She nodded again.
Micah was waiting just outside the locker room door, arms folded, already watching for us. Her gaze flicked over Teddy quickly, checking what needed checking, then landed on me.
“I’ve cleared the back hallway,” she said. “Girls are occupied. Media’s gone.”
Teddy didn’t react. She stayed close, her hand curling into the fabric at my side.
Micah opened the door and stepped aside. “Let’s go.”
I kept my arm around Teddy’s shoulders, adjusting when her steps faltered, matching her pace when it slowed. She didn’t speak. Didn’t look up. Just followed.
At the exit, Micah paused.
“I’ll check in later,” she said to Teddy. “You don’t need to answer anyone tonight.”
Teddy nodded, eyes glassy, and Micah grabbed her and hugged her tight before stepping back.
I guided her to the car.
She stared out the window as I pulled away, silent, exhausted.
“I’m taking you home,” I said, letting her know that I hoped I knew what she needed, and that was to not make a decision right now.
She didn’t argue. Just rested her forehead against the glass.
The drive was short, but it felt longer with the weight of everything sitting between us. I kept one hand on the wheel and the other ready, hovering near the console in case she reached for it. It took her a second, but she slid her hand into mine and angled her body closer to me.
When I pulled up outside her building, she hesitated before unbuckling, like the next step required more from her than she had left.
“I’ve got you,” I said, already out of the car.
She let me guide her inside, passing me her keys.
The apartment was dark and still.
She kicked her shoes off without looking and sank onto the couch like her legs had finally given up. I grabbed a blanket from the back of the chair and draped it over her shoulders, tucking it in around her before she could protest.
“I’m just going to get you some water.”
When I came back, she took the glass with both hands, fingers trembling, and sipped slowly. I sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of her, close enough that she didn’t have to reach if she leaned forward.
“You don’t have to talk,” I said. “You don’t have to do anything.”
Her eyes lifted to mine then. “I don’t want to be alone,” she admitted, bottom lip wobbling.
“You won’t be,” I replied immediately. “I’m staying.”
That seemed to be the thing that finally settled her nerves. Her shoulders sagged, tension draining out of her in a way that looked almost painful. She leaned forward and pressed her face into my chest, arms sliding around my waist like she needed the contact to stay upright.
I wrapped myself around her and let her hold on as long as she needed.
42
Teddy
I woke with the dull awareness that my body had never really shut down.
There had been stretches of darkness, of drifting, of my thoughts thinning out just enough that time slipped past me, but sleep felt like too generous of a word for what I’d done. My head ached in that deep, persistent way, and my eyes burned the second I opened them.
