Extra Bonus #85: Easton Moves In (Patreon)

IMPORTANT: Please do not screenshot and post any part of this bonus scene to other sites or share with non-patrons. All of the Patreon content is exclusive to Patreon and for current patron's eyes only.  Thank you!! xoxo Krista & Becca

RESOURCES:  Check out this narrative timeline graphic to visually see when this bonus scene takes place.

SPOILER WARNING: There are major spoilers from NOBODY LIKE US in this bonus scene. We highly recommend reading this bonus after you've read NLU.

"OKAY, HERE WE go again,” I say into my phone. This time it’s perched on a black spike-studded table tripod. One of the more useful Christmas gifts from my siblings. Coming in second behind the time they gifted me a handmade deck of tarot cards.

I’ve neatly lined up my makeup on the desk because today I’m trying a “get ready with me” video. It’s not like I’m posting this for the world, but maybe it’d be more interesting to watch back for my own entertainment.

Plus, I can see the evolution of my makeup skills.

The shimmery onyx shadow in my favorite palette is flaky and almost all gone. I dip my slanted brush into what’s left of the powder. “Today is the day,” I say into the camera. “Easton freaking Mulligan is moving in. And I know you’re wondering how we got here, so I’ll break it down for you.”

I lean closer to the mirror and spread the shadow over my left eyelid. I’ve done this enough that I can talk and apply at the same time.

So I continue, “Back in February, Xander asked me if I was okay with Easton moving in. He gave me the whole speech. Easton’s parents are diabolical blah blah blah.” I lean back to stare into the camera. “I really didn’t need a speech. My brother has been…” I tilt my head-back-and-forth. “Not the best, but nottheworst,” I add so quickly, my words slur together. “He’s just kind of struggling ever since the whole thing with Luna and Mom and not going to Putt Palace with them that night…” My voice trails off when I start imagining the alternate universe where he did go. Jesus. My throat swells, and I blink away those thoughts before they get too graphic.

“Anyway,” I mutter and dip my brush into the eye shadow again. “I told Xander I’m fine with it. Whatever. Literally, I said, I’m fine with it. Whatever.” I return to the mirror. “If he didn’t know me so well, he’d probably think I was lying. But he does…know me. So he took it at face value and then went and asked Dad the next day.”

I blend the shadow and choose a shimmery silver for the inner creases. “Dad agreed because he’s Dad. I mean, he was in his twenties when he took in Uncle Garrison. I don’t think letting Easton live with us for a few months is too much of a big deal. It’s not like his parents live in Nebraska.” I laugh dryly. “Oh, you’re gonna get a kick out of this. Mrs. Mulligan agreed to it the very same day Dad asked. Easton packed his bags and everything. He would’ve been living with us for weeks now, if not for Mr. Mulligan putting up a stink. Apparently, Easton had some big chess tournament the first week of March, and Mr. Mulligan didn’t want him distracted.”

I wave my brush. “Cut to today. March 9th. Chess tournament is over. Easton finished first. Now he’s officially moving in for the rest of his senior year. He’s going to be living in the guest room down the hall.”

Finishing up the shadow, I lean in closer to draw a thick dark line over my lid with liquid liner. “Mom and Dad keep asking me if I’m okay with it.” I stop and roll my eyes. “Duh. I think I would let them know if this whole thing pissed me off. It doesn’t, but Audrey’s made a PowerPoint for her parents to pitch her idea of living with me.” My lips twitch into a smile. “They’ll never go for it, so I’m not holding out hope.”

“KINNEY!” Xander yells from down the hall.

“Shit,” I curse, and switch off the video and quickly finish the liner on my other eye.

“Kinney.” Xander’s annoyance radiates from my doorway. “Did you not hear me?”

“Am I supposed to jump up and run to you like I’m Erebor?” I challenge and grab a wand of mascara. I can see Xander through my makeup mirror, and he’s plopping down on my giant beanbag chair. 

This is a sitting conversation then.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says, watching the back of my head. “You still okay with Easton moving in? You have time to back out now.”

“Ugh,” I groan. “Not you, too.”

“Mom and Dad?”

“Every day. Same question.” I make a gun with my fingers and put it to my temple and dramatically pull the thumb trigger. I’m probably the only person in our family who’d do such a thing in front of Xander.

Through the mirror, I see he wears a slanted smile. “Can’t be that bad.”

“It’s not,” I admit casually. “I’m just a drama queen.” I spin on my stool (love the spin feature) and face my big brother. “The better question is if you’re still okay with Easton moving in?” I pump my mascara brush while I stare him down.

He narrows his eyes. “Of course I’m okay with it. I want this. I mean, fuck, I had to practically beg Dad to ask the Mulligans.”

I nod slowly. “It’s okay to change your mind. It’s one thing to be friends with someone, it’s another to live with them.”

He shoots me a look like I’m out of my mind. “Don’t deny you wouldn’t live with Audrey, Vada, and Winona the second you get the chance.”

“Valid,” I deadpan. “But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be scared shitless it wouldn’t explode our friendship.”

He shakes his head. “Guys are different, Kin. We don’t hold grudges or get into fights over trivial stuff.”

I don’t believe it. Every friendship could face speed bumps over serious and dumb things. Living together increases the odds of dumb happening, and I don’t think he’s going to be excluded just because he’s a guy.

But I’m not going to make him nervous about it.

“Maybe that’s a you and Easton thing,” I say.

He lifts a shoulder, considering. “Maybe.” He gives me a stronger look like he wants me to believe him when he says, “I’m not scared.”

I cage my breath. “Cool,” I say, nonchalant about it, then I spin back to the mirror, not wanting him to see me exhale a giant breath. I’m fine. I just…hearing my brother say those words—ugh, why is that getting to me?

“Can I ask you something though?” His voice is soft and gentle. So unlike mine that’s made to cut.

“Sure,” I say, but I lean forward to the mirror and focus on applying my mascara.

“Can you…not tell Easton about the whole 24/7 bodyguard suicide watch situation?”

It doesn’t catch me off guard. The s-word. Xander’s been saying it more often, but only in front of me. I think he knows I won’t immediately look at him like he’s made of broken glass.

I frown deeply, and immediately spin back to face him. “I thought he knew about the overnight bodyguard watch?”

“I mean, he does,” Xander nods. “To an extent.”

“What extent?” I frown.

“I don’t know. I was vague. Like I told him I was struggling with depression and needed someone in my room sometimes. That’s it.” He shrugs. “He knows about it—just not like you do.”

I’m probably the only person outside our parents who can count every time Xander has needed a bodyguard overnight. Maybe Moffy knows, if he asked Mom and Dad. Luna doesn’t remember anything, so she definitely doesn’t know what I know. She hasn’t seen what I’ve seen.

My brother in a bathtub.

My brother on the floor.

My brother screaming. Crying. Dying.

What if one day Xander thinks I’ve seen too much? Know too much. He might get better and not want to be surrounded by people who have these memories of him. 

I guess, I’d choose him being happy over me being in his life, as painful as that’d be. Don’t think about it. It might ruin my makeup.

“I won’t tell Easton,” I say. “I’m not gonna tell anyone anything about you.” With my finger, I draw a little cross over my heart.

“Thanks, Kin,” he breathes out a breath of relief just as the doorbell rings. 

EASTON BROUGHT THREE suitcases and a duffel bag. It hits me like an avalanche. He is really moving in. I’m sixteen, and I have a new eighteen-year-old roommate who I’ve mostly seen in the hallways of Dalton Academy and occasionally when he hangs out in my brother’s bedroom.

That’s not entirely true, though.

In all honesty, Easton isn’t such a stranger to my life. He’s eaten at the caf with me and my friends sometimes. Always when Xander was with us. He’s an extension of my brother.

I like how Easton always looks out for him. How he’s a quiet, dark force in the hallways that deters people from approaching Xander. People say Easton is proficient with a sword. They say he’s a secret spy and joined the CIA at sixteen. That he’s basically Xander’s secret service.

I know it’s bullshit, but I get why they’d believe the mystery.

Even being one-degree from Easton, he can come across guarded, like he has secrets he wouldn’t share with just anyone.

But I do like how he never gives up any info whenever Briana Leighton pesters him for Xander’s morning routine. What kind of shampoo does he use? Do you know if he shaves?

She’s asked me the same stuff, and I told her to get lost. She cried and called me a bitch, and I felt worse than I wish I did.

Easton didn’t make her cry, but I heard he gave her a frosty cold shoulder.

“I think I have one more suitcase,” Easton tells Xander from the foyer.

I loiter on the staircase. “Another one?” My eyes bug.

Xander shoots me a look like I’m being rude. Newsflash, that’s not a headline. I am a little rude. But whoa, this dude brought four suitcases?

He could’ve left half his things at his parents’ house. It’s not like they’re far. They live down the street.

Instead, it looks like he brought his entire life here. Like maybe he was ensuring there was no reason to go back home.

Easton shifts a duffel away from Salem who sniffs all his belongings. He straightens up, wearing navy blue slacks and a nice button-down like he’s preparing for a country club social. He combs a casual hand through his hair. “I’m a size fifteen shoe.” He looks at me. “They take up a lot of room.”

How did I not know Easton Mulligan had flippers for feet? He dips back out through the front door, and Xander whirls around on me from the bottom of the staircase. “Can you be chill for two seconds?”

I cross my arms. “He’s my new brother—if I don’t give him shit, who will?”

“He’s not your brother.” He doesn’t say the words angrily. He’s almost…hurt?

“Vada said he was,” I declare like that makes so much sense, but it’s easier deflecting blame. Plus, she was the one to claim how Easton and I are now siblings by living together. Which—is preposterous.

At school, I’ve seen her draw away from our group to go follow him and talk. She does the same thing with Ben. So it’s not like anything is going on. I think Vada is just boy hungry this year, more than ever.

“Vada said what?” Easton asks, walking through the door with a suitcase that’s almost as tall as me.

“Nothing.” Xander takes the suitcase from him, playing it off coolly.

“What are we?” I ask Easton. “Roommates? Step-adjacent-siblings?”

“Friends,” Xander and Easton say at the same time.

“Jinx,” they say together again and laugh.

I cringe. “God, you two spend way too much time together. It’s only going to get worse, you realize. The hive mind has already begun.”

Xander glances at his friend. “Sisters.”

“I’ll take yours over mine.” He grabs the straps to his duffel and lets Salem smell his hand. She’s met him a hundred times before, but it’s clear she knows today is different.

“What’s wrong with your sister?” I ask him. Look, I can be nosy. He’s now showering only a few walls away from me.

“Nothing’s wrong with the princess,” Easton says. “Meredith is pleasant. She even shares her notes app with me. It’s a drop-off/pick-up list. Then she spends the entire car ride ignoring me.”

Xander chimes in, “If you’d rather be burned by Kinney, you’ve come to the right place.”

“Daily roastings at a minimum,” I say.

Easton’s lips slide into a smile. “Thanks. I appreciate you letting me stay here, too, Kinney.”

I shrug like it’s no big deal. I mean, I wasn’t going to be the one to say no. Plus… “Vada would’ve been pissed if I denied you residency. I’m pretty sure she’s looking forward to all the Easton Mulligan dirt I’m going to give her.”

His smile widens. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

He shouldn’t know that. Jeez, how much does she tell him?

Xander nods toward the stairs. “I’ll show you your room.”

I jump off the stairs. “I can help with the bags—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Xander says. “They’re bigger than you.”

I scowl. I hate when anyone tells me I can’t do something. He sees the fire in my eyes and relents. “Fine, whatever. Just don’t hurt yourself.”

“You don’t hurt yourself,” I grumble, watching as Xander and Easton practically sprint up the staircase with the luggage they’re carrying.

I go for the smaller of the suitcases left, and it…oh God—does he have a dead body in here? Why is this so fucking heavy? I can barely lift it an inch off the ground. I almost unzip it to inspect the contents. What if we let a psycho-killer into the house?

Footsteps thunder back down the stairs, and I glare at Easton. “You have a dead body in your bag.”

Xander’s eyes grow like I accused Easton of murder. Granted, maybe I am. But I’m not calling 9-1-1. It’s just an informal investigation.

“What?” I say. “It’s heavy as hell. Unless it’s not a corpse, I think he has some explaining to do.” I perch my hands on my hips and stare Easton down.

He’s unaffected. Maybe because this is far from our first encounter. He has to be somewhat used to my attitude, even if Xander tries to bubble wrap him from it. But no one, and I mean no one, is allowed to be immune.

“If it were a dead body, your security would have called the cops by now,” Easton tells me. “They went through all my bags.”

I soften…a fraction. “Really?” I don’t know why this surprises me. I just thought—Mom and Dad would be lax about security when it comes to Easton. He’s come over a million times. He’s signed an NDA. He lives in the neighborhood…I guess it is different now that he lives in our home.

“Yeah, really,” Easton says. “Your mom apologized about ten times, but I told her I understood.”

“They want you to feel safe, Kin,” Xander tells me.

Great, so all this stuff is for me? I roll my eyes. “I don’t need our bodyguards to fondle Easton’s underwear for me to feel safe.”

Xander shakes his head. “They did not fondle your underwear. She’s being—”

“Dramatic,” I finish for him. “What’d they find anyway?” I ask Easton. “Are you hiding anything incriminating? Weed? Porn?”

Xander takes the suitcase from my hand just as I grab it again. “Enough,” he says, but he’s gentle about it. “He’s used to you in small doses, okay. You can’t overload him.”

“He’s living with us now, so he better get used to me quick.”

Easton tilts his head at me, not butting in my exchange with Xander. I do appreciate that. He waits a second before he says, “For transparency, I did not bring porn. I watch that on my laptop.”

I cringe. Grossss.

Xander laughs softly at my expression. “Don’t ask what you’re not prepared to hear.” He pats me on the shoulder before sidestepping and leaving for the stairs again. Easton follows with the last suitcase.

Xander laughed.

He laughed.

I repeat that noise in my head all the way to the kitchen. Meatloaf aroma permeates throughout the room. Mom hovers over the oven like a momma bird checking on her chicks, and I know she’s trying to make Easton’s first meal here special. She wouldn’t bring out the meatloaf otherwise.

She swings her head to me and catches my eyes. I can tell when she’s trying to read my facial expression and body language like she’s attempting to get a sense of my “state” before posing a question. But I’m too good at being casual, cool, calm. Nothing in the world can get to me.

“How’s it going?” she asks. “You meet Easton?”

I raise my brows. “Mom, I’ve known him for almost three years.”

“IknowIknow,” she says quickly. “But this is different. Just want to make sure you’re okay with the change.”

Change.

I don’t love it.

Hated when Moffy moved out.

Loathed it when Luna left.

Xander’s going to leave too, and I realize I lost the last few months where it was just us. Just Xander and me.

But I’m okay if he’s okay. That’s my mantra.

“All good,” I tell my mom. “Do you…know if we have any hand weights?”

She frowns and glances at my arms. They’re almost identical to hers. All bone. No muscle. “You want to lift weights?” she frowns.

“Just a little bit.” I want to be able to lift a stupid suitcase.

“We have some in the garage,” she says, but there’s still a tinge of skepticism in her eyes. I get it. It is strange that I’m just now coming to her with this interest to pump iron. But I don’t want to get into it.

“Cool.” I leave the kitchen and descend into the depths of the garage. The row of shelves is overloaded with extra supplies and gardening equipment. Near the end, I push a couple of old boxes out of the way to find two dusty neon green hand weights. Only five pounds each. A name is scribbled in Sharpie on the ends. Luna.

It feels like a hundred-pound dumbbell drops onto my chest.

There’s so much grief when I think about my sister.

I know her memories aren’t all guaranteed to return. And even if they do, it won’t be the same. What’s done is done, and I have so much fucking hate in my heart. Hate for Donnelly’s family. Hate for the world. Because what happened that night didn’t just leave scars on my mom and sister. We’ve all been affected.

It all just hurts.

And really, I wish Luna were the one moving in with us. I wish I could have time with her. To build back something stronger than the fragile sister-bond we had before the accident. A do-over. I want a do-over. But wishes don’t mean anything.

They rarely, if ever, come true.

Thank you all for reading this month's extra bonus! It's a special one this month because we've returned to the Kinney Hale Diaries 💜🖤 We loved getting her perspective on having Easton move in, and it's a great bonus to read before listening to the monthly podcast (coming soon!!). So this month really was a found family kinda month. We hope you enjoyed it!

The podcasts are on their way! We'll be recording them VERY soon and they will drop tomorrow, so keep on the lookout.

xoxo Krista & Becca

"Easton Moves In," Copyright © 2024 by K.B. Ritchie