Page 101 of Pretty Poisoned

"River?" Rhett calls from the doorway of Eli's room.

"I'll get my bag," she tells him.

"He's okay," Hazel says, taking my hand in hers. "Don't worry; whatever it is, Declan will take care of it."

River rushes over to Eli's room. Rhett opens it just enough for her to slip inside, and Hazel and I wait in the hallway.

About five minutes later, Rhett and River leave the room.

"Pack up and come downstairs; the bus will be here in fifteen minutes," Rhett says.

"Is Luca okay?" I call after him.

"He's fine; just stay away from him for now," Rhett says. "I mean it, Teagan."

"…Okay. I'll just…go pack our stuff…"

Confused, I go into our shared hotel room and pack both of our bags.

Fifteen minutes later, I'm eating pizza on the bus as we leave Portland. I don't see Luca, but I'm told he's sleeping in the back room where I stayed with River and Hazel that first night, that Rhett and Eli are watching him, and to leave him alone.

It's tense; I can tell they all know something I don't, and I hate it.

Declan goes in and out of the room several times, disappearing upstairs with his face buried in his phone in between, which he never does.

River flips through Netflix until she settles on a romcom while Brady works on a crossword puzzle.

Once it gets dark and everyone goes upstairs to sleep, I find Declan in bed, reading under a small, dim light, and lie down beside him.

"Do you want to read with me?" he asks. "I can move the light."

I shake my head. "I finished my book. I'll just watch you. Declan?"

"Hmm?"

"Is he mad at me?"

"No, he's not mad at you, Teagan. We need to talk about what you said, though."

"I'd rather not."

"No shit," he says. "I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want you to hurt yourself. I'm sorry you had to see what happened at home last week. I'm sorry that my reaction wasn't what you wanted and that you have this idea about me and what I want now, but it isn't accurate."

"Alana told me that's what you want. She said that's why she left."

Declan shakes his head. "She's wrong, Teagan. I love my family. And I miss Layla—a lot. She was special to me."

"But when she killed herself, you were happy."

"Both things can be true. They aren't necessarily related. I'm not glad she's gone; I think about her all the time."

"I'm tired," I tell him. "I'm going to go to sleep. Um, can I sleep here? With you?"

"Of course, you can," he says. He kisses me on the lips before I turn my back to him and pull the covers up to my neck.

He sighs and goes back to reading, resting his free hand on my hip. I close my eyes, but I don't fall asleep until his light clicks off, and I feel his breath on the back of my neck.

"Teagan? Teagan, wake up, baby," a voice whispers.

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