Chapter 16

#Chapter 16: The Third Member

I stood in front of Alvin’s house and looked up at it with wide eyes.

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It was mostly dark inside, but I could see one light on. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was home now.

When we were kids, Alvin was always the calm voice of reason when Nathan and I had our fights. Nathan and I were always more outgoing, but Alvin was quiet and reserved, and was often able to help Nathan and I reconcile our arguments because

of that.

Right now, I was still furious with Nathan for the things that he said and the way. that he was so reluctant to help me with my dad’s investigation.

Maybe, I thought to myself, my old friend Alvin would be around to talk to just like. old times. I did miss him terribly.

With a nervous sigh, I slowly walked up the front path to the door. Things had been

so hectic since I returned that I didn’t have time to talk to Alvin. Did he even know

that I was back? Why didn’t he show up at Nathan’s wedding?

I knocked on the door and waited, wondering what I would say to him with

excitement growing in my chest.

But t

But there was no answer.

Eventually, I did return to the villa that night with my bags from the motel in my hand. After spending a couple of hours sitting by myself in the dusty motel room, I

realized that I didn’t want to be mad at Nathan forever.

“Oh, look who came back,” he said as he opened the door. “Are you still too mad at

me to talk, or can we work this out?”

“A little.” I pushed past Nathan and set my bags down by the steps, then turned to face him with my hands on my hips.

“Here,” Nathan said, gesturing to the table where he set up two plates of pasta with

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sauce. “Will you at least eat with me? I’m sorry that you’re upset about your dad, but

we could talk this out over dinner.”

I sighed as I looked over at the meal. It did look good, and I was starving.

Finally, I walked over to the table and sat down. Nathan sat across from me, and the

two of us ate in silence for a few minutes with only the sound of our forks scraping

on the plates to fill the void.

“You’re a really good cook,” I said quietly.

“Thanks.” I glanced up to see that there was a gentle smile on my friend’s face. “I

really am sorry, Olivia. I promise I’m doing my best.”

I didn’t know what to say. To me, it didn’t feel that way..

We ate in silence for a little while longer before I finally couldn’t contain my one

burning question.

“What’s up with Alvin?”

Nathan gave me a puzzled look. “Where did that come from all of a sudden?” he

asked.

“I went to his house earlier,” I replied. “I knocked, but there was no answer. There

was a light on inside, though.”

Nathan looked at me for a few moments. He almost seemed taken aback. “Alvin joined the army after you left,” he finally said.

My eyes widened. “Alvin? Joining the army? He was always so…”

“Shy, I know,” Nathan interrupted. “None of us thought he would make it in the army, either. But he worked on his shyness and actually did well in the army.”

I was a bit comforted to hear that my childhood friend did well in his endeavors,

but it only made me want to see him even more.

“Well, where is he now?” I asked, “Does he not live in his old house anymore?”

Nathan sighed and folded his arms across his chest as he leaned against the archway. “No, he does,” he replied. “It’s just that… Well, no one knows exactly what

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happened, but he only had one hand when he came back. It seems like PTSD hit him

pretty hard, too.”

My eyes widened even more. “We should go and talk to him, then,” I said suddenly.

We were his best friends, after all.”

Suddenly, Nathan shook his head. “Trust me; I’ve tried. He’s a bit of a recluse now

and doesn’t like talking to people. He’s especially sensitive about his hand, too, and

so he hides a lot.”

I felt my heart sink to think about my childhood best friend sitting all alone in his

house with only one hand and a broken heart after his time in the army. Now,

despite what I had previously thought, I didn’t feel so happy that he “succeeded” in

the military.

“We should still check on him,” I said quietly. “I’m worried.”

“Trust me,” Nathan repeated. “I’ve tried. We all have. I think it’s just better to leave

him alone now.”

A silence fell between the two of us. I felt my heart ache for my friend as I imagined

him sitting all alone in his house. When I knocked, did he secretly peek out the

window to see me standing there and he still didn’t want to come outside?

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I whispered..

The look of sadness on Nathan’s face spread even more, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but something about it made me feel sad for my childhood best friend.

“I wanted to,” he said. “But it seems as though there just hasn’t been a good time.”

“Is there ever a good time to tell someone that your best friend is suffering all

alone?” I asked.

Nathan simply shrugged. He pushed himself away from the wall and took a few steps toward me, still with his arms folded across his chest.

It was so easy to forget, but sometimes I was quickly reminded that he was a handsome, mature Alpha now and not the same awkward teen who I used to be

friends with.

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“We’ve been fighting pretty much nonstop since you came home,” Nathan said with a slight chuckle. It’s a bit hard to talk about more important things when we’re constantly bickering.”

I felt a bit embarrassed by Nathan’s words. “I guess you’re right,” I said quietly. “We do argue a lot, just like when we were kids.”

Nathan smiled slightly. “Let’s at least try to catch up,” he said. “I don’t want to fight or talk about anything else. Let’s just sit down and talk to each other for once.”

I looked up at Nathan for a moment, then started to push my chair back. “We could include Alvin,” I said. “Maybe if we both knock on his door, he’ll want to come out. Then we can all catch up, just like old times.”

Suddenly, Nathan’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist to keep me from getting up. I let out a small gasp from his sudden display of his Alpha demeanor.

“Just the two of us for tonight,” he said. “I’m tired. I don’t want to see anyone but you right now.”

“If you won’t come with me, then I’ll go alone,” I said, pulling my hand away and standing. “Besides, we’re missing his level-headedness in our friendship dynamic. He always mediated our arguments.”

I started to walk over to the door, but Nathan went after me, putting himself. between me and the door. Our bodies were close. Too close.

“You can’t always rely on Alvin to help us hash out our problems,” he said. “Let’s deal with them on our own.”

For a few moments, I stared up at my old childhood friend in disbelief. Was he really not going to let me talk to our other friend? It almost made me wonder if something else happened between them that Nathan didn’t want to talk about.

I couldn’t help but sneer at Nathan’s words.

“You’re acting cold and heartless,” I said angrily.

Nathan shook his head. “Not heartless,” he said quietly. “There are just some things that you don’t understand yet. You’ll get the picture once you’ve been home for a

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little while.”

A deep sigh came out of my mouth, and I felt my shoulders sag a bit.

“Alright,” I said quietly as I took a step back. “I’m sorry. You’re not heartless.”

Nathan smiled slightly. We returned to our dinner and ate quietly with a little small talk, but I just couldn’t get Alvin out of my mind.

Alvin was a necessary part to our trio. It felt lonely without him, and I missed his dynamic in our friendship. And besides…

Nathan sure was so much more mature and even more handsome than the last

time I saw him.

As I looked up at Nathan across the table in the candlelight, I knew that I would struggle to contain my confused feelings for him for too much longer.

It’s a good thing he didn’t show up at the house again for some reason for the next two days. I felt relieved and a little puzzled at the same time.

C

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