Page 6

“I think I broke something. Help me up,” I grunt, reaching out as my muscles scream from the effort of hanging onto the fence.

Xed glares, then sighs in exasperation. “You really think I can pull you up, Sasquatch? You’re a fucking mountain, and I’m maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet.”

But he tries anyway, bless him. His slim hands grip my arm, and he heaves with all his might.

What ends up happening, though, is my dumbass yanking him straight out of the window. Xed’s shocked yelp mingles with mine as I let go to grab him, sending us both crashing into the hydrangeas.

“Ow, fuck.” Pain shoots up my back, and a wheeze escapes as Xed’s body slams into me, knocking the air clean out of my lungs.

“Why, Matty?” he growls, sitting up with his legs straddling my hips. “What did I do to deserve this?”

“God, I’m gonna hurt in the morning,” I groan, wincing.

Xed folds his arms, squinting down at me. “Are you bleeding?”

“Um.” I pause, doing a quick mental scan. “Not on the outside.”

“Then you’ll live,” he deadpans, blowing a stray strand out of his face. His hair is flat from sleep, falling in messy sheets over one side. “You could’ve just texted me instead of breaking shit. Who do you think’s gonna get blamed for the shutters and flowers, asshole?”

Guilt twists my stomach, making it churn. Sitting up quickly, I wrap my arms around him before he can squirm away. “Shit, Xed, I—I’m sorry. I didn’t think. You weren’t at home, and I just… I needed to see you. Is she… is she gonna—"

“It’s fine,” he cuts me off, his gaze falling to the ground. “She took her pills, and they knocked her out. I’ll just make something up. Like… a gust of wind. Or the Hamburglar.”

But he’s still upset. I can feel it in the way his body stays rigid against mine, his arms folded tightly. And I know it’s not about the hydrangeas.

Reaching up, I tangle my fingers in his soft hair, pressing our foreheads together. “I’m sorry, Ducky. Val wanted me to stick around, and I’d feel like a dick if I just bounced.”

“Don’t call me that,” he snaps, pulling back to glare at me. “And it doesn’t matter. You can do what you want.”

“Got you something,” I say, shrugging off the crushed backpack. Unzipping it, I pull out the sign I stole off the side of the road. “Would’ve been home sooner, but this one took some effort. You’re less noticeable than me. I had to hide every time a car drove by.”

His brows furrow as he takes the sign from my hands.

“No Dumping?”

I laugh, grinning widely. “Yeah. We can hang it in our bathroom.”

“Are you twelve?” His lips twitch, pulling down at the corners as he fights a smile.

Taking the sign back, I grab his hands to place them on my face. “I really am sorry. Forgive me?”

Xed watches me with those big brown eyes, flecks of gold flickering in the moonlight, his thumbs brushing gently over my cheekbones. After a moment, he shrugs, half-hearted.

“I guess.”

Relief floods through me as I stuff the sign into my bag before standing up with him still in my arms. “Let’s go home, baby duck.”

“I’m not a fucking duck. Cut it out with that shit.” He wraps his legs around my waist to keep from falling, grumbling into my neck. “And I am home.”

I disagree with both statements but don’t say a word as I carry him down the street to my car.

His home is wherever I am. He’s known it since the day he followed me into my house in the fourth grade—like a lost little duck.

And he’s been mine ever since.

Once we’re both buckled in, I roll down the windows and blast "Are You Really Okay?" by Sleep Token. The music floods the car, but Xed sits with his arms folded, body angled away from me. With a sigh, I pry one of his hands free and thread our fingers together.

He rolls his eyes and huffs but doesn’t pull away. Instead, he gives my hand a small squeeze, and I don’t let go until we pull up in front of my parents’ house. They’re both away for work, and Jenna’s gone for the night, so the place is ours.