When I met you

Shadows

— For leaving you alone with a drunk Adam. I tried to keep him under control for as long as I could, practically the entire party. But by now you probably know he has a difficult temper, so just try not to let him drink anymore if you can…

— You don’t need to worry, Elliot. I’ll be fine. Thanks for helping… — I say gently.

Izabel approaches seconds later and hugs me goodbye. She’s a little tipsy too.

— I’ve got my own drunk girl to take care of… — Elliot smiles as he picks up a reluctant Iza. — Oh, and Cassie’s leaving with Rick, okay?

I take a deep breath as I watch Rick guiding Cassie toward the parking area.

— Hey, don’t worry. Rick would never hurt her. I know him.

I nod slowly because, honestly, I can’t fix everything around me.

When the four of them leave, I finally gather the courage to go over to Adam. By that point, I was exhausted, my legs aching from the heels and my patience for the party nearly gone.

When I reach him, I lean in and whisper in his ear.

— Baby, what do you think about sending everyone home so we can enjoy our own party upstairs, hmm?

— I’d love that, gorgeous. Just let us finish up here first, okay? — Adam whispers his drunken proposal.

I head into the indoor kitchen looking for something to eat, and I’m just about to open a bag of Doritos when I hear shouting.

I leave everything behind and run toward the sound, arriving just in time to see Adam knock one of his friends unconscious.

He falls on top of the guy, throwing frantic punches that leave me frozen. The others try to pull him away while the world around me slows to a crawl. I watch his fury crash into the man’s face in a way that’s dark and terrifying.

Without thinking, I grab Adam’s phone, which no longer has a password, and search for Kalon’s number with trembling hands.

I wasn’t thinking when I dialed it and called Adam’s brother to come here.

He didn’t hesitate for a second when he heard my voice.

“Ten minutes. Get everyone out.”

Terrified, I obey.

As politely as possible, I ask the people scattered around the house to leave. I kick off my heels and throw them somewhere before cautiously approaching Adam.

When he sees me standing there staring at him, his momentum finally breaks, and he stops punching.

I focus on his eyes in a useless search for understanding.

Minutes ago, he had been smiling with these same people. How could his mood have changed so quickly?

The guys around him pull the bloody man out from underneath the blond and leave. Everyone leaves, actually.

But I remain standing there, staring at him as he sits on the floor with red eyes.

To my surprise, Adam buries his face between his knees and begins to cry.

That breaks me.

Into millions of pieces.

I move toward him, crouching down and wrapping my arms around him. He collapses against me.

— I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see me like this. — he sniffles. — I didn’t want to scare you. It’s just that the guy I hit was talking about you to the others to get under my skin…

I freeze when I hear his deep, emotional voice reveal that the reason he exploded was me.

— About your body, about how good that short skirt looked on you and… — Adam clenches his fists. — I lost it.

I’m sitting on the cold floor, curled up beside Adam.

It’s not a beautiful scene.

It’s melancholy and painfully degrading.

He’s not the best version of himself tonight.

Neither am I.

A click in the distance makes us both lift our heads.

After a few moments of silence, Kalon crosses the main hall, his attentive eyes searching for his brother.

Adam watches him for several seconds.

Then his gaze falls on me, a mixture of hurt and anger.

— You called him? — His voice comes out cold.

— I… I didn’t know what to do, Adam. — I press my lips together. — You scared me. I was worried.

— Worried? — He looks genuinely surprised by my words.

— Yes, worried. This isn’t you.

— It’s not who you think I am.

— You know what, Akermísia? I asked you for one thing. Just one thing. To let me enjoy this party. To let me forget everything for one night. And what did you do? You called my brother at the first sign of trouble because you got scared…

His almond-shaped eyes become clouded.

— Scared of me. — he says bitterly.

Adam stands and begins pacing.

At that moment, Kalon approaches and slips his hands into his pockets while studying his brother.

— I thought you had stopped doing this. — Kalon says firmly.

— Don’t start lecturing me! I don’t need your damn advice or your fake help. It’s useless coming from you. — Adam fires back.

But Kalon doesn’t seem affected.

He looks used to it.

As if this version of Adam appears often enough that it no longer surprises him.

— I know our father was here…

— Great. I figured he ran straight to you to complain about me. — The sarcasm burns through the air as Adam spins around, grabs a half-empty bottle, and drinks from it right in front of us in an obvious act of provocation.

— Enough with the performance. It’s over, Adam. — Kalon snaps, walking toward him, exhausted.

But before he can reach him, Adam hurls the bottle.

Glass and liquor explode across the floor.

The fragments miss the eldest Melchior by mere inches.

I’m still on the floor when I flinch backward in fear.

His action shocks me into fully understanding how serious the situation really is.

It’s Kalon who comes to me and helps me up from the floor where the shards are scattered.

I’m barefoot, so he carefully guides me by the arm toward the nearest sofa, trying to keep me from getting cut.

But my eyes remain fixed on Adam.

On his behavior.

On his reaction.

And on the fact that he didn’t even think about how I could have been hurt by what he’d done.

He notices.

He shakes his head in denial, his eyes red.

As if he had read my thoughts and they wounded him from the inside.

I wait for him to come closer.

To apologize.

To come back to reality.

I desperately hope Adam understands what’s happening and tries to fix it.

But he still looks furious and hurt, not only with his brother but with me as well.

My eyes fill with tears, and my lips tremble.

Beside me, Kalon, for the first time since I’ve known him, looks confused and momentarily lost.

He glances around as silence stretches between us, cracking like the shattered glass on the floor.

— Come on. I’ll take you home, Akermísia. — Adam’s brother says to me, though his eyes remain locked on the youngest Melchior, burning him with a deadly kind of reprimand.

Adam returns the same level of fury and threat to his brother.

Then he looks at me.

As if hoping I’ll choose a side.

But there are no choices for me right now.

Not with him like this.

Not with his anger so tangible that it makes me want to run.

I wait for him to say something.

I feel like an i***t, but I wait anyway.

However, Adam does nothing.

— Take me home, Kalon. Please. — I finally say, tears clogging my throat.

I know how my decision must sound.

Like a knife in the back.

He steps back, disoriented, but he doesn’t try to fix things.

Instead, he turns toward the garden and disappears into the shadows of the bushes concealed by the night without a trace of regret.

— Are you okay? — Kalon asks when a single reluctant tear slides down my cheek as I watch Adam walk away.

— No. — I wipe it away with the back of my hand.

Then I look up and see Kalon crouching to retrieve my heels from one of the corners.

— Your purse. Do you remember where you left it? — he asks in a surprisingly calm voice.

I take a deep breath and force myself to focus on his words.

— In the living room. — I manage to say.

He disappears down the hallway and returns seconds later with my purse in one hand and my heels in the other.

— Let’s go.

And I follow him toward the door.

Outside the mansion, the night wind hits me head-on, fierce and unforgiving.

Without saying a word, Kalon drapes his suit jacket over my shoulders and guides me toward his silver car.

The silence inside the car settles with a different kind of weight.

I try not to think about Adam, but it’s useless.

I

— He’s not always like this. He just has bad moments. — he whispers softly after a while.

My eyes are fixed on the window when I turn to look at his profile.

Kalon’s jaw is tense.

His brown hair is slightly messy.

A layer of stubble shadows his face.

His hands grip the steering wheel tightly enough for his knuckles to whiten.

— Yet you still took me away from there. — I conclude quietly.

For several minutes, his silence gives me all the answer I need.

— You know, it’s always been hard for Adam to be a Melchior. He never fit the standards my father imposed on this family. — His right hand leaves the steering wheel, the Rolex on his wrist glinting under the lights. — Our parents were absent most of the time, and Adam never handled the loneliness, rejection, and emptiness that created very well. With my mother trapped in her own world and my father always busy, all the responsibility fell on me. Austin, our home, the business, and my brother. And I know part of it is my fault. I should have paid more attention to him. I should have seen that he needed help. But I didn’t.

Even though Kalon tries to hide it, I see his lips tremble.

— By the time I realized it, it was already too late. He was already too messed up. — Those hard, unreadable eyes meet mine with melancholy. A scar left on the souls of both brothers. — I really wanted to believe he was getting better because of you. He seemed better.

— I think your father’s presence changed that. — I remember watching Adam transform the moment the patriarch arrived. — I’m sorry. About your family and about Adam. It’s not fair that you have to carry all that weight alone.

I watch his gaze shift away.

— I’m the older brother. He’s my responsibility.

— No, Kalon. He’s not. And none of this is your fault.

He refuses to look at me while I speak.

And I understand why moments later when a tear slips down his cheek.

He turns his face toward the passenger window, stubbornly refusing to maintain eye contact.

Instinctively, I let my hand rest over his.

His fingers are cold and tense as I gently stroke his skin.

— Look at me. — I plead. — This isn’t your fault, Kalon.

He finally looks at me, his eyes red.

And then I see the pain behind them.

The weight of keeping a dynasty standing.

I don’t say anything else as he drives.

After that, the trip back to campus becomes a blur.

I take advantage of the quiet ride and fall asleep in Kalon Melchior’s car—the older brother of Adam—surprisingly exhausted, and strangely safe.