Page 179 of There's No Us Without You
It’s kind of fitting.
Will could be the Tin Man without a heart—although he has mine.
Eden could be Dorothy with her need to find her home.
And I’m the Cowardly Lion, too afraid to admit I’m scared shitless of ruining everything I’ve worked so hard for.
Gabby grins and waves the waitperson over to order two more drinks.
What the fuck else is one to do when hellbent on destroying their life?
FIFTY
Will
Yawning,I rub my eyes and sink further into the lounge chair in the corner of my bedroom. I’ve been staring at Eden curled up in my bed for the last two hours.
Her sobs are now soft whimpers as she hugs a pillow, cheek squished, her pink nose evidence of her tears.
It took me half an hour to calm her down after Emerson left.
And what the actual fuck? I’ve never wanted to beat that boy’s face in as much as I did in that moment, but the fear in his hazel eyes when he realised what he’d done told me he regretted it.
That wasn’t him—not the guy I’ve known since we were twelve.
Not the one who shared his lunch with me every day for two years.
Or the one who punched Mark Smith—my childhood enemy in grade seven—in the face for calling me an unwanted bastard. His mum wasn’t overly impressed because she had to take him to the hospital for an X-ray and it messed with his soccer training that afternoon.
His hand was fine, but that’s not the point.
The point is, he’s the one who needs me to fight for him now, no matter the cost.
My throat closes up, and I clench my already aching jaw. I should have known he was on something.
The moods, the sleeping in.
Whatever the fuck that was earlier with Eden.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I let my head fall against the back of the chair, closing my eyes for a moment. My body aches, and my chest is heavy as though the weight of the fucking world is bearing down on it.
Just as I’m nodding off, my phone vibrates in my pocket, so I pull it out.
This better be Emerson.
Except it’s not.
Jesus Christ. I don’t need work drama right now, but I also can’t ignore it in case there is an actual emergency.
I press the green button and put the phone to my ear. “What?”
April clears her throat. “Sorry to call so late,” she says, her voice unsure. “But I thought you should know Emerson is here, and he’s not in a good way.”
“Fuck.” I shove to my feet. “Is he alone?”
The sound through the phone is muffled for a moment before April sighs. “No. He’s with a woman.”
Seriously? That woman better be his mother, or he’s in serious shit.
