Sang

Sang hummed under her breath as she grabbed the containers holding her and North's lunches resting on the passenger seat of her car, along with forks in a plastic bag. She'd ended up finishing the first draft of her current book early, so texted North to ask if she could join him for lunch at the garage. Carefully tucking the food and silverware against her chest, she stepped out of her car into the small parking lot. The garage door was open, as it generally was during business hours.

"North?" she called as she stepped in before stopping beside his legs, which were currently sticking out from under a car.

"Down here, Baby," he called. "Just a minute." He'd gotten good business ever since restoring that muscle car. Not because people were so impressed at the amazing job he'd done—or, at least, not just because of that—but because the community was so surprised and appreciative of him donating the profits from the sell to a local cause. And now word would spread from all the business he was getting about what a good job he did. He wouldn't ever win big points for being approachable and friendly, but Sang was certain no one did better work than him.

"No rush," she promised. She wasn't worried about him making a mistake in trying to hurry to get to lunch with her, but she didn't want him to bang his head or his hands in trying to get out to her sooner. She brought the food to a couple of chairs sitting in the back of the garage, though turned around when she heard North rolling out from under the car.

His hands were covered in grease, so he stayed far back as he came over and leaned down to kiss her before going to wash his hands. She smiled as she looked back at the containers, pleased with her lunch choice. She'd almost gone for sandwiches, before realizing North's hands probably wouldn't be the cleanest and switching to make a chicken pasta instead—with vegetables, added, of course.

North smiled as he opened the container after they'd sat down, leaning over to kiss her cheek this time. "This is perfect, Baby. And the vegetables make it better."

She didn't point out that he hadn't tried it yet, instead saying, "You think vegetables make everything better." Which, of course, was why she'd included them.

"That reminds me. One of my customers told me about a blog for healthier desserts where several of the normal ingredients have better quality substitutes—like vegetables. She swears you can't even tell the difference."

Sang paused with a bite partway to her mouth. She didn't mind all of North's healthy eating, she really didn't, but she did insist that they still keep some sugar in the house. And chocolate, of course. And all the other ingredients needed for baking things like cookies and brownies. Not that she made a lot of them, but some Friday nights, you just needed a brownie with some vanilla ice cream to celebrate it finally being the weekend. "You wrote down the blog, didn't you?"

He flushed at the question, his scowl much too serious for the conversation they were having. "You like desserts, don't you?"

He already knew the answer to that question. But she liked normal desserts. That didn't mean she would like weird vegetable ones. Still, she tried to think of something nice or encouraging to say since she was certain North would try out some of the recipes on her in an attempt to get her to eat even healthier than she already did living with him. He was a great cook after all, so it would probably be fine. Maybe.

Before she could think of what to say, she noticed someone standing in the doorway of the garage out of the corner of her eye. She opened her mouth to apologize for taking up North's time and to assure them they were still welcome to come in to talk to North. And then she got a good look at the figure. Her planned words dried up as the container and fork slipped from her limp hands, clattering to the cement garage floor.

"Sang Baby?" North said, before catching that her gaze was on the open door to the garage. He shoved his stuff on a side table, standing and whirling to face the newcomer, his posture defensive. Until he also saw Luke, standing there looking . . . the same. His blond hair was still just past his shoulders. He wore a baby blue t-shirt untucked over jeans. But the sight was so surreal that Sang couldn't move. It seemed like North couldn't either, his defensive posture going limp at the sight of his brother.

"Hey, you two," Luke said, wearing an awkward smile as he gave a little wave, his gaze bouncing between Sang and North. "Our mission just barely finished so . . . I came to say hi." The sound of his voice hurt. Him standing there so casually, like he'd only been gone for a week long trip hurt. And him talking like there was nothing wrong between them, like nothing huge had happened also hurt. Tears gathered in her eyes as she clutched at her chest, trying to make the pain in heart less as she willed away the tears. The last thing she wanted after not seeing Luke for a year was for him to see her cry. Part of why she'd left the way she had so that none of them would see it.

Though she maybe should have been thinking more about North than herself. He'd tensed at the sound of his brother's voice, and him stalking toward Luke brought her attention to him. Before she'd really taken note of how threatening North's posture was and the way Luke was backing up with wide eyes, North punched his face, resulting in a crunching noise that very much sounded like North had just broken Luke's nose before Luke reeled back, his hands clutched to his face as blood poured out.

Sang gasped, jumping to her feet as she held her hands over her mouth. She didn't know what to do. Should she get involved? She didn't really want to be near Luke, but she didn't want him hurt either. And maybe this was an issue between brothers that she shouldn't interfere with. She just didn't want North to hit him again.

"You don't have any right to just walk in here!" North yelled, his voice filling the whole garage, the rage in his voice nearly enough to make Sang shook where she stood. "Get out of my garage."

North spun around, but froze at the sight of the tears on her face. "Sang Baby . . ." Regret filled his face, and she held up her hands as though to stop him from thinking whatever he was thinking right now.

"I'm not crying over what you did. This isn't your fault. I was already . . ." She stopped herself from saying she'd already been crying, angrily swiping at her eyes. So much for not letting Luke know she was in tears just at the sight of him.

The look North sent his brother at her words could only be described as murderous, making her wonder if she really would need to step in. Though Luke seemed completely oblivious to North's fury, his eyes watching her with worry despite the blood still pouring from his nose. Her chest twisted uncomfortably at the look, making her want to hide behind North. Why was Luke looking at her with so much worry? What did he care how she felt? He'd left her. If her feelings mattered so much to him, he wouldn't have been wiling to follow Mr. Blackbourne's plan.

"Sorry," Luke said, his voice muffled and his eyes still on Sang. "I should have called first. But . . . we don't have your numbers anymore, and Victor couldn't find them." The mention of Victor made her chest squeeze painfully. And his use of we. Who was we? Who was here besides Luke? And why? Wasn't leaving her once enough? Why would they bother her now? Or maybe it was North they wanted to come see. He was part of their family, after all. A real part, unlike Sang who'd somehow become a burden they no longer wanted. She'd never been able to figure out what it was she'd done wrong, and she'd stopped trying to months ago. "But I guess I could have called the garage before showing up."

North jerked a fist toward the parking lot, pointing outside. "Get. Out."

"Right," Luke mumbled. "Sorry about this being so sudden. I'll see you later."

Sang stiffened at that as he turned and left, more tears burning there way down her cheeks. See them later? Both of them? Wasn't he here just for North? Why was he including her in that?

"Sang Baby," North said, suddenly in front of her, his hands cradling her face. "Baby, tell me what's wrong." She blinked up at him uncomprehendingly, and he gave an annoyed shake of his head. "I mean, obviously my bastard brother showing up like that isn't okay, but I want to know specifically what you're thinking right now."

Her lips pressed together against saying anything. She didn't want to say what she was thinking. The others threw her away. Like she was some unwanted burden that they'd saved, thought they cared about, then changed their minds and wanted to get rid of. So much so that they'd tried to put her in a year-long program, as though she'd somehow just forget about them during that time and not care when they all moved on from her. But she didn't want to say any of those insecurities to North.

Instead she slipped out of his hands to press herself against his chest and hide her face from him. "I don't want them here," she whispered. Which was true, even if it wasn't completely truthfully answering North's question. "I don't want to see them." It would hurt too much. Just seeing Luke, justing knowing that more of the others were here, felt like a stab to her heart. And he'd just stood there like it was nothing. Like he hadn't done anything to her at all. And maybe he felt like he hadn't. Which made the hurt worse. The awful stabbing feeling wouldn't go away, making her want to hide in a corner and rub her chest until it felt better—and until Luke and whoever he'd brought were gone.

She squeezed North tighter before quietly saying, "I should go." It was still the middle of the day. He could get more customers, and she hardly wanted strangers to see her as such a wreck. She didn't want that period, and she certainly didn't want friendly or concerned neighbors asking what was wrong. She couldn't begin to imagine how she would answer.

He squeezed her tighter when she first tried to pull away before letting her go, his jaw tight. "I'll be home soon." He glanced at the car he'd been working on. "I'm not sure how well I can work after seeing him."

Wordlessly, they both knelt on the floor, cleaning up the mess of the food she'd dropped. After everything was packed away, she almost picked everything up to leave before pausing to throw her arms around North, squeezing him as hard as she could.

He returned the hug just as fiercely, bending down to whisper in her ear, "I love you, Sang Baby. You're my whole world."

She pulled back just enough to see his face, needing to look him in the eye as she caressed his cheek and told him, "And you're my North Star. I would have been lost over and over without you." She raised on her toes to kiss him, her hands clutching his head, needing to feel him close in that moment.

When she pulled away, he said, "I'll pick something up on my way home for us to heat up for dinner. So don't worry about making anything, okay?"

She nodded her agreement before taking the containers and leaving.

~.~

Fun fact: the topic of "healthy desserts" once came up at my work at a former company. Me and another coworker were all excited about a healthier dessert blog she shared with me, while another coworker said if she was going to eat a dessert, the unhealthier it was, the better.