Page 97 of Can't Fight the Moonlight

"No," Ben said. "You both need to stay for the ceremony. It's important to Marie that we do this with at least some of the family present."

"Yes, please stay," Marie said. "I know you and Katherine are hurting just as Justin is, and Ben and I have been caught in the middle. But we can't go on like this. We can't keep blaming each other, because it doesn't change anything. Will you stay for tomorrow's ceremony?"

Grant exchanged a look with his wife and then they both slowly nodded. "All right," he said. "We'll stay."

"Thank you," Marie said, then turned to Lizzie. "I am sorry I involved you. I think you and Justin were hitting it off, and now this secret has ruined that."

She shrugged. "He was always going to be leaving on Sunday. It just happened a few days earlier. For what it's worth, I think Justin wants to find a way to make peace, but he can't be the one who has to fight for it." Her gaze moved to his parents. "This is none of my business, but I'm going to say it anyway. Justin has needed both of you to show up for him. He's needed that his entire life. You should go after him now, and if you can't catch up to him, then after this weekend is over, go to San Francisco and stand in front of his door until he lets you in. Call him until he blocks your number. But don't give up on him. You say you love him—show him. He needs you to fight for him, to put him first in a way that you never did before." His parents looked at her with surprise in their eyes, but they didn't say a word. "That's all. Excuse me."

As she walked away, she let out a breath, hoping she hadn't made things worse, but that didn't seem possible. She had no idea if Justin would ever let his parents in even if they did stalk him, but she did know one thing for certain: he would never come back to them.

She knew one other thing, too. He would probably never come back to her, either.

* * *

Justin knew he should have left the inn, but he hadn't. He'd gone up on the roof and thought about his life and Lizzie and his grandparents, and even his parents, and then he'd seen the cars coming back from the beach, so he'd hightailed it back to his room. He didn't want to go downstairs and risk running into Lizzie or anyone in his family, so he'd stayed in his room, thinking he'd take off early in the morning, before anyone was up.

He tried to work, but he was constantly distracted by sounds. He'd hear footsteps and wonder if Lizzie was coming to his door. At one point, those footsteps seemed to stop right outside his door, and his heart had started beating hard and fast. But then they'd faded away. No knock tonight.

He'd gotten several texts from his grandmother, his father, and his mother, but he hadn't looked at any of them and had turned off his phone so he wouldn't be tempted to read what they had to say. But then that had seemed rather silly.What was he afraid of? And why was he hiding?They were the ones in the wrong. He'd turned his phone back on but left it facedown on the nightstand.

After forcing himself to read through pages of research data, his pulse finally began to slow down. At eleven, he turned off the light. He needed to sleep. He needed to get to tomorrow. And then he needed to leave.

Because he'd gotten so little sleep the night before, he actually felt tired, and he thought he might drift off. But as soon as he closed his eyes, he could see Lizzie's pretty face, and it woke him right back up.

He fought to get her out of his head. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, he started to feel a different kind of tension. He was cold. And there was an odd noise—click, click, click.

He struggled to open his eyes, but his lids felt so heavy.

Panic ran through him. It was the same panic he'd felt as a kid when he woke up alone, when he didn't know where anyone was. He'd cry out, but his parents wouldn't come. They were somewhere else. But then the light in his room would go on, and Sean would be there.

A light went on now.

But it wasn't coming from the lamp by his bed. It was the moon beaming through the curtains.

And that sound…it was the rocking chair. It was moving back and forth. There was someone there.

The ghost of room ten? Was he going crazy?

The person shifted, moving into the light. And his heart stopped.

He sat up to get a better look. It was Sean. His green eyes were smiling. His brown hair fell over his brow, the way it always had. And there was a reassuring gleam in his gaze as he rocked back and forth.

"You're here," he said, suddenly realizing how clear Sean was. He could see him for the first time in a very long time. "I've wanted to see you for so long. I wanted to know you were all right."

"I'm more concerned about you, Justin."

"What do you mean?"

"What are you doing? Why are you in here alone? Why are you hiding?"

"Because Mom and Dad showed up. They want me to forgive them, to forget how shitty they were as parents, how they let you down. They let us both down."

"I let them down, too. It wasn't their fault, Justin. I'm not dead because of them."

"Yes, you are, and it was their fault. They were more concerned about saving the world than saving you, and it wasn't even about the world. We both know that. They're adrenaline junkies. They live for the thrill, the excitement, and the danger. If they save people along the way, that's fine, but that's not why they do it."

"It's not that simple. They do care about the people they're trying to save. Maybe it gives them a rush to be heroes. But that's better than taking a drug to get a rush, right? How can I blame them without blaming myself?" Sean paused. "Don't you blame me, too, Justin?"

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