Seth walked up the driveway and found the front door already open. He still knocked on it while stepping inside. Baron and Snowie were expecting him. He was there to look after Baron's dog Xander.
"Come on in, Seth!" Baron yelled.
Seth kicked off his shoes and walked into the living room. He dropped the backpack on an arm chair and hurried over to Snowie lying on the floor. For a short moment he thought she might be dead. He felt a stone drop from his heart when he noticed her eyes were open. She was looking into the ashes of the fireplace.
"Snowie? Are you alright?" Seth asked.
"She's fine," Baron said.
Seth looked up at Baron who had entered the living room.
"She's just upset because she doesn't want to go to my brother's wedding. She thought throwing a tantrum like this would make me stay home. That's not how we play. We're adults around here. We're going to the wedding," Baron said.
Seth wasn't stupid. He knew something wasn't right in this relationship. He just didn't know what exactly was wrong. He would have dumped Baron as a friend ages ago if it wasn't for Snowie. He stayed around because he felt like she needed him. Or maybe he was the one needing her. He wasn't too sure these days. He knew he had feelings for her that he wasn't allowed to have when she was Baron's girlfriend. He nodded at Baron and stood up.
"You're bleeding," Seth said.
Seth pointed at Baron's arm. Baron looked down and saw some of the scratches had started bleeding again.
"Rough sex last night," Baron smirked. "I'll be right back."
Baron walked out to clean up the scratches. Seth noticed the orange photo album on the table. He knew that album all too well. Snowie had showed it to him. All the pictures she had of her parents and little sister. They were killed years ago in a car accident on their way to her high school graduation. The pictures were all she had left. She was 17 and had to go into foster care for a year. The foster family didn't allow her to bring anything but her clothes and that photo album. They had excused it with lack of space. He walked over and opened it. He furrowed his brows when he saw all the pictures were gone.
"Snowie, where are all the pictures of your family?" He asked.
She let out a sob from the floor. He was about to hurry back to her when Baron came walking back. Baron grabbed Snowie and escorted her out of the room.
"You need a quick shower," Baron said. "Make some coffee, Seth. Make yourself at home."
"I will," Seth said.
Seth went into the kitchen to make some coffee while wondering what on earth was going on. He knew something was wrong but he needed Snowie to tell him what, and she never did. Xander was out there with him, enjoying some head scratches and treats. Baron stayed in the bathroom with Snowie, and they came walking back together. Both of them were dressed really nice in a navy blue suit and a long, caramel brown dress. Seth was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and Xander lying on the floor next to him.
"You both look amazing," Seth said.
"Thank you," Baron said. "We need to go. We got a long drive there."
"Have fun," Seth said.
"The wedding is being live streamed if you're interested," Baron said.
"That might be fun," Seth said.
Baron grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the link for the website.
"Here," Baron handed Seth the piece of paper. "Thank you for taking care of Xander and my house. I left some money in the top drawer so you can buy some food and snacks."
"Cool. Thanks," Seth said.
"We gotta go," Baron said.
"Have fun," Seth said.
Seth looked over at Snowie but she was avoiding his eyes. She didn't look happy at all. She was rarely truly happy but she looked even more broken today. Baron grabbed her arm and walked out of the house with her. Seth got up and walked into the living room. He found his tablet in the backpack and walked over to the window to see them drive away. Once they were gone, he typed in the website for the live stream. He was not going to miss the wedding. It was the only way he would be able to keep an eye on Snowie.