and the effect it had on Gabe, who took two deep breaths.

              “Yeah, I told her about Connor, and we spoke about him,” he said with an edge in his voice.

             
“What are you talking about?” Andy—who was, I supposed, hiding behind the wall next to the kitchen doorway—asked angrily. Everybody was startled. Gabe placed an arm around my shoulders, protectively and possessively. Now Gabe had to tell everything to Andy, or we'd never leave this kitchen. Andy's eyes were burning holes in both of us, but I stayed in Gabe's arms.

             
“Nothing,” Mrs. Green replied in a desperate voice to help her older son.

             
“I'm serious. What were you talking about?” Andy asked with a hard voice that mirrored Gabe's when we were fighting.

             
“Tell him, Lily. I can't,” Gabe said in a murmur that everybody heard. His eyes were shining with tears he wouldn't spill until he wasn't in the presence of witnesses. He would cry in front of me, but with Andy here, who was openly hostile, it would never happen. Gabe removed his arm from my shoulders and forced me to do the same. He left the kitchen with a last look at Andy, who was suddenly uncertain. I could see it. He didn't think it was so bad. Maybe he'll be more mature, but I wasn't so sure. Why did Gabe want me to tell the story?

             
“Before I'll tell you anything, I want you to promise me to never talk about it to him, unless he's the one bringing
it up,” I said with an authority I didn't know I had. The three adults weren't moving or speaking. I would have appreciated it if they took charge of this, but they didn’t. Thanks Gabe. I was harsh because it's proof of confidence in me.

             
“Are you kidding? What's the matter?”

             
“Stop it, Andy, and listen to her,” Granny said with a disapproving look for her grandchild. Go Granny go!

             
“Okay, okay, I promise,” he said reluctantly, his cocky attitude unnerving. I didn't believe how much he's like everything I hated about Gabe.

             
“Fine. Gabe had a roommate named Connor. They were best friends these past two years, but in May, Connor died from an overdose. Gabe found him when he came back from
a basketball game,” I said, looking him in the eyes to see what he was thinking. I saw horror, pity, understanding, and something I wasn't expecting … treason. What?

             
“Everybody knew, but me,” he stated with incredulity. He looked to and from everybody with an accusing glare. I could understand he's hurting, but please! His brother needs him right now.

              “Oh grow up!” I blurted out before I could filter my thoughts.

             
“Excuse me? Going out with a college guy is turning your head upside down,” he replied with a disgusted face.

             
“You know what? I can tolerate the fact that you hate me because I'm with Gabe, I even can understand when you were an ass with me when I needed you, but not this. You're even more selfish than I am. You must be a horrible person not to see what's really important. He's your brother, for God's sake!”

              “Calm down now,” Mr. Green said when Andy was about to reply.

             
“Honey, go see Gabe, we'll eat in twenty minutes,” Granny said to me and ushered Andy to sit down on the stool.

             
I left the kitchen shaking and breathing loudly. I was sure my face was red, but not from embarrassment this time. How could I have been so wrong about Andy all these years? How? Crap! I heard the guitar before I knocked. It was a beautiful melody. It was slow, nostalgic, and brought me to tears. On the other hand, maybe it was with the knowledge of how Gabe was hurting. I knocked.

              “Gabe, it's me,” I said in a tiny voice.

             
He stopped playing and opened the door, his guitar in one hand. His eyes were red, and the gray of his iris was dark. His entire face was tense. A tear nearly fell from my right eye.

             
“I suppose it was epic if you're alone to come and get me for lunch. They're still talking to him, right?” he said the bitterness there again.

              “He's just,” I began to temperate Andy's attitude, but why bother? “He's an ass and a selfish tart.” He laughed with real amusement and put down his guitar before hugging me tightly. His heart was beating frantically. He leaned down and breathed in my long hair I left free on my blue tank top.

             
“I'm glad you're here. I hadn't realized how much I needed someone who could understand me,” he murmured in my ear. His breath smelled like cigarette, no need to ask if he smoked before I came to find him.

             
“I know many girls who would love to understand you, you know,” I said, teasing him a little hoping the tension in his broad shoulders would disappear.

              “Play it dumb,” he said in a smile before releasing me from his embrace.

             
His bedroom hadn't changed since the last time I came in two years ago. There were still posters of Nirvana, Audioslave, Blink-182, and Sex Pistols. The wooden shelves were crowded with tons of books, mostly paperbacks, and the desk also disappeared under books. In open boxes on the ground under the two windows, his CDs were waiting to be played. No trace of clothes and his bed was neatly made. His bedroom was very much like mine.

             
“Are you ready for lunch?” I asked him with a fake dramatic tone that made him shake his head with a laugh.

             
“If you sit next to me, yeah.”

             
“Deal.”

             
He put a hand behind my head and brushed my neck with his thumb. I was like Jell-O. It was ridiculous, but it felt so good. Slowly, softly, he brushed my lips with his. His other hand circled my waist. I touched his chest, beginning with his hard stomach and up to his shoulders, which I gripped fiercely. I deepened the kiss, my tongue licking his upper lip. He groaned. The kiss heated suddenly. Now, I was pressed between the doorway and his tall body.

              However, of course, every good thing had an end. Some ends were more humiliating than others. For example; being caught in a very hot kiss by your boyfriend’s grandmother. Damn it! We parted quickly, so fast that I hit my foot on the door. Thanks to my All Stars I wasn't in pain, I was just more embarrassed. Granny was surprised and amused. Her gray eyes lightened mischievously. Gabe and I were blushing like little kids. I was beginning to think that every day would be strange and embarrassing.

             
“I didn't want to interrupt, but lunch is ready.”

             
“No more words, Granny,” Gabe said, following his grandmother downstairs with me on his heels.

             
“What? Now I understand how Lily is making you smile.”
Okay, now somebody kill me!
I think I never felt that ashamed in my life. Even when Gabe saw my mother, it wasn't that bad … or maybe it was. I was crazy.

             
“Stop it, Gabe!” I said ruefully when he turned around and grinned devilishly. He chuckled, but everybody could easily see he had cried.

Chapter Eight

            
 
Lunch was ... I didn't even have a word to describe it. Andy and Gabe kept quiet, and Mr. and Mrs. Green and Granny tried to make small talk with me. I wasn’t chatty, but I tried. Andy was giving me the killer look treatment, and it was disturbing. I was stuttering like an idiot. Gabe was tense and never looked at Andy. That was probably a good thing, because Andy would have provoked him.

              When Gabe and I left the house to go to see a movie, it was raining, but the air was hot. Mrs. Green apologized for Andy.
Like it was her fault.
She hugged me and thanked me for my help with Gabe. I wasn't able to tell her I couldn't stay away from her older son. Granny was there, and she laughed. We understood each other.

             
Gabe and I were waiting to buy a ticket for one of the only two movies playing at the little theatre. We decided for the one with Christian Bale because neither of us wanted a romantic movie. Yeah, yeah, I assure you I'm really a girl.

             
“Gabe!” called a girly-girl voice behind us.

             
In one motion, we turned around and I grumbled. Jessica Cole, a slut from high school with whom Gabe went out with like twice. Thanks to Jessica, I knew Gabe had a little wine stain on his left butt. Yeah, she's that kind of girl who tells everybody sexual information. I would have really preferred to discover this piece of information by myself.

             
Well, now she's here with a micro miniskirt in denim and a tank top, which revealed her belly button. Sure it's sexy, but in a slutty manner. She's still the same, two years later. I looked at Gabe's face because it was a big test. No matter what, I wouldn't stay with someone attracted to that today. I was not competing.