Chapter 10: Sean is Ghosted

The door eased shut, shutting softly. With dogs barking in the background, and his pulse racing in his ears, Sean didn’t even hear the bell jingle.

“Damn it,” he muttered, shutting his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall.

He’d done something wrong. Obviously. Was it talking about the animal sanctuary? Had he come on too strongly by telling Isaac he was amazing? Or had admitting he wasn’t special what did it? Hell, maybe fainting at a little blood ruined it.

Too many options. His head hurt too much to sort through it all.

Georgia strode into the room, aiming for the doors. She stopped when she saw him alone, though. “What happened to Isaac?”

His mouth went dry. “He had to go.”

Georgia frowned. “So he just left you alone with a possible head injury? What a jerk.”

Sean bristled. “The head injury isn’t that bad, and something came up. Lay off.”

Raising her hands, she backed down. “If you say so. Paramedics will be here any second, don’t pass out or anything while I’m outside.”

“I’ll do my best.”

She continued through the front door, only to return two minutes later with the promised medics. A quick evaluation later, and Sean was given a clean bill of health. No concussion or other head injury to speak of. He was even allowed to drive home if felt up to it.

“I can finish the program,” he offered. There were a few dogs they hadn’t posed with yet, and he’d been hoping to see the cats, too.

“I think it’s better we call it early today,” Georgia said. “We can reschedule the rest.”

He wasn’t up for arguing with her, so he dragged himself to his car and carefully drove home. His father was still at his studio, leaving Sean alone to wallow in his misery.

The house always felt too big these days. Even when all six of them had been there, they couldn’t fill all the empty space. Now that everyone else had gone, leaving only him and his father, the emptiness crept inside him.

His sister, Luna, visited sometimes, but Nick swore never to set foot in their home again. Maybe Tyler would return one day, but at this point Sean wasn’t holding his breath. He half-believed Tyler had died and no one told him.

He sank into one of the couches in the living room, staring up at the elevated ceiling. His chest ached, and in the back of his mind he wondered if this was what heartbreak felt like.

If he’d already chased Isaac off for good, then he’d also lost his chance at freedom. The Autumn Fashion Show was still four months away. There was no way his father would honor their bargain with this much time left.

That thought scared him as much as never speaking to Isaac again. He had to try and figure out what happened. Maybe he could fix it.

No, he would fix it. Whatever it took.

To start, he texted Isaac to let him know he was okay and had gotten home safe. That went unanswered throughout the night.

Not a good sign.

The next day, he screenshotted his favorite picture of the two of them at the shelter and sent it to Isaac. He couldn’t think of a caption so he sent it without one. This also went unanswered.

Sean asked how Isaac’s day was going, if his store manager still made him want to scream, if he wanted to go out for ice cream again or go see a movie. After a week he sent apologies, pleading for Isaac to at least respond.

“He won’t answer,” he told Luna dejectedly. At a loss for what else to do, he’d run to his older sister’s apartment. She already knew about their father’s bargain, and with two weeks of silence from Isaac he was ready to panic.

“Tell me again what happened at the shelter,” she said, putting mugs of hot chocolate down in front of them. She wore a cozy bright yellow sweater, and her dark brown hair was in a messy bun. She’d forgone her make-up and contacts today, and wore her purple-rimmed glasses.

He wrapped his hands around the mug. Her apartment felt more like home than their house did. The kitchen was a little cramped, the table pushed into the corner with two chairs squeezed around it, but the view from the patio off the living room was amazing, overlooking downtown.

Recounting the day at the shelter, he curled over his mug and breathed in the sweet scent of chocolate and melted marshmallows.

“So, you asked if he wanted to move in with you at the end of the year?” Luna asked.

His head shot up. “What? No. How’d you come up with that?”

“The animal sanctuary? You want to buy a house with him and live together to take care of a bunch of animals. That’s a long-term thing. Maybe he’s scared of that kind of commitment.”

“You think?” Thank god for his older sister. He was ready to break down sobbing over this entire thing, and she came at him with calm logic and reason.

“Yep. Though abandoning you at the shelter and ghosting you for two weeks isn’t cool. Make sure he apologizes for that.”

Sean couldn’t care less if Isaac apologized, so long as Isaac spoke with him again.

“What should I do, though?”

“You just have to talk to him, be honest about what you want from the relationship and listen to what he wants.”

“I can’t be honest without mentioning dad’s deal.”

She grimaced. “Right. I wish I could say telling him was a good idea, but after this it might not be.”

Sean didn’t like admitting to himself he was using Isaac, there was no way he could confess to Isaac. Even if Isaac was miraculously okay with it, it would turn their relationship into something fake. At least when he was the only one who knew about it, he could still pretend it was all real.

“Still,” Luna went on. “You’re going to have to talk to him. If he won’t come to you, you’ll have to go to him.”

Sean nodded. He knew where Isaac worked. Shouldn’t be hard to show up at a time when he was working.

And if Isaac was on the clock, he couldn’t run away.