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I laugh even harder. I can’t stop. Even when I bring my warm, wet, sticky hands to my mouth, I can barely keep it all in.
“Son…” I hear someone start to say, their deep voice slowed. Warbly, like it’s coming from underwater.
The floor creaks. It always creaks in that spot, right next to the door, and a thought occurs to me.
Vale should’ve known better.
Stupid, stupid, brave little Vale.
Someone crouches next to me, and I flinch, snapping my head toward the strange man now staring back at me, his furrowed eyes now level with mine.
Cops are here, I realize, finally registering the man’s uniform, and all I can think is, Good. Good, they’ll finally take us from here. Relief softens some of my irritation, quieting the awful sounds coming from my lips.
Suddenly, a high-pitched whining pierces the room, seeming to halt everything around me, including the rocking. My laughter, which was already dimming, breaks off with another sharp, hiccupping gasp.
My head whips to the other side, head cocked as I take in the tiny figure sitting next to me shaking like a leaf. Brown eyes wide and too big for his pale little face.
There he is.
For a second, Vale seems to actually be looking at me, rather than through me. But it doesn’t last long before he seems to retreat again.
“It’s okay,” I say, cheeks aching with how hard I try to stop smiling. Laughter bubbles up once more. My vision blurs as I try to keep it all in, but it’s no use. “It’s okay, Valey.”
He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t move. I can’t even be sure he’s even breathing. I kind of want to shake him. Slap him, even. If anyone should be freaking out right now, it should be me.
“I got him,” I whisper.
His eyes well up with tears.
What a little cry-baby, I think fondly. He’s only a year younger than me, but he’s still so little.
A sharp laugh erupts out of me, this time through my mouth. I quickly press a fist to my lips, like I can shove it back in. But it’s no use.
“I got him!” This time, my voice carries, loud and high-pitched, threatening to crack, before it breaks off into another round of giggles.
That old penny taste and smell is stronger than ever with my wet fingers mashed up against my mouth. But I don’t really mind.
I got him, I got him, I got him.
It’s all I can think, all that matters.
“Son…”
My smile starts to slip again as my eyes dart around aimlessly, somehow taking everything in, but not able to focus on just any one thing.
“…we’re gonna need you to come with us,” a gentle male voice is saying somewhere behind me.
I seek out Vale once more, begging him with my eyes for…something; I don’t know what.
Why does he seem so far away?
Why do I feel so sad all of a sudden?
All the voices surrounding me seem to tune in and out, making it hard to keep track of who’s speaking. My chest squeezes, strangling the sounds still trying to escape up my throat.
This isn’t so funny anymore.
“How old is he?” someone asks. This one comes from farther away.
