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Beside me, I felt Jenna tense. “What are you talking about?” I could actually feel her gaze on my down-bent head. “Lucy, what’s he talking about? Are you okay?”
Biting on the inside of my bottom lip, I reluctantly reached for the bracelet on my left wrist and pulled it off. Drake let out a hiss, because it was the first time he was seeing the proof of my cutting. Jenna’s cold fingers gripped my arm and pulled my wrist closer. “Oh, God, Lucy. I had no idea.”
“No one did,” I mumbled.
Drake exhaled long and hard. “No one knew about either of you. Now we do. Now I do. I don’t pretend to know what’s good for either of you right now. I seriously doubt the two of you know what is either, and that’s okay. The road to getting better is a long one, and from my own experience, that road never gets any shorter. Maybe it gets easier to walk, but it never ends.”
My eyes shot back up to him. “You’ve done a great job, Dray.”
He gave me a grim smile. “I’ve had help, Lu. I’ve gone to meetings, I’ve had people stand behind me and I have my Angel and our babies to keep me on the straight and narrow. But you two, you haven’t had that. Not really. Today, I want to show you both that no matter what, I’m here for you always.”
Jenna’s brows lifted. “With tattoos?”
His grin was both sad and amused. “With tattoos,” he agreed. “But not just any tattoos. Something that the three of us can share and when you two feel like the world is going to hell you can look at it and know I’ll be there for you.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I-I’ve always known that, Dray.”
“Maybe, but now you’ll never forget it.”
??
A semicolon.
I loved writing, but I’d never thought of a semicolon as a possible piece of art to put on my body. But the meaning behind it was perfect for me. A semicolon represents a sentence an author could have ended, but chose not to. Project Semicolon represented those who battled not only thoughts of suicide, but fought daily with addiction, depression, and self-injury. It was the perfect ink for all three of us. It represented the three of us in our own fucked-up ways perfectly and was possibly the link I needed to help me through what might come in the future. We each got them in black and on our right wrists. I loved them and it only made me feel that much closer to a man who had always been there for me.
It made me feel closer to Jenna as well.
Maybe her addiction wasn’t exactly like my need to hurt myself, but we could still help each other. I could be there for her and she could be there for me. We didn’t have to feel so alone. We didn’t have to hide our illnesses from each other or worry if the other was going to judge. Knowing that was kind of cathartic.
It seemed that way for Jenna too.
After our tattoos, Drake took us for food not far from Jenna’s apartment. We sat out on the sidewalk, eating sandwiches and drinking sodas. The sun felt
good on my face and I wasn’t looking forward to getting back into the car, so afterward, I told Drake I was going to walk with Jenna back to her place and then call Kin.
I was supposed to meet up with her and Jace so we could go to First Bass together. I was looking forward to hanging out with them. It would be like old times with the bonus of meeting Jace’s sister, Kassa.
Kin knew about my cutting. I couldn’t keep it from her when everyone else knew. She hadn’t taken it well. Like my mother, she had blamed herself for not realizing what I did to myself. I couldn’t understand why everyone was putting the blame on themselves. I’d made damn sure none of them knew. It was all on me. No one else.
Sliding my arm through Jenna’s, we walked the few blocks to her apartment.
“Today has been a really good day,” she murmured as we neared the building. “It felt good to get out.”
The surprise in her voice broke my heart. “Well, you’ll have to do it more often. How about going to dinner with me and Harris on Saturday?” I looked up at her as we continued to walk, giving her a warm smile. “Angie can come too.”
Her eyes brightened at the mention of Angie. “I’d really like that.”
“Me too.” We paused outside the building and I gave her arm a squeeze. “Harris misses you.”
Her lashes lowered. “I miss him too. But…”
“No buts. It’s settled. We’ll have dinner. You and Harris will make up and we’ll all live happily ever after.” I winked at her and reached for the door.
As we started to enter, the chick who had gotten on the elevator with Drake and me earlier stormed out. She looked pissed and her clothes were in complete disarray. She bumped into Jenna and didn’t even apologize.
“Bitch,” I called after her, angry that she’d nearly walked over Jenna. “Watch where you’re going.”
I got the finger in response as she stepped into the waiting car on the street. “Are you okay?” I asked Jenna as we stepped inside.
