It'sfour thirty in the morning. Sleep hasn't come.
By a miracle, I didn't have to utilize my bathtub. Probably because I didn't go into a full-blown panic attack. I'm just glad, because there would've been no way to convince Oli to leave me after that. He is my big brother, and while he never agreed with my parents' approach of medication, he wouldn't leave me alone in LA.
I'm lying in my bed, staring at the ceiling, when footsteps outside of my room alert me to another person being up. I hesitate a moment before throwing the covers back. I grab my duster cardigan that's draped over the foot of the bed and slip my arms in it. Slowly opening the door, I walk into the dim hallway. Built-in night-lights in every other outlet ensure that the house is never in the dark. Peering left and right, I pad toward the staircase. Light illuminates the foyer, and I make my way downstairs.
Entering the kitchen, I find Rhys leaning with a water bottle against the island.
"Hey." I tug the front of my cardigan closed, wringing my hands into the fabric.
His attention snaps to me, and his brows shoot up. "Hey, D."
We stare at each other, and I curl my toes under, rocking back on my heels. "I, uh… I'm sorry."
The arch of his brows dip. "For what?"
I chuckle. "Don't play dumb. You could never lie."
He purses his lips and waits.
"Your secret about Lilly doesn't count," I declare with a grin.
"The hell it doesn't. None of you had a fucking clue." He puffs his chest out.
Our banter eases the tension in my limbs. I step closer, taking the bottle out of his hands and take a big gulp. "Fiiine."
Handing him the bottle back, he shakes his head. "I don't want your cooties, D. I love you, but the only bodily fluids I let in my mouth are my wife's."
"Ew, gross!" I shriek and punch him against the shoulder.
Rhys doubles over, and I can't help but join. When we've both regained our composure, he sobers. "I know why I'm up this early, but why are you?"
My throat thickens. "What did Lilly tell you?"
He hesitates. Rhys and I have never been on a deep secret kinda level. That was always Lilly, and later Wes, but for some reason I feel the urge to talk to him.
"She said Celine isn't your mother."
"She is not." I walk around the island and perch on one of the barstools. "She is my aunt."
Rhys's eyes bulge. "What the fuck?" He places both palms on the counter, his full attention on me.
"She's finally back asleep. Let's go back to—" Lilly rounds the corner and halts. "Oh, uh… Hey, babe. Did we wake you up?" She tilts her head.
The corner of my mouth quirks without me having to force or fake it. "I couldn't sleep. I heard someone walk by and came down to check what was going on."
Her shoulders visibly sag. "Oh, phew. Good. I'm glad. Audrey is teething and has been up every two hours. She, uh…" She stammers, and the awkwardness between us puts my stomach in knots. I hold my hand out toward her. Lilly doesn't hesitate and takes the stool next to mine. I wrap my arm around her shoulder.
"I just revealed to your hubby here that Celine is not my mother, but my aunt," I blurt out, and my best friend jerks out of my embrace.
"Excuse me?" Her jaw drops.
I lift a shoulder. That part of my past has never bothered me. Celine is a genuinely good person—apart from her one mistake and how she became my mother, but she has always cared well for Oli and me. "My father had an affair with my mother's sister. I never knew the full extent of it, like how long, etc. But after my mother died, Dad and Celine got married within a few weeks. We moved to Westbridge soon after." I neglect to mention the fact that my father moved us to Westbridge after everything went down with McKenna, and I started having more and more episodes.
"What was your birth mother's name?" Even in the quiet house, Lilly's question is barely audible.
"Bianca." I lift my hands to my sternum and rub. "I don't talk about her."
Both of my friends nod in understanding. It's clear what Lilly is not asking but is dying to know—not that she couldn't find out on her own if she really wanted to.