Read Exit Stage Six: A Contemporary New Adult Romance Novella for Free Online Page B

again and I frowned.
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” I said.
    “Sorry? For what?” he asked, perplexed.
    “Evan told me about his friend D. Said they were in a band
together, if you’re the drummer that means you were D.’s friend too…” I crossed
my arms and he blinked at me bewildered.
    “He talked about D.?” he asked.
    “Sometimes… not much and not often but yeah.” I said
quietly.
    “Wow, we haven’t been able to get word one out of him about
it.” he said.
    “Can I say something without you getting upset?” I asked.
    “Sure.” He ran his hand over his scalp and palmed the back
of his neck. It was so reminiscent of Evan that I couldn’t help but smile
genuinely.
    “Please understand that I speak from experience here… There
are five stages go the grieving process. They don’t come in any particular
order, they aren’t any of them pleasant… They just are what they are and you
can’t go around them or skip any of them, you just have to go through them,
feel them all and come out the other side. That’s his reality right now, and he
needs people strong enough to hold him up through the worst parts. You can’t
make him talk about it, you can’t make him feel these things; they come in
their own time. All you can do is be there to listen when the floodgates do
open.” I said gently.
    He considered me, searching my somber face for long moments
while my words sank in.
    “That’s what you do for him?” he asked.
    “I try.” I said honestly, adding, “He certainly doesn’t make
getting close to him easy.”
    “No, no he does not.” Hal let out a gusty sigh.
    “I’ll let him know you were here.” I said finally, sticking
out my hand. He took it and I squeezed lightly.
    “I really am sorry for your loss.” I murmured.
    “Thanks.” He said and I saw a glimpse of his raw naked pain.
    I went back into my apartment to the chorus of his booted
feet tromping down the stairs…
     

Chapter 11
     
    “Someone was looking for you.” I said sleepily. Evan stilled
behind me. I had gone to bed at eight, I had no idea what time it was now, but
I had woken to my window sliding shut and Evan getting into my bed with me.
    “Who?” he asked.
    “Hal.” I said.
    “Son of a bitch.” His shoulders dropped in what I think was
relief, I couldn’t be sure.
    “He’s worried about you.” I turned over and looked at him,
he drew me against him and I gave him what he needed, putting my arms around
him, laying my head on his shoulder.
    “Yeah?” he asked.
    “Yeah.” I echoed.
    “What did he say?” he asked and his voice was strained.
    “I told him you weren’t home and he said he was your
bandmate, I said I was sorry to hear about his loss and he asked if you’d
talked to me about it. I said yes, some, and he said you wouldn’t talk about it
with anyone, that they were worried about you. I told him to give you time.
That you’d talk when you were ready, and to just be there for you.”
    He relaxed beneath me, his arms tightening around me.
    “Thanks.” He said, voice gruff with some unnamed emotion.
    “You’re welcome.” I replied softly. We were silent a long
time. I was nearly asleep when he said to me:
    “Hey London?”
    “Yes?”
    “I’m sorry I couldn’t stay away. I know this isn’t fair to
you…” I cut him off.
    “Evan?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Was the window unlocked?” I asked.
    “Yeah…”
    “Well, okay then.” I said.
    He let out a breath and hugged me to him and my blood fizzed
through my veins like fine champagne. I wasn’t going to pretend to myself that
this wasn’t hard. I wanted Evan to touch me, I wanted him to talk to me… I kept
telling myself to be patient. I needed to be patient for him. No one had been
patient for me, no one had waited for me to come out of it on my own and that
had hurt. I didn’t want a single other person to go through their grief that
way. Not if I could help it.
    I drifted off to sleep clutched against Evan’s chest like
some precious