Page 78 of Without You, Scotch and Sammy 2

“Not exactly. I’m in town for personal reasons, and I needed to talk to Sam. He was so fucking angry with me, Meg.”

“Wow. You say ‘fuck’ now?”

I giggle. “Shut up.”

She laughs softly. “Jesus, I’m not complaining. I think it’s adorable the way your body kinda squeaks on the word. It’s like it’s rebelling, but you own that bitch and you make it swear.”

“Meg?”

“Mhm?”

“Shut up.”

She laughs. “Okay, go ahead. You’re in Sam’s house? I feel like you just took me right back to high school.”

“It doesn’t feel like high school. He’s so cold and mean now.”

“To you?” she asks in shock. “No way.”

“Way.” I reach over to the counter and grab the almost empty box of tissues.

“Why are you crying, babe?”

“Because Sam and I had a giant fight yesterday. He told me I aborted our baby. And now I’ve found divorce papers in his kitchen drawer.”

Meg groans. “There’s so much going on in this conversation, my head wants to explode. One, you’re in his house.”

“Apartment.”

“Whatever. Two, I thought you aborted too, hon. That’s what we were all told.”

“I didn’t. I promised him I wouldn’t. Then I miscarried and ended up in the hospital--”

“So why’d you leave?”

“Because my daddy was threatening him! I thought he’d end up in prison, and Marc and Kari would be sent away, and Mr. Turner would lose his job, and Mrs. Turner wouldn’t invite me over for tea anymore.”

“That’s a lot for an emotional and hormonal teenager to deal with.”

I scoff. “I know! So I left, because I’d already lost the baby, and Sam was going to get into trouble anyway. I was trying to protect him.”

“Okay. Soda?”

“Yes, Snitch?”

“I love you.”

A sob bursts past my lips and tears stream down my face. “I don’t think I’ve heard those words since Sam said them thirteen years ago.”

“It’s true. I love you, and even if you were a bitch and stopped taking my calls for a decade, I still love you.”

“I love you too, Meg.”

“We’ll fix it, okay? Me and you. We’ll fix it. But now I have a three.”

“A three?”

“Yeah, like one, you’re in his house.”

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