Chapter 14

RHEA

The kitchen door swings open and Sage bounces in. "Your apparently not-a-boyfriend is here."

I turn around, ignoring the pot bubbling on the stove. "What?"

She rolls her eyes. "Jack, who you claim nothing is going on with."

"Yes, I know who you're talking about, I just wasn't expecting him."

She shrugs and gestures to the door. "I sent him to your room."

"Right." I look at the pot of pasta. It's nearly done anyway, and I can just reheat it when I'm ready. I take it off the heat and put it to the side. "Don't let anyone touch it."

"I can't promise anything, you know what people get like when they're hungry."

I shake my head and head past her to go to my room, finding Jack standing outside it.

"Hey." He waves.

"You can go in, you know."

"You didn't answer when I knocked."

"I was cooking. If you're hungry, we can go eat." I gesture towards the kitchen despite the fact he's been here before, and that our flats share the exact same layout.

He shakes his head. "I made my brother some pancakes and ate way too many."

I laugh. "Yeah that'll do it." I push open my bedroom door and gesture for him to come inside. "Has he gone back home?"

"No, he's fallen asleep on my bed, so I thought I'd come explain."

"Is he okay left on his own?"

A dark expression crosses his face, but I don't think it's aimed at me. "Well considering what Dad's doing at the moment, I think he'll be okay in my room. I told him if I'm not there when he wakes up that he should message me and I'll be right back."

I nod and gesture for the two of us to sit down on the bed.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "I know I shouldn't, but I've been worrying about you all day. And your brother, but mostly you."

He sighs. "Yes and no? I'm glad Eddy thought it was safe to come see me, and to tell me all about it, but I'm also heartbroken over what Dad's doing."

I reach out and put my hand on his back, doing the smooth movement he uses on me sometimes.

"Is there anything I can do?" I ask.

"No. I mean, tell me how I'm supposed to look after a thirteen-year-old all weekend? I don't have the money for that."

I grimace. "Yeah, that's a challenge. There are some free things you could do. I might be able to get my friend Sera to get some passes for the museum she works at. I know it's not fancy, but at least it's free."

"Free is good at this point."

"And I can help you with some of the meals if you want?"

"I can't ask you to do that, Rhea."

"You're not asking, I'm offering," I point out. "And I'm not talking about anything fancy. Just some pasta and tomato sauce. I can make up a big batch of it."

"Thank you," he says softly. But I can see how deflated he's feeling over the whole thing. "I wish I could make it up to you."

"There's nothing to make up," I respond. "You've been helping me since the moment we met, now let me do the same for you."

He looks up, meeting my gaze with all kinds of emotions swimming in his eyes.

The air changes around us, becoming more intense with every passing moment. My heart rate increases and I want nothing more than to give in to the feeling of something within me.

I clear my throat and pull back. "What are you going to do about your dad?"

Jack looks a little dazed as my question sinks in. "I don't know. I want to confront him, but what good is that going to do? Eddy's asked me not to, and he's the one at home, I don't want to make it worse for him."

I nod. "I can see that."

"But then he's being left alone so Dad can go around and do what he wants with his girlfriend."

"Have you got anyone else you can talk to?" I ask. "What about your grandparents?"

His face changes. "I hadn't thought about that."

"You should do it. I know it's not ideal, but maybe they'll have some authority over him."

"I can hope." He rubs a hand over his face. "How is all of this happening?"

"I don't know," I respond. "But I might have an answer to one of your other problems," I say slowly.

"Oh?"

"I was reading up on some stuff to do with magic, and there was a part about stress and depression sometimes causing people's magic to not function at its best. So, maybe the reason you can't turn into stone right now is because you're struggling with everything that's going on." I wait for him to respond, feeling somewhat nervous about it. Mostly because I'm not sure whether our relationship is at the stage where I can suggest things like this.

Then again, he's sitting in my bedroom admitting things he probably doesn't want anyone to know.

He blinks a few times as the words sink in. "I can't change forms because I'm sad about Mum."

"I don't know that for sure, it's just a guess based on what I read today. But it does kind of make sense."

"It does." He lets out a loud sigh. "Okay, then I guess that's good? It'll come back when I'm ready." He actually looks relieved, which is more than I hoped for when I read that.

"How often have you been trying?"

"Not very much, it's not really been at the top of my priority list."

"Fair enough." I reach out and take his hand in mine. "I'm here for what you need."

"Thanks, Rhea. I really didn't want to cancel on you today."

"You didn't cancel, something happened and we had to change plans. I'm not more important than your family."

A strange expression comes over his face. "Then why do I feel like this?"

I want to tell him it's nothing, but I don't think I can. "Maybe it's just what Bobbi was saying about us making a strong bond over our grieving processes." I don't know how true that is, or if it'll help anything, but it sounds like a plausible explanation.

"Maybe." He takes a deep breath. "If you can get tickets for tomorrow, I'd really appreciate it."

"I'll see what I can do," I promise.

"And if you're free and want to come with us, I know I'd like that."

"Are you sure? I don't want to get in the way of your time with Eddy."

"I'm sure," he responds. "Eddy's probably going to be on his phone the whole time. I don't even know who he's talking to on that thing."

I snort. "You sound way older than nineteen right now."

He chuckles, seeming a bit more like his normal self in the process. "I did sound old, didn't I?"

"A little bit. But it's kind of cute."

"Only you would think that," he responds. He sighs and rubs his free hand over his face, not doing anything to take his other one out of mine. "I should get back to Eddy. But thank you, Rhea, for everything."

"What are friends for?" I ask, realising as I say it that I'm not fully satisfied by that. This feels more intense than any friendship I've experienced before, and I want to do whatever I can in order to keep it. Even if that means babysitting a thirteen-year-old at the museum tomorrow.