“So he heard you . . .” I had the sudden urge to stand up for Jagger. Graham had hated him ever since we’d become friends when we were nine. But, then again, he hadn’t really ever liked Ben until right before the wedding was supposed to happen, so it could have been an overprotective big-brother thing.

“Yeah, but he knows I’m right.” Jagger’s eyes moved to look behind me, and one eyebrow rose in silent challenge, but Graham never said anything. “Go hang out with—”

“I don’t want to,” I said quickly, cutting him off. “I need to either be alone, or be with someone who knows what it’s like to force yourself to keep moving.”

He looked down at me for a few seconds before nodding. “Okay, let’s go.”

“We’re not staying here?” I asked when he bent down and started shoving things back into my purse.

“No. You want to keep moving, Grey. We can’t do that if we sit in that apartment all night.”

I took my purse from his hand and turned to follow him out of the breezeway, Graham behind us the whole time. Jagger opened the passenger door of his car and shut it behind me after I’d slid in, and I met Graham’s stare from where he stood a few feet from the front of the car.

Graham’s hand shot out, gripping Jagger’s arm as he went to pass him, and I opened the door—ready for who knows what. It’s not like I could stop them if they went at it.

“Make sure she’s okay,” Graham demanded, his gaze hardening when Jagger ripped his arm free.

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the past two years?” Jagger hissed. “She is okay, she’s better than okay. Today sucks for her, but you can’t treat her like she’s made of porcelain because it’s a bad f**king day. She needs to talk about him; she needs to talk about what happened. She doesn’t need the way you all stood there at the graduation staring at her like you had no idea who she was.”

“Do you see her?” Graham asked, getting closer. “Do you see how thin she is?”

“Yeah, I see her. I see her every day. She lost a lot of weight; she’s also put on weight in the last few months. Give her some f**king credit, Graham. Don’t just take Janie’s word for it—Janie isn’t around enough to give you updates on her. You want to know how your sister is doing, ask her yourself. Don’t tell her how she is.” Jagger didn’t wait for him to say anything else; he stalked around the hood of the car and slid into the driver’s seat.

Graham looked like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to stop me from leaving with Jagger or was relieved I was leaving. When I shut my door, he put a hand over his chest in our silent I love you, and kept his eyes trained on mine until I put my hand over my chest as well, nodding once as Jagger backed out of the spot.

Jagger

May 10, 2014

I LET MY phone fall to the table and sighed loudly as I rubbed my hands over my face. After driving around with the music blasting and windows down for a few hours, we’d come to one of the places we used to always go to before Ben died. They had live music on the weekends and the best diner food in the area.

“Graham?” Grey guessed, and I grunted in confirmation.

“He just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You haven’t,” she began, but paused for a few seconds. “Have you been giving him updates too?”

“Seriously, Grey? Your brother hates me; I didn’t even know he had my number until a few minutes ago. Besides, if I had been giving him updates, he probably wouldn’t have said all that shit to you, and your family wouldn’t have acted like statues at the graduation.”

“I heard you say something about that to him before we left. So you noticed it too, huh?”

“Wasn’t hard to. My sister wanted to see you, but after we found you and saw the way they were all just staring at you, she was afraid to say anything.”

“Charlie was there? Were your mom and brother there too?”

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and just shook my head instead. “No. Mom was probably busy with her new boyfriend or husband.”

Grey rolled her eyes at the mention of my mom’s boyfriends, and her lips tilted up in a soft smile. “I doubt that was the reason she didn’t show. But I wish Charlie had said something. I’ll have to call her this summer, or something. I haven’t seen her in forever.” Grey’s mouth fell into a frown for a second before she turned to look at the stage when everyone clapped.

I hadn’t set foot in here in two years, and it felt strange, but good, to be here again. Almost like I could see Ben sitting on the opposite side of the booth, right next to Grey. But just as soon as the memory hit me, it was gone. “Do you ever feel like he’s disappearing?” I asked suddenly.

Grey’s head shot up, her eyes wide as she took in my words. “What?”

“Ben. Do you feel like his memory is disappearing? Everywhere, all around us.”

“All the time,” she murmured, and nodded absentmindedly for a few moments. “I forced myself to stop buying his cologne, and there are times I don’t remember what he smelled like. When I realize that, I panic. I’m afraid I’ll forget forever, and I want to go buy another bottle. But I know I can’t, I know it’ll just make it harder to move on. I don’t—” She cut off on a quiet sob, and covered her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes. “I don’t remember what his laugh sounded like. I don’t remember the way it felt when he held me. I’m afraid to go back to Thatch, Jag.”