Chapter 56

JORDAN.

WHILE MELANIE WAITED IN THE CAR, I HELPED BLAINE UP THE STAIRS.

In all the years past, Blaine and I have seen a lot, have been through a lot. But this.. This was something new, and I hated conditions I had no control over.

My only thanks was that the damage was limited, but then I had to live with the knowledge that he'd probably only forgotten about Melanie because she was the most recent thing on his mind when the incident occurred. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

As soon as we got to the last step the front door flew open and his tias- aunts- flooded out with their children, talking over each other. There were smiles and excited looks on their faces as they hugged him. Like I always did, I felt a slight pang at the warm welcome they gave him.

Not that I didn't get one; the children stayed aloof because they thought I was scary but his aunts always smiled and patted my cheeks no matter how many glares I gave them. I cleared a path to the door and walked him through it, grimacing , again like I always did, at the explosion of color.

Unlike my more subdued palette of blacks, dull whites and greys, Blaine's home resembled a Jackson Pollock painting more often than not, mostly due to the children in residence.

I sat him down on the black leather sofa streaked with paint and set the bag of Hong Kong souvenirs I'd managed to put together before taking a seat next to him.

The kids attacked the bag immediately and started to pull out stuff while his aunts looked at him in concern. They knew something was up. He gave them a weak smile “I don't feel too well. I don't think Hong Kong likes me very much” he said as an explanation for his pallor and unusual reservation.

“Don’t worry, Carino, you're home now. And you're going to be just fine. Esme didn't have time to make your favorite since you didn't give us a specific date when you'll be back, but I'll whip up some soup and then it's straight to bed” Tia Gabriela said. Her soft affectionate tone was for Blaine but the sharp glare was mine.

She probably blamed me for Blaine's current state because I was allegedly the one who'd sent him there. She was right about the blame, something that already weighed heavily on me, just not about the circumstances. Taking it as my cue to leave I got up.

“You can take as many days off as you want, just make sure you feel okay before coming back” I said. Blaine gave me a thumbs up but his eyes were serious. He was trying to tell me with a look what he couldn't say, that I shouldn't be too hard on myself about what happened.

But he knows me better than anyone else, so he knows it's pointless to tell me that. The children chorused a Goodbye and Tia Esme poked her head out of the kitchen “I just got the fajitas out of the fridge. Won't you stay?” she asked.

“Gracias, senora, but no. Melanie is waiting for me in the car” I said her name without thinking. I'm not even joking when I say every single person who heard me froze, turning to look at me, even the children. Tia Esme fully came out of the kitchen.

“Did you say.. Melanie?” she asked slowly, exchanging a look with the other two.

“Yes, I did. Why?” before I fully got the words out of my mouth I was bombarded by a wave of arms and legs. They surged past me and pressed up against the door and windows to get a look outside, most likely at Melanie sitting in the car.

The aunts joined the children in the rowdiness, even elbowed each other out of the way to get a better view. I turned back to Blaine who was still on the couch looking as bewildered as I felt.

“Oh, Que bonita!” somebody gasped.

Then it clicked. Blaine had probably told them all about her before the incident and now they were eager to see the person who he'd talked about so much.

“Why doesn't she come inside? She can have fajitas and get to meet the family” Tia Dolores said earnestly.

“So that you can give her a thorough examination and interview her? No thank you” Blaine, who should have caught on by now, replied. Taking the subtle signal I once again cleared a path and opened the front door to sighs of disappointment.

“Apologies, but we really have to go. We'll come and visit soon” I said. I heard a grumble of “But that's what you always say” before I closed the door and went to get in the car. She had been toying with the car deck and soft music filled the car.

“You took a while. Was I hallucinating or were there about ten people peeking at me through the window?” she asked. I turned the car on and it came alive with a soft purr before I answered.

“That was Blaine's family. They really wanted to meet you.” She looked back as we drove out of the gated residence “That’s a lot of people” I detected the nervousness in her voice.

“You don't actually have to meet them. It's going to be fine” I assured her but was met with silence. She twisted her hands in her lap and bit her lip in a way that I could tell she was thinking hard about something so I waited until she was ready to speak.

“Why did you stop me from telling him the truth?” she asked. I'd known this question was coming.

“He’d just learned that he lost his memory. He was confused. I felt it was best to leave him at the conclusion he'd arrived at all by himself, instead of confusing him further” I replied.

She continued biting her lip and I resisted the urge to reach over and tug on her lower lip so she would release it.

“So what happens now?” she asked.

“I wish i'd done more than kill them and burn their bodies, but there's nothing else to do. Now we go back to our lives until something else happens”.

The past two months have been a rollercoaster of events and I had little doubt that fate wasn't done with us yet. I felt something twist at the thought of Blaine thinking Melanie belonged to him for any length of time, but I pushed the odd feeling aside.

“You sound like all this is just another Tuesday for you. What if he remembers?” she asked again. I sighed, knowing what she meant by all this “In some ways it is. I've just never had this many consecutive Tuesdays. And when he remembers, we'll explain to him and he'll understand.”

“I hope so.” she muttered as she stared out the window. She still looked perturbed and it didn't sit right with me. But I knew something that would take her mind off things. When we drove through the gates of my house instead of leaving the car at the front door I continued driving towards the garage.

I felt her curious gaze on my face but said nothing as punched in the code and the garage door opened. I practically heard her jaw hit the floor as I drove in and killed the engine. “Pick one,” I said.