Page 120 of Panther's Magpie
She taps the side of her head. I will never fathom what she has gone through. I wish I could take it all away for her.
“Do you want to talk to someone about it? Like a professional?” I ask her.
She was forced to talk to a therapist once as a kid and hated it. I think it would be beneficial for her now.
“I don’t know. Maybe? What can I really say? Can I tell them my monsters are all slain by my brother but they still haunt me? What would that mean for Calloway?”
I sigh. “If you want to talk to someone, we will make it happen. Don’t worry about that. Your mental health is more important.”
She lets out a small chuckle. “If I got him sent away, would you feel like I took him from you?”
I frown. “No, because he would come back to me eventually. He would still be mine.”
She deflates. “I didn’t mean that. I don’t want him to go away. My head is all messed up. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. You have things to work through. I want to help you through it like you helped me through my issues. Only if you want me to, though.”
She sniffles. “I’ve missed you. They would taunt me with you. They would tell me they were going to grab you next. That you would be beside me suffering. I would always lash out then. I didn’t want you there. I never want you to experience what I did. I’m sorry I ever insinuated that I wanted that.”
I step closer to the bed, taking a seat on the edge. “I know. You were raw when you got here, and it didn’t help that you found out I fell in love with your brother. I don’t blame you for your words. Don’t even stress about them.”
“I thought you would have left,” she says suddenly. “I thought you would have gone home. I mean, months had gone by. I figured there is no way she is still here. She went back to school. She is living her life. Then I saw you here and realized all those taunts they threw at me? They were real. He would tell me about you being here. He even said he saw you once at some community event. I figured he had to have been lying, so when I saw you, it hurt. He made it sound like you were living your best life while I was suffering.”
My own tears fill my eyes. “I missed you like crazy every single day. I asked about you constantly. These guys never stopped looking for you. They had rotations to ride out looking for any sign of where you could be. You never once left our minds. We weren’t out living our best lives because we didn’t have you here with us.”
She nods. “I see that now. I know you’ve been sleeping in the hall outside my door with Calloway. That you’ve been listening to my nightmares.”
I wince. I had no idea she was clued into that.
“I only wanted to suffer with you. We are best friends. You cry, I cry. Ride or dies.”
She laughs. “I thought you hated that saying. What was it you used to say, ‘why do we have to die?’ Now you’re saying it to me.”
I smile. “I never got it before, but I do now. I would die for you, Aspen. Any day of the week.”
She sucks in a breath before she starts to sob. The next instant she is next to me, her arms wrapped around me. I let my own tears fall as I hold her to me.
“I never liked Ava. I’m so glad it’s you with him and not her. Truly. I’m happy for you. Please don’t leave me,” she sobs out.
“Never. You will always be my best friend. No matter what.”
She sobs harder. “Do you think Calloway will make me go home?”
“I won’t let him. If I belong here, then you do too. Remember? It’s us against the world.”
She laughs. “Us against the world.”
For the first time in months, I feel like everything might truly be all right.
PANTHER
When I arrive back at the clubhouse, I do not expect to find Maggie and Aspen at the bar playing cards. I’m so shocked that I almost turn back around and come back in just to make sure my eyes are okay.
Then Maggie smiles over at me.
“You’re home,” she says, all soft and sweet.
Aspen looks a little uncomfortable but smiles at me.
