Page 79 of Except You
We stare at each other intently, and I swallow, feeling my eyes start to sting.
“No, I mean it, Magnus. I don’t deserve your help, but you gave it anyways.”
His cheeks pinken. “That’s what brothers are supposed to do.”
I nod and then swipe at my eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, they are. Sorry, why did you call?”
“Oh, I forgot. But first, what happened to your face.”
“Just a fight,” I say, not wanting to tell him too much. I don’t want to stress anyone out.
“Hm, there’s more to this story, but I’ll let it go for now. Well, I was calling because we got the presents you sent, and I wanted the kids to say thank you.”
I stare at him, immediately realizing I never sent a thing. That was all Beau. Fucking Bow-tie. God, that man.
“I’m glad,” I say, and Magnus beams at me.
“And I also wanted to say thank you as well. It means a lot. I haven’t…well, I haven’t heard from anyone since that altercation. You’re the only one who’s reached out.”
“Fuck them then,” I murmur, and Magnus bobs his head.
“Yes, I agree, but anyways, enough about that. Do you want to say hi to the kids? They want to meet their uncle.”
A lump forms in my throat, and I sniffle loudly and nod, not wanting to scare the kids, but also unable to contain my emotions. He said uncle. He told them I’m their uncle. The things that word does to my chest.
“Alright, here they are!”
“Hey,” I say softly as Magnus angles the phone towards Kieran and Lucy. They both stare at me with wide eyes, and then Kieran holds up his toy, showing it off to me, and I manage a wobbly smile.
“It goes boom!” Kieran says as Lucy sucks on her pacifier, a stuffed bumblebee under her arm. She’s so damn cute. They both are.
We manage to chat for a few minutes before Lucy and Kieran run off, leaving me to sit with my youngest brother and try and not fucking cry again.
“Thank you,” I choke out, and Magnus gives me a small smile.
“Anytime and thank you, Max, for making an effort. It means a lot to me.”
I nod because if I open my mouth, I’m going to sob, so we just say our goodbyes—me with the promise to send more things to the kids and Magnus with the promise to make sure he video-calls more.
I know I don’t deserve it, but I want it all the same.
As soon as the call ends, I debate going back to work, to slog through those numbers and meetings, but decide not to. I’m calling out sick for the rest of the afternoon. Last night’s make-out session is catching up to me, and after my panic attack, I just want to sleep for a bit. I scoot back onto the couch, lean over, close my eyes, and fall asleep.
I wake when a loud knock on the front door has me jolting up.
I stagger to the door, hoping to see Beau, but when I open it, my mouth drops open.
“Oh. Sem. Hi.”
The broad, tall man glowers down at me, and I swallow roughly.
This cannot be good.
“Um, come in?” I ask, gulping nervously. The last time we met, I was punched right in the face. I deserved it after the shit I pulled. Well, all of us pulled it. Matt, Mitch, me.
Sem threw down that night, just as he should have. He should have done far worse, if you ask me.
Sem’s blue eyes narrow, his dirty-blond hair pulled back into a messy bun, his jeans and shirt a bit dirty from work. A junkyard, I remember. He threatened to murder me if I ever hurt Magnus.