Five of Us at Christmas, But They Only Ordered Four Cookies novel · Chapter 13 of 24

Chapter 13: Brother at the Curb

I put on Emmett's flannel over my shirt and took the stairs down in my socks and my boots.

Tobias was sitting on the front stoop with his coat open and his hands hanging between his knees.

The streetlight made his face look gray.

He stood up when the door opened.

"Han," he said. "Thank God."

"It's four in the morning."

"I know. I couldn't go upstairs. I couldn't sit in that apartment with her asleep down the hall."

He took a step toward me with his arms already coming up.

I put my hand flat against his chest.

"Don't," I said.

He stopped.

"I read it," he said. "Zelda showed me tonight, in the kitchen, after you left. All of it. October fourteenth, and the part where I said I'd ask you."

"I saw that part."

"I should have asked you."

"Yes."

"I wanted to. She said please, and I thought, what's one week?" His voice cracked. "It was nine weeks, Han."

"It was Thanksgiving. You carved the turkey and I passed you the plate."

"I know."

"You sat across from me and you knew I had been cut out, and you ate."

He nodded, and tears ran down his face, and he didn't wipe them.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry. Can we just fix it? Can I just hug you and we start over?"

That was what I had wanted my whole life.

← Chapter 12 · All chapters · Chapter 14 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend