Page 127 of Landon & Shay: Part One

“Never,” I told her. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She turned her head away from me and wiped a few fallen tears from her eyes. “I hate you. You know that, right?”

“Yes. I know.”

“Do you know why, though?”

“No…”

She looked at me with tears still streaming down her face. “Because you make him better. I see it when he looks at you. There’s a light I could’ve never pulled out of him. You’re fixing him. You’re turning him back on after he’s been shut down for so long, and I hate you for that. I hate you for being able to do what I never could.”

“Monica—”

“I love you for that, too,” she cut in. “I love you for giving him that light. His life has been dark for so long. Both of ours have. We’ve had some pretty shitty days together. But you’re making it easier for him. At least one of us deserves that.”

“Both of you deserve that.” I looked down at the brochures on her table and picked them up. “Rehab?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I guess that’s the next step after an overdose. Some hippie mumbo jumbo about how my life matters and a step program to help me get clean.”

“That’s good, Monica. That’s really good.” I shifted around in my sneakers. “If you want someone to come visit you while you’re there—”

“Don’t get it twisted, Gable,” she snapped. “We aren’t friends or anything.”

I laughed a little. Fair enough.

“Okay, well, I’ll let you rest. I just wanted to stop in and let you know we’ve been thinking about you, Landon and I.”

“Yeah, okay.”

She turned back to face the window, and I started walking away but paused when she spoke.

“Is he okay?” she asked.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. I feel like he’s slipping away again.”

She nodded but still kept her back toward me. “There’s a key to my house under the plant in my backyard. The one near the backdoor. Go get it, then go into my room and grab the papers on my desk. Give those to him. I think they might help.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Thank you,” she muttered. Then, she turned my way with the sincerest stare I’d ever seen Monica give. “Really, Shay. Thank you.”

I nodded once.

“And Shay? I still hate you.”

“Don’t worry, Monica.” I smiled. “I still hate you, too.”

* * *

After I left the hospital,I headed straight for Monica’s house to grab the paperwork from her bedroom. When I saw the ripped-out pages from my notebook, I had a split second of anger push through me, knowing she stole something from me, but then again, she was trying to do right in that very moment. Plus, my biggest concern was Landon.

Before going to his place, I went back to Mima’s and picked up a few more notebooks to give to him. I didn’t know how much the words would mean to him, but I knew he had to fill his head with more love than hate that evening.

I knocked on Landon’s door with nerves skyrocketing through my stomach as I waited for him to answer. A sigh of relief rolled through my system when the door opened and he stood there.

“Hey, you.” I grinned. “Can I come in?”

He stepped to the side and cleared a pathway for me.

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