Where are you?

!! My god! Good morning Lolo! How am I you ask? Wonderful :)) thank you for asking! What about you?

I

Wtf please stop. What is wrong w you

My sanity has been restored, I'm just enjoying the day, god- the sun and the sky is so clear today

?????

IT'S LITERALLY POURING WHERE TF ARE YOU OMH

. . . DID YOU JUST LEAVE ME ON READ? KYLE ISTG WHO RAISED YOU THIS WAY

Y o u .

Stfu . rn stfu.

Wait don't, I actually need to know where u are

What was that?

Giving up already you coconut?

What the fuck does that mean slkslajd

I literally cant catch a break w you, let me live

No, die

& i'm planning to facetime Monroe before the appointment :((( ill meet u there dw

Tripp snorts next to me, chin propped on my shoulder as he reads the conversation with my brother. I sigh, locking my phone and leaning back against him as we wait in the lobby. Today, we were able to have the appointment with the therapist early and took full advantage of it. Kyle would be going in first, having already gone through everything yesterday, and they would be joined by the detective on the case to draft a testimony.

Lucky him. Tripp's phone rings, and I look over in time to see his screen flicker with an abundance of text messages. My nose scrunches, screw message spammers.

"Who is it?" He hums, passing me his phone. I unlock it, making sure not to open the message but simply glance at it from the notification screen.

"Liam," I hum, scanning the texts and looking over at Tripp. "You didn't tell him you were ditching class?"

"Told him I was doing something important, yeah." He breathes out, nuzzling his nose against my shoulder and making me press my lips together to suppress the giddy sound that wanted to escape me. "But he's been going through some stuff and usually comes to me for advice." I hand him his phone back, pushing it into his open grasp.

"You should answer him, it might be urgent."

Tripp snorts but doesn't get a chance to respond because, "I love being a third-wheel so much. It is so-o much fun."

Our eyes swing over to my brother, who is only a couple of feet away from us, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders sagged. Sarcasm dripped from his tongue but his eyes were squinting in a barely-held back smile. "You aren't a third-wheel-"

"I've literally been standing here for the last ten minutes and no one noticed me. Unloved? I think so."

I roll my eyes with a smile, "You're so dramatic."

The door to the office opens a second later, shutting us up. Alondra greets us with a smile, eyes flickering between all of us. "Good morning, Kyle if you're ready, we can start now."

He nods and they walk into the office, leaving me and Tripp alone once more. I nudge him with my shoulder, gesturing towards his phone. He got the hint, unlocking his phone, opening the texts from Liam and showing me. I'm not a jealous person, truly. And I am used to Tripp having friends that I don't know obviously, but the way the other male looked at Tripp like he paved the road was unsettling, even when Tripp was perfectly capable of handling himself.

NFNJDUEFJSL TRIPP.

IDK WHAT TO DO.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?

IT'S VFJVNKJDFNVJFDBV HARD TO BREATHE

O

K, I'm done being dramatic and

it's actually not that bad :)

But still. Kill me.

"See," Tripp begins, starting to type out a response. "When it comes to him needing advice he usually likes talking about it in person. I think he started our Business Investment Mid-Term Project."

"Disgusting."

Actually, when are my midterms?

Another message comes through;

Oh! Tripp lmk when you're able to meet up to get this done

A sound of displeasure escapes me, "When's it due?"

"Uh," Tripp looks like he's thinking, making me narrow my gaze at him. "In like- three days."

I shove him, "Dude what the fuck, invite him over to the dorm today. You need to get it done! Weren't you the one that said no slacking off this year!?"

Tripp whines, ignoring my scolding, "Don't call me dude, I worked hard for the babe privileges."

Apparently getting drunk together during our first high school party -together, was "working hard". I let out a snort, pressing my lips to his jaw in apology. "You invite Liam and I'll see if Kai wants to study for our philosophy midterm."

I feel Tripp's gaze on my as I take out my phone. "You think that's a good idea with everything that's going on?"

"He hasn't dropped out yet," I shrug. "So I guess it's fine."

We both suck @ philosophy

Wanna study together today for our midterm?

Who says I suck at philosophy?

Dude

I low key say you crying when our last quiz scores were passed out

You weeped like someone kicked you in the balls

Firstly; thank you for that vulgar image. And secondly; I did not weep

I was simply letting out tears of joy

Yah. "Tears of joy" that you had to hide behind a vending machine to express

I-

:))

That hurt my soul oh-

How do I go back to never meeting you

My fingers hover over the keyboard as a newfound sense of guilt consumes me. I know he isn't serious, because our entire conversation is playful banter. There isn't any reason for me to not respond with another witty comment.

But that question conjures up all the possibilities of what could be. If Kai had never met me, as a child, while we were still in elementary school - he wouldn't have ever met my dad, his family would have never deemed us "safe" enough to stay with us a few days a week and we wouldn't be here right now.

Kai wouldn't have gone through what he went through if he hadn't met me.

Tripp is quick to pull me out of my thoughts, hands clasping over mine and holding my wrists at a safe distance, my nails already looking for something to dig into. I lean into him and mumble an apology, noting that Kai had continued the conversation;

I'm free after 3. Where do you want to meet?