It destroys me.

But I can’t argue.

I can’t stay and make this worse.

So I do the only thing that feels right, even though it’s fucking killing me from the inside out.

I nod slowly, backing away with my hands up like I’m the danger here.

Which, I guess, right now?

I am.

“I’ll go for now, Sunshine,” I say quietly, throat so tight I’m choking on every word.

“But this isn’t over.”

Her response?

Cold. Final.

“Goodbye, Doug.”

It guts me.

I swallow hard, turn away before I crumble right there in front of her, and walk out like my feet weigh a thousand pounds each.

Outside, I don’t even make it past the front steps before I punch the nearest brick wall.

Hard.

I definitely broke it. Pain shoots up my arm.

I put a hole in it. Concrete shards fly and some even hit me.

Good. I deserve that. I deserve all of that.

I rake my other hand through my hair, pacing like a fucking lunatic, breathing too fast, on the verge of going full-on feral.

I can't leave her vulnerable, no matter how badly she wants me gone.

Not after what happened with that Cat bastard.

So I do the only thing I can.

I pull out my phone, thumb hovering for half a second before I hit the name I never thought I’d actually need in a pinch.

Horace.

Grumpy Bear. Happily mated. Big brother type, apparently.

And the only fucking friend I have in the whole world.

It rings twice.

“What the fuck do you want, Dog Breath?” he answers, voice thick with sleep and zero patience.

“Not the time,” I growl, already pacing again.