Page 48 of Things Left Unsaid

“I’ll sneak in at the end of the line,” I mutter, aware that if I get caught, Dad will rain hell on me for ‘fraternizing’ with the McAllisters.

Still, it’ll only be words, not fists anymore. He stopped with that when I fought back.

Her head pops up. “You will?”

I nod. “Have you been keeping a check on your blood sugar?”

Her lips purse in mutiny.

“Susanne!” I chide. “You have to monitor it.”

“I am.” Her tone is beyond snooty.

“Regularly?” It kills me to say this but… “Your mom isn’t around anymore to do it for you. You have to grow up when it comes to this stuff.”

Her throat bobs.

But she stays quiet.

Goddammit.

“Promise me, Chaos. I don’t want to lose you too.”

She peers at me with wide eyes. “You don’t?”

“No. So, promise me.”

“I-I promise. Thank you for caring,” she whispers, nestling into me again like the teddy bear she isn’t.

“Of course, I care.”

In the ensuing silence, I stare at Loki as she withdraws her kit from the little pack she carries with her at all times. It isn’t the most hygienic place to do this, but at least she’s doing it period.

When she grunts, I can tell her level isn’t the greatest. Something that’s confirmed when she opens a wrapper and starts snacking.

In comparison to us, Loki doesn’t have a care in the world, yet he’s staring at us as if he understands.

I wish he did.

“Do you think he knows how much we love him?”

A sigh drifts from my lips as I hold her close, smiling when she offers me a peanut butter cracker. “If any horse could, I think it’d be him.”

Zee

PRESENT - THE FOLLOWING DAY

Twenty-two hours later and the most reassuring part of this entire experience is that Tee keeps turning to me and whispering, “This isn’t happening.”

Because I feel the same way,floored, it’s comforting to share in the experience.

“This can’t be happening,” she says as she shakes my arm, acting like a human alarm clock when I fall asleep during the ride to the airport.

“This can’t be happening,” she mumbles as we get out of her dad’s truck.

“This can’t be happening,” she states as we’re about to head through CATSA?*for screening.

Separating my liquids from my electronics, this time, I mutter, “I wish it weren’t.”

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