KristoWe headed down to the comedy show and took seats at the back of the room, hiding out in the dark together. I let my hand rest on her knee casually, even though I felt as though her skin was pulsing heat through my entire arm.The show was patchy, but the two of us laughed along anyway. I felt like this was so easy with her, like I didn’t have to worry about whether she was having a good time or whether she liked where I was taking her. She wasn’t a snob. She always expressed herself openly, and that was so refreshing after so long dating women who always plastered on a game face no matter whether they were having a good time or not. Amaya didn’t bullshit me. That was half the reason I liked having her around so much.“So, what now?” she asked when the show was over. Her eyes were bright, and it was clear she was far from being done with tonight.“I don’t know,” I replied as I handed her coat to her. “What do you want to do?”“Ooh, are we close to Central Park?” she asked, clapp

Amaya“Yeah, I just need a little help with the zipper,” I called back, and she tugged the curtain open, stepped inside, and did it up for me. I turned to the mirror. I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. It looked terrible. It was a few inches too long, the waist flopping awkwardly down around my hips and the bustline drooping nearly to my belly button.“Okay, that looks like crap.” Cleo shook her head and chuckled. “Maybe scrap this one, huh?”“Glad you said it,” I replied. Any tension that might have remained between us was gone. We went through the rest of the dresses she had picked out for me, and I tried not to think too hard about the price tags. This was just fun, after all, and I was sure I could suggest a place a little more in my price range when this was all done with and pick up something there.But then she handed me one last dress, deep green, a similar color to the one I had worn that very first night when Kristo and I had met at the gala. I slipped it on, and I

KristoI made the rest of the drive down there so Amaya could catch up with her sister, and I glanced in the mirror and watched them talk. I loved the way their faces lit up when they were around each other, as though this was what they had been waiting for all day long. It was sweet, heartening to see, and I found my mind straying back to that point I had been trying to ignore since this morning. I wanted Amaya to always be this happy. I wanted that look on her face as much as humanly possible, and that meant inviting Jolene to live with us.I had considered it before, of course, just because it would have been easier for me having her at the apartment than it was driving all the way out here every single time I wanted to see her. I could have hired a home caregiver so everything was taken care of and cleared out the guest bedroom to make room for anything she needed to keep around. I was going to get that car anyway, the one that was built for her wheelchair, so that was taken care

AmayaWe took our seats around the table, and the conversation picked up, people talking over each other and laughing and passing dishes around the table. I kept glancing at the door, aware that Kristo and his father hadn’t returned yet, but eventually, I had to focus my attention on what was happening right in front of me. Everyone here had gone to so much effort, and the least I could do was appreciate that. I could practically hear my own mother in my ear, scolding me for not being more sociable.I focused in on the conversation, and before I knew it, I was caught up and enjoying myself. They were so friendly, a little crazy, sure, but then what family wasn’t? I would have taken any amount of wildness over dealing with the fact that my family was gone for good, that I would never be able to bring Kristo to meet them the way he had introduced me to the people close to him. I tried to ignore the sting in my stomach at the memory of that, and I glanced over at Jolene and saw her eyes

KristoHow much sleep did I get that night? It couldn’t have been more than an hour or two, that was for sure. I felt as though my head was leaking, brain dripping down my front like so much syrup. She was wrapped around me like a vine on a tree, and part of me just wanted to put my arms around her and go back to sleep. But there was no way in hell that was happening, not now that I was conscious enough to start thinking, to start putting the pieces together in my mind.A war was raging inside of me. It might have sounded melodramatic, but it was the only thing that came close to summing up everything that was running through my head right there and then. It was as though bombs were exploding and people yelling and turf being torn from the ground even as I tried to keep myself together. I was surprised I was only in one piece, that the emotional turmoil hadn’t made itself known on the outside too.It had all started with that conversation my father had with me the day before when he’d