A sound so raw it didn’t feel human.
“Why, Finn? You stupid, reckless bastard! Why did you do it?! WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME LIKE THAT?”
She screamed again, fists clenched at her sides. Her knees buckled.
She fell.
The sound that tore from her now was pure grief. No fury left.
It made me stagger.
“I let him die,” she sobbed. “Because I froze. Because part of me was relieved. Because I didn’t want to keep running anymore. Because I didn’t love him the way he wanted me to.”
She crumpled, shoulders shaking. Her voice dropped, barely audible.
“But I did love him.”
Silence.
“I loved him, and I still let him die.”
Then she looked up at us—at me. Tears streaking down her face. Snot and dirt on her skin like none of it mattered anymore.
“So tell me—what kind of person does that make me?”
No one spoke.
Because there was no answer.
Then she broke.
Another scream—this one grief, not rage.
She collapsed into the earth, sobbing so hard her whole body convulsed.
And I—I couldn’t breathe.
Slade moved first. He knelt beside her, silent as stone, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, anchoring her with quiet strength.
Leo followed, easing in behind her.
He rested his head gently against her back, arms encircling her like he could hold her together.
Maddie reached for her hand, lacing their fingers without a word.
I was the last.
Careful.
Slow.
I sat beside her—
Not to fix.
Just to be near.
Chapter 12
