Noah's Adventure - 12. The Truth That Broke the Room

The words hit the room like a grenade.

But Shiloh—
Shiloh just stood there, chest rising and falling too fast, fists clenched at his sides, eyes locked on me like I was the detonator.

My heart dropped.

Not because of what he said.
But because of what I knew.
What I had felt—
his panic, his fear, his guilt, his grief.
All of it poured straight into my skull like I’d lived it myself.

“Shiloh…” I whispered.

“Don’t.”
He took a shaky step back, voice cracking in half. “You don’t understand.”

The room went still. Nobody breathed. Even the air seemed to hold its breath.

I wanted to cross the space between us and wrap my arms around him, but I didn’t know if touching him again would trigger more memories… or make him shatter.

“You saw it, didn’t you?”
His voice was barely a whisper, but it cut through the room like a blade.
“Tristan shoved you into my head. You saw what happened. You saw—”

He couldn’t finish.
The word broke before it left his throat.

And then he broke with it.

I started toward him slowly, like he was a frightened animal ready to bolt. “I saw everything,” I confessed, voice barely audible. “I didn’t ask for it, Shi—I swear—”

He didn’t explode.
He didn’t yell.

He just crumpled.

One second he was standing, the next he was folded on the floor, sobbing so hard it looked like the air itself was hurting him. Shawn and Shane were on him instantly, arms around him, whispering things I couldn’t make out.

Guilt hit me like a punch to the throat.

Uncle Nathan swooped in and lifted Shiloh from the floor like he weighed nothing, carrying him to the couch. His brothers flanked him on both sides, creating a protective wall I wasn’t sure I was allowed to cross.

I stayed rooted where I was, hands helpless at my sides.

What was I supposed to say?
“Sorry I saw your soul without permission”?
“Sorry I lived your trauma from the inside”?
“Sorry the universe apparently decided I’m a psychic peeping tom”?

My mouth refused to form words.

The silence stretched until Uncle Matt cleared his throat.
“Shiloh,” he began gently, “what Tristan did—giving Noah access to your memories—was wrong. I’m not excusing it.” He sighed. “Tristan acts first and thinks later. Sometimes his heart is in the right place and sometimes…”
He trailed off.

“Sometimes it’s not,” Grandma finished, arms crossed, looking like she was mentally strangling Tristan in the afterlife. “But he must think Noah can help you somehow.”

I stared at the floor.
I didn’t want to be the person who saw the worst moment of someone’s life.
Especially his.

A nudge tapped my hand.
I looked down to see tiny Brody grinning up at me like this was all a cartoon on his Saturday lineup.

Before I could ask what that grin meant, a knock rattled the front door. Grandpa vanished to answer it.

“Shiloh,” I said, throat tight, “I think I’m supposed to help you fix things with Caleb.”

Everyone froze.

Grandpa reappeared and stepped aside.

Caleb stood there.
His mom behind him.
Both looking like they’d walked into a lion enclosure.

Shiloh shot off the couch like a missile and launched himself at Caleb. Matt, Nathan, and Luca grabbed him mid-swing, dragging him back as he snarled, “What are you doing here?”

Caleb flinched, eyes wide and watery. His mom looked at Grandma with that look—
the “you meddled, didn’t you?” look.

Grandma didn’t even try to act innocent.
She was meddling royalty.

“He’s here to help Noah,” Brody declared, as if this was obvious. He tugged my hand. “Sit.”

“What do you mean?” Shiloh snapped, still shaking.

“Tell him the truth,” Brody said solemnly. “The real truth about the accident.”

My stomach dropped.
How did a seven-year-old know that?

“You know about the accident?” I asked, staring at him.

He mumbled something into his chest.

“What, Brody?” I pressed gently.

He swallowed hard, eyes darting to his fathers for permission.
They looked like malfunctioning robots—frozen and blinking.

“I saw the accident,” Brody said finally. “I told Tristan Shiloh needed Noah’s help.”

The collective gasp was loud enough to rattle furniture.

Caleb stared at him, baffled. “How would he even—?”

“It’s… a long story,” I muttered, giving Grandma a look that screamed really?

She avoided eye contact, suddenly fascinated by a nonexistent spot on the ceiling.

“You three talk,” Grandma said, motioning Caleb’s mom into the kitchen. “Adults need a separate meeting.”

Sure.
Because this situation needed two chaotic conferences happening at once.

I sat across from Shiloh and Caleb.
My hands were shaking.
My heartbeat felt like it had migrated into my throat.

Where do you even start?

I opened my mouth and the world tilted—

—and I was there again.

FLASHBACK — IN SHILOH’S MIND

The heat.
The smell of salt and hotdogs.
Atlantic City boardwalk noise—laughter, chatter, seagulls screaming like they were auditioning for a horror movie.

Seven teenage boys sprawled across the sand.

“Come on, Shiloh,” Silas said, nudging him with a wicked grin. “You think that lifeguard is cute. Admit it.”

“I—maybe,” Shiloh mumbled, face pink.

“Might be?” Shane cackled. “Our baby brother’s got a crush.”

“Leave him alone,” Jesse snorted. “You’re just jealous he has good taste.”

“I’ve seen Silas’s dating history,” Caleb teased. “Shiloh definitely has the hotter twin advantage.”

“Take that back!” Silas lunged, and the two broke into a laughing wrestling match.

Underneath the teasing was love—thick, loud, annoying brotherly love that radiated like the sun.

“I’m proud of you,” Shawn said softly as he drank lemonade. “For coming out.”

“Thanks,” Shiloh whispered. “I wish Mom and Dad handled it better.”

“Give them time,” Silas promised, dropping beside him. “They’re old-fashioned but not evil.”

The boys sprinted for the water, whooping and yelling.

Silas swam out farther, carefree.
Caleb chased after him.
They whispered something to each other.
A plan.

A stupid plan.

Riptides don’t care about plans.

I felt it.
The shift in the water.
The sudden drag.
The invisible hand grabbing ankles.

Silas went under.

Caleb grabbed him—
but he thought Silas was joking.

Until he realized he wasn’t.

By then the waves were too strong.

Silas disappeared.

For two days they searched.
When they found his body, Shiloh didn’t move.
Didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe unless someone reminded him.

His grief hit me like a freight train.
Not seeing it—
feeling it.

I ripped back into my body with a gasp.

BACK TO PRESENT DAY

“You have to know,” Caleb choked out, tears streaming, “I tried to hold on to Silas. I swear I did. When he started actually panicking, it was too late—he slipped under, and the tide—”

He couldn’t continue.

No one spoke.

Tears ran silently down faces. Even Shane wiped his cheek, pretending he had an itch.

And Shiloh—

He stared at Caleb like the world had tilted sideways.
Like the truth was louder than the lie he’d been living with for years.

“Shi…” I whispered.

But he didn’t look at me.
He didn’t look at anyone.

He just whispered one word, barely audible:

“Silas…”

His voice broke—