Page 70 of Where the Stars Heal

“But… she was…” Her words stumble out in a choke, and I hold her tighter.

“She was so heavy, her eyes wouldn’t open, she wouldn’t respond… and that’s when I saw the bottle of pills fall from her hand. She was… dead.”

I feel the weight of her loss in every word. Images ofsixteen-year-old Halle flood my mind—her frantic screams, pleading with her mom to wake up, how alone she must have felt, how much she would have needed her brother at the time. She found her mom dead, with no one to call. No one to rip her away from the scene of it all to hold her. She had to face it alone, carry the pain no one should ever have to. She really is a survivor.

Her hands reach up, wiping away the tears that have fallen down her cheeks. She sighs, her shoulders slumping with the weight of her past.

“I knew she wasn’t happy, but I had no idea that she was drowning… to the point of buying drugs off thugs in an abandoned street,” she says, her voice thick with sorrow and anger.

“What…” I feel my body tense under her, old anxiety playing in the corners of my mind. “What do you mean she bought drugs off the street?”

“After things had settled down, the cops showed up at our doorstep with the report of her death. Said that she overdosed on a cocktail of pills.”

The ground beneath me shifts, the whole world tipping sideways, everything I thought I knew slips into the depths of hell.

“Hey lady, you sure you want all of these?” Aiden asks the woman across from us.

She’s tall, her hair so black it’s like a starless sky. Her eyes a pale blue, the depths of them so haunted she looks like she’s lost in something she can’t escape.

I tip my head back, the street lamp blinding my eyes, and I stumble back. I smoked too much before coming here, and my limbs feel like they’re floating, disconnected from reality.

“Ye-yes,” she stutters, handing over the money.

“Dude, give her the pills,” Aiden snaps at me, shoving the cash into my hands.

The pills rattle in the bottle like they’re tap dancing as I shake them in front of her face, teasing. “You gonna share these or keep them all for yourself?”

She snatches them from me, turns on her heel, and sprints down the street. Her footsteps echo back to me.

“Nice doing business with you, ladyyy,” I drawl out, waving at her.

“Jesus Christ, man, you gotta lay off the joints,”

“Asher…?” Halle’s voice drags me back from my memory.

“Did they ever find the person who sold them to her?” I ask.

“No,” she replies. “But the town… it became a mess. Rumors spread about Mom’s death, people whispering that she killed herself to get away from me, others saying Ray had a hand in it all. And two days before this all happened, there was a shooting on the outskirts of town. They caught the guy eventually, but it rattled everyone, and I don’t think the town ever recovered from that week.”

Unease cripples me, my thoughts spinning in every direction. I can’t settle. Anxiety creeps its way in. But I need to hold it together for her. I turn us on our sides, tucking her into me, my arm snaking around her waist like a lifeline. The fear of what I know deep down gnaws at me and I’m terrified of letting her go. Terrified of the connection I’m piecing together.

“I’m so sorry life dealt you that hand. I’m sorry Hunter wasn’t there for you, for all the heartache you’ve had to carry on your own,” I murmur.

“I’ve never really talked about it,” she admits. “Never had anyone to talk about it with. I…” She pauses, searching for her next words. “It feels good to talk about it,” she breathes out honestly.

“You must think I’m stupid for taking the sleeping pills. My doctor prescribed them to me when I couldn’t sleep, when I was at my lowest point. They became a clutch for me, an addiction. The bottle I had here, it was my last one, and I swear, Asher. I don’t want them or need them anymore.”

“You are not stupid. You did what you did to survive, but sweetheart,” I say, my voice steady and sure, “you don’t have to keep it all locked inside anymore. You have Hunter, Madi, Tess, Connor, hell, even Ace. There are so many people on the other side of that door that will walk through fire for you.” I hold her tighter, hoping she feels the truth in my words.

“Let them in. Hunter, he needs you, too.”

It’s been a long night. The hours have stretched thin by the weight of everything that’s happened. The sun will be rising soon, lighting the way. She needs to sleep, her body needs to drift, and her heart needs to rest.

“And you,” she whispers.

Her words steal the air from me and my chest tightens. Closing my eyes, I press a lingering kiss to the top of her head, my nose skimming down her jaw as I inhale, committing everything about her to my memory—the warmth of her skin and her sweet scent.

A single tear falls down my cheek.

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