They both laughed. It hurt talking about Wulf, but she thought maybe if she kept doing it, it would eventually get easier.
“I'm glad you wouldn't let anyone else come,” he commented when they finally got in the door. “Being out of the hospital is bizarre. Now that I'm out here, I'm not sure I'm ready for anybody to see me.”
“Why not? I think the eye patch is sexy,” she teased.
“Well, of course it is. Your mother won't keep her hands to herself.”
“Ew, gross, Dad.”
“Hey, you have to be nice to me now – I'm damaged,” he informed her.
“Nice try, dude,” she snorted. “If anything, you're an improved model of yourself. Now that you've got built in wheels, we've got a whole new set of chores for you.”
They both laughed again, and she almost wanted to start crying – because she was happy. Happy that they even could laugh after something so horrible. He was still her dad, still the same man she'd grown up with, still the jokester. She couldn't get over it.
“You two!” her mom groaned, coming in the door behind them and kicking it shut. “I'll show your father the changes around the house, Katya, and you go get the rest of the stuff from the car.”
While she ferried all kinds of things inside, her phone started ringing. She smiled when she saw Tori's number on the screen and she quickly answered.
“Hey you, did you get home okay?” she asked. Her roommate had been coming down every weekend, helping to take care of things and keeping Katya from going insane.
“Yup yup,” the other girl replied. “During the drive, I ate that entire pie you made.”
“You did not.”
“I so did. It was amazing.”
“You're going to have a heart attack – do you have any idea how much butter was in that?” Katya laughed, dropping off the last bag. Then she went out on stoop and sat down.
“Totally worth it. I don't know how you can just give up baking cold turkey,” Tori sighed.
“I'm not,” Katya groaned. “I'm just taking time off. I'm still getting calls from clients in S.F., and I could find work here easily.”
“Not the same.”
“Close enough.”
“You can't just put your whole life on hold, Katya,” Tori said in a stern voice.
“Oh, okay. Sorry you're an amputee and half blind, Dad, but I gotta go have a life. Peace out!” she replied.
“Stop being a smart ass. I'm not saying leave right this minute – but you quit your job and told me to find a new roommate. You can't live with your parents for the rest of your life,” Tori said.
“And I won't. I'm just gonna stay a little longer, help my dad adjust to the house. And then ...”
“And then …? What? Move back here and live on the streets? Fuck that, I'm not getting a new roommate.”
“Tori, you need someone to pay half the rent.”
“They haven't been charging me any rent – the last check was never cashed. Liam said to stop trying.”
“Figures.”
“How is he?” Tori asked in a careful voice.
Liam had come down to Carmel. Just shown up. They'd had a few conversations on the phone, usually short and to the point. Not because she was still angry – she could barely remember even being mad. Removing bandages and bathing scarred and burned flesh did that to a person. She was just too busy to deal with her relationship issues with him.
So he'd taken it upon himself to just show up. It had shocked her, opening her door and finding him standing there. He had immediately apologized to her and promised that he would turn around and go home, he had just wanted to see her. See with his own eyes that she was okay.
But then she had burst out crying and he had hugged her and everything was alright. He came in and her mother cried and hugged him, too. Then she made up a guest room for him and he'd been there ever since, had become Mrs. Tocci's new best friend. He helped her around the house and ran errands and he'd been the one to drive them to and from the hospital to pick up Katya's dad.
“He's good. We're good,” she corrected her answer.
“Good, huh. Like good good?” Tori questioned.
“No,” Katya laughed. “Good like he sleeps down the hall and the only time we touch is when he's helping me in and out of the car. We're just friends. Probably should've always been just friends.”
“I'm glad. He and I have sort of become really good friends, and I would just … I would hate having you two mad at each other,” Tori sighed.
“Nope, not mad,” Katya replied. She hesitated for a second, then remembered that life was short, so she took a deep breath and decided to dive right in. “I know he's easy to fall for, Tori.”
“Huh?”
“He's gorgeous, and he's funny, and god, he has that grin,” Katya laughed, looking down and toying with a shoe lace. “He knows how to say all the right things to make you think you're special. Like you're the most beautiful, amazing person on the planet.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Tori asked, but Katya ignored her.
“And don't get me wrong – I like him. He's a good friend, would give me the shirt off his back if I so much as shivered.”
“I don't understand -”
“But I just want you to know – it's like he's programmed to say and do those things. He thinks he has to tell you what you want to hear, so you'll have to like him. Sometimes he gets out of control with it, saying things he doesn't mean and doesn't even necessarily think,” she spoke in a careful voice. Tori remained silent. “His intentions aren't ever bad, but he tends to forget that being friends, or being in love, isn't about being the best or being number one.”
“I don't know why you're telling me this,” Tori said in a low voice. “He and I aren't like that.”
“I know,” Katya said, glancing over her shoulder into the house. She could hear him laughing with her mom. “But I know you like him. You have for a long time. And if you ever decide to tell him, I just want you to know all that. To be aware of the kind of person he can be sometimes.”
“I don't … I wouldn't ever … I can't ...”
“It's okay, Tori. Really. It's okay. I'm just looking out for you. He's very blinding. Keep both eyes open.”
There was an awkward silence, then Tori changed the subject. Asked about Wulf, but of course there was nothing to say. She hadn't spoken to him at all since he'd left, and she didn't feel right asking his family about him.
The entire Stone household was in somewhat of a meltdown over Mr. Stone's visit and Brie's subsequent bender. Vieve was beside herself trying to deal with her little sister and a distraught mother. Katya tried to help as much as she could, but what with all the help her father required, she knew it wasn't enough. Vieve needed someone to be there for her, for once. She needed her big brother, but unfortunately, he still hadn't learned that money couldn't necessarily buy everything.