Page 29 of Two for Joy

Maybe the copycat was just like him.

Chad gasped, and Romeo glanced up. His expression was horror struck, eyes wide, lips slightly parted and trembling. All Romeo’s thoughts had shown on his face, his heart was pounding, he was breathing fast, and his lips were up in a big smile.

“You’re—you’re happy?”

He wasn’t going to lie to Chad, he didn’t think he had to.

Romeo laughed. “I guess I am.”

Chad’s eyes didn’t leave his, and the fear and shock in them didn’t dull, it deepened. Romeo winced when the legs of Chad’s chair scraped against the floor. His red-rimmed eyes shimmered, and he turned away from Romeo.

“Wait!”

Chad didn’t stop. He left the visiting room, slamming the door behind him.

Romeo face planted the table, cursing under his breath.

“What the hell just happened?” Paul mumbled.

“Not a clue.”

“Maybe he’s finally come to his senses.”

Fred stepped forward and grabbed onto Romeo’s forearm. “Come on, let’s get you back.”

Romeo was hauled to his feet, then marched back down the corridors. He ignored the threats, and propositions, and went to his cell with no fuss.

He’d fucked up.

****

Romeo’s obsessive pacing got Will’s attention. He knocked on the bars of his cell, and Romeo went over to his and hung his arms through.

“What’s got you rattled?”

“Too many things going on in my head.”

“Like what?”

“Like … I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.”

Will laughed. “Supposed to feel? You feel how you feel, there’s no supposed to about it.”

“But it’s … messy.”

“Lay it down for me.”

“Happy, excited, flattered… Proud?”

That’s what he felt when he thought of the copycat. They were the same. They were family, but then when he thought of Chad.

“Worried, stupid … guilty?”

“That’s quite a list. I can see why you’re confused.”

“How do I arrange it, sort it?”

Will hummed. “I think first of all you’ve got to work out what happened to make you feel that? So what did Chad say?”

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