Read By Any Other Name for Free Online

close to crying.
     
    This was more familiar in some ways. Even when they were younger, Dru had always taken responsibility for his own actions when he was wrong. Mostly with Skye, but sometimes with other people too. He didn’t want to let his friend down, and neither did Skye. The look in his eyes—eyes Skye remembered being cold most of the time—made something in Skye’s chest move. Without thinking, he did what he had done when they were kids and Dru had apologized to him over something: he raised a hand and took some of the blond hair between his fingers and tugged gently.
     
    “It’s okay, Dru,” he said quietly, keeping the eye contact until Thom cleared his throat a bit. They snapped out of the flashback, and Skye pulled his hand away, muttering an apology to Thom. He leaned back in the seat and turned his head away to look out of the tinted windows for the rest of the way.
     
    He could recognize some of the landmarks they passed. The old water tower that wasn’t in use anymore, a building he was sure he had seen before, and so on. When they turned onto a country road and the forest began to thicken, he looked around with more interest. He might have been scared of the dark, but even like this, when the light was lessening, he could see that the forest was lovely.
     
    Thom carefully navigated a narrow bridge over a river. He explained that it was a shortcut, that otherwise they’d have to take the route via the highway. The bridge, even though it wasn’t safe for anything larger than their SUV, took thirty minutes off the drive. Right after they cleared the bridge, they passed a little cottage-style house.
     
    “Our friend Kara lives there.” Dru nodded towards the house. “She’s our closest neighbor.”
     
    They drove for a bit, past another stretch of forest, and Thom steered the car into a driveway that connected to a little front yard in front of a massive, modern-looking house.
     
    “Home sweet home,” Thom said and turned the key as he parked the car next to what looked like a BMW or something like that, expensive whatever the case.
     
    “You have two cars?” Skye asked as he got out of the car.
     
    “Two and a half,” Dru chuckled.
     
    “What the meanie is saying is that the little red car in Kara’s driveway is ours too. She’s borrowing it. And it’s a full car, not half a car.” Thom playfully glared at Dru. This seemed like an old conversation, and something about it made Skye smile a little.
     
    They walked in through the front door that opened into a space as big as the Institute’s cafeteria.
     
    “I’ll go and start making the dinner, you show Skye around,” Thom said and kissed Dru chastely. It made Skye look away, especially when Dru hummed contently.
     
    “Sure,” Dru said and kicked off his shoes next to where Thom had put his as soon as they got in. Skye followed suit and toed off his sneakers. He took his denim jacket off and hung it on an empty hook by a large mirror near other hooks with coats hanging from them. He avoided the mirror, not caring if Dru noticed or not, and turned to look around.
     
    “So, we have the kitchen here on the right,” Dru said, pointing to where Thom was now, digging through some cabinets. “Back there is the living room.” He pointed to some couches and a huge flat-screen TV with other electronics stored neatly under it next to some large windows that looked out on the backyard.
     
    “This place is massive,” Skye observed, making Thom chuckle and turn to look at him in an amused manner. At least it was pleased rather than malicious amusement.
     
    “There’s a library room through there.” Dru continued pointing out things to Skye, who was thinking he would wake up soon. Not in the “oh my God, this house is too good to be true” way, but more like he just couldn’t quite understand that this was where he would be living too, at least for a while.
     
    There was a home gym room downstairs too, with an adjacent