Part 62

"Why?" Nadia whimpered to herself as she stumbled around in the dark. "Crap."


She hopped up and down as she caught her foot in her hand, cringing as she tried to soothe the pain. Right into the end of the bed. Nadia regretted for the hundredth time that she'd chosen that heavy, wooden bed frame. It was gorgeous but... mother fucker. It hurt every single time she crashed into it. She continued to curse beneath her breath as she scrambled to find the lamp on the nightstand. 


There it was again, the incessant knocking that had woken her from her slumber. She was having such a good dream too, Kylo Ren. She sighed with a smile as she found the lamp and turned the light on.  


"I'm coming, Grace." She yelled, putting her glasses on and standing. "I'm coming."


At least it had been a while since the last time Grace had woken her in the middle of the night... at least it would give her a chance to talk to her. Maybe she was here to tell her about the man she'd seen her with or everything that had been going on lately. 


"Jesus, you didn't even bother calling this time." Nadia said as she opened the door but she stopped, completely surprised. 


"You took long enough." Marco said, completely annoyed. Nadia stared at him for a second, then turned, glancing at the clock on the wall. 


"Are you... absolutely insane?" Nadia asked. "It's the middle of the night."


"I could ask you the same thing." Marco said scowling. Nadia blinked before it hit her. 


"Right. I'm guessing you talked to Luke." She said, stepping back and holding the door open. 


"I'm not the only one, right?" He said as she stepped in and she closed the door behind him. 


"Excuse me?" She asked. 


"Oh come off it. What in the world did you say to him?" Marco asked. 


"I didn't say anything." Nadia said.


"And that's why Luke is acting crazy?" Marco replied. Nadia shook her head. 


"Look, he caught me as I was walking out of the house, still trying to make sense of what I saw." Nadia said, pacing back and forth. 


"and what did you see?" Marco asked angrily. 


"I saw you... and her." Nadia said, wringing her wrists. "I saw you holding her... I saw her lean up to kiss you."


Marco noticed how red Nadia turned as she said it. 


"Tell me I was wrong." Nadia said suddenly, "Please tell me what I saw was wrong."


Marco sighed. It was obvious Nadia was conflicted. He couldn't be too angry with her, after all, Luke was her cousin. Was she just supposed to pretend she didn't see anything?


"No, she did lean up to kiss me." Marco began and Nadia's eyes widened. "But on the cheek!"


Nadia grew pale. 


"Where were you hiding?" Marco asked. 


"I was just beyond the kitchen doors." Nadia said. "and I wasn't hiding... I just stopped when I saw you hug her."


"Why?" Marco asked, "there was nothing to hide."


"I thought..." Nadia began with a sigh, "I thought maybe you were going to tell her... how you feel."


It was Marco's turn to blush now. 


"I thought she would let you down and that you wouldn't want anyone to see it." Nadia said. She moved towards him, placing a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry if I messed up, I'm sorry that I put this idea in Luke's head. I'm sorry... about Echo."


Marco sighed, placing his hand over hers. 


"Don't be sorry. These things happen." Marco said. "Thank you for thinking of me."


"We're friends." Nadia said with a shrug. "You and Luke have been torturing me as long as I remember."


Marco chuckled but it was a humorless sound.


"We were playing." Marco said. 


"I know." She replied with a smile. 


"You trust me?" Marco said, turning to her and Nadia nodded. "Then you know that nothing happened with Echo. Not for a second, not ever. I wouldn't betray Luke that way."


"I know that... I just panicked. It was a momentary reflex. I didn't even say anything... Luke just... assumed." Nadia said. "and I didn't help."


"You can help now. You can help me clear this up with Luke." Marco said.


"Of course, I've been trying to go talk to him but he won't answer calls and he's never home." Nadia said. 


"He's home now." Marco said and Nadia rolled her eyes. 


"It's two in the morning." Nadia said, "we're not going over there right now. Come back in the morning and we'll go together."


Marco frowned. 


"Fine." Marco said. 


"You know he might not believe me." Nadia said. "I wasn't in the garden and if he's as worked up at it seems, he might not be willing to see reason."


Marco nodded. 


"It's bad. Echo went to her parent's house... alone." Marco said. "But between you, me and Adelia, he has to listen."


"Adelia? Where was she?" Nadia asked. "When you two were in the garden with the dog?"


---


"I was in the garden." Adelia said with a yawn. It was 7 AM and both Marco and Nadia hadn't stopped calling her. 


She'd been surprised to find so many texts asking her to come downstairs. She thought it must be some kind of emergency. What type of lunatics didn't stop calling so early? On Christmas eve?


"I didn't see you out there." Marco said with a frown. Adelia nodded, holding the door open so they could trail into the foyer. She peeked out- it was cold, very cold. 


"I heard you and Echo screaming after Baby, but when I went outside I saw her carrying him back and he was filthy. " Adelia said as they all took a seat. "I went to grab his towel and tub."


"So you were outside the whole time?" 


They turned as Luke entered the foyer, the three of them standing as he walked towards them. 


"Yeah." Adelia said, he voice low. 


"Why didn't you say that before?" Luke asked and Adelia shrugged. 


"I didn't know what you were thinking. I didn't know what was going on." Adelia  replied, "Not until last night."


Luke turned to Nadia who was standing with her face down, looking contrite. 


"Nadia?" Luke asked. 


"I walked to the kitchen door and looked out, wondering where everyone was.  I saw... I thought I saw..." Nadia said, trying to find the words. 


"You thought you saw?" Luke asked, completely exasperated. 


"I thought I saw them kiss." Nadia said. 


"You thought?" Luke repeated angrily, stepping towards her. 


"Hey, calm down." Marco said, standing next to Nadia. 


"Calm down?" Luke hissed. "You told me you saw them."


"Luke, look I was wrong. From where I was standing, I saw them hugging and then she leaned in..." Nadia said and Adelia twitched a brow. 


"That?" Adelia asked, making everyone turn to her. 


"Did you see them kiss?" Nadia asked and Adelia shook her head. 


"No." She said, noting how Luke's jaw was tightly clenched. He turned to stare at Marco. "I saw her kiss him though."


Everyone turned back to her, eyes wide.


"You what?" Luke asked, closing his fists. 


"Yeah, on the cheek. Baby got away and Marco helped catch him." Adelia said. "That's what you thought you saw?"


Nadia nodded.


"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Nadia said, "I can't believe I caused this kind of trouble. Honestly, I didn't mean to. I was surprised, stunned by what it looked like from where I was standing."


"Damn it, Nadia. Do you have any fucking idea what I've been through?" Luke asked.


"Stop it. She only did what she thought was right." Marco said. 


"Yeah, Luke- If I thought I saw what Nadia thought she saw... then I think you would have wanted em to say something." Adelia said. 


"Besides... You didn't give me a chance to say anything, you just figured it out on your own." Nadia said, moving around Marco and reaching for Luke's hand. "I'm sorry. I really am. I've been trying to talk to you about it for days."


"I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone." Luke said, feeling like an idiot. 


"I can't believe you didn't just ask her, talk to her about it." Nadia replied. 


Luke was quiet. They all were, all thinking that in reality, they could understand it. None of them would say anything, none would mention it but they all knew what it was that made Luke so crazy, so cold, so selfish, and so goddamned ready to believe that Echo would cheat on him.


"I have to go, I have business to attend to." Marco said, walking to the door, "And so does Luke."


"Drop me off?" Nadia asked, following him but her eyes were still on Luke. 


"Of course." Marco replied. 


Luke stared at Adelia for several quiet minutes but the truth was he wasn't really looking at her. He was lost deep in thought. He'd been up late drinking himself into a stupor, trying to make sense of what Marco had said to him. He'd passed out in his chair by the fire, wearing the exact same thing he was wearing now and had woken with a hangover from hell. He dragged himself to the kitchen when the heard the knocking, thinking he needed water, anything to help him clear his mind- thinking he wasn't ready to deal with people. 


He stood in the kitchen for several minutes, the glass of water still in his hands and the knocking growing louder, but he wasn't thinking about the knocking. He was thinking about Echo, he was thinking about how much he missed her. He was thinking that he should have talked to her and he'd almost made up his mind to take a shower and go find her when he heard the voices in the foyer. 


"Luke?" Adelia said, bringing him back from his thoughts. "What are you thinking?"


"I don't know what to think." Luke muttered and Adelia rolled her eyes. 


"You're a moron." Adelia said, making him turn to her in surprise. Adelia shook her head. "Come on."


Luke watched as she stalked down the hall, towards his study and pushed the door open. 


"COME ON." She said loudly, putting a hand on her hip and motioning for him to enter. Luke moved quickly, poking his head into the study. 


"Where is everything?" He asked, noting how clean and organized it all was as he moved abou the room. 


"Your books... are in here." Adelia said, making him turn back to her where she now stood, leaning against the open door of the room right across the hall. Luke approached her, a frown on his face. 


"What are they doing in there?" He asked and Adelia smiled. 


"Take a look." She said. Luke shook his head, entering the room and feeling his heart sink deep into the pit of his stomach. 


The walls had all been covered from floor to ceiling in bookcases, large, sturdy book cases where his collection now covered the shelves. He moved towards one of them, noting how they'd been organized and were mixed with titles he didn't recognize. He took one off the shelf, opening the cover and noting the name that was scribbled neatly. Echo Reid. His chest tightened. She'd put her books up with his, mixing them together- combining something they both loved. 


He placed the book back gently and turned to the rest of the room. She'd had some comfortable chairs spread around the room, a big, plush looking sofa across the room. There were a few tables here and there, small and ideal for the little trinkets that sat decoratively. He turned to a long table behind him, noticing several sheets of paper- she'd cataloged the entire collection, noting their exact location of each one on the shelves. Her adorable scribble with several little notes around it touched a part of him he didn't realize still existed. He looked up. She'd even taken the time to have a giant red bow hung across the back shelves. 


"She did this for you." Adelia said with a smile. "In record time, might I add."


He was a son of a bitch, a cad, a hot headed idiot who jumped to conclusions. Marco was right- he absolutely, didn't deserve her. 


"Pack your things." He said, turning towards the hall. Adelia ran towards him. 


"Pack my things?" She asked, walking by his side. 


"Yes." Luke said, "and hurry up. I want you ready to go in an hour. I want to get there before lunch."


Adelia watched as Luke continued to walk down the hall that led towards his bedroom


"You can't pack if you're standing out in the halls gawking." He called, prompting her to jump up excitedly as she ran back towards her own room. 

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