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I walk over and notice there’s a part of another picture behind the flyers on one wall. My brows furrow as I carefully remove all the pages over top of it, only for things to get worse.
There, underneath the pictures of the crime we covered up, is a blown-up photo of us. My arms are wrapped around Laiken, with Cam and Mali beside us. We all look so happy, but it’s the word painted across it in red ink that chills me to the bone.
GUILTY.
This was the real message. The one to show us that they know we were all involved. And they’re not just declaring war on Laiken. It’s a war on all of us.
All three of our phones go off at once, and we look confused as we pull them out, each finding a text from an unknown number.
Let the games begin.
My alarm blares beside me.Four hours of sleep is just not enough, but unfortunately, it’s what I’m used to these days. Especially since Laiken has been back. It always seems like when I finally get myself to doze off, I’m forced awake again. As much as I hate coffee, it’s become a necessary staple in my life.
I slip out of bed and leave the guest room of my own damn house. After knowing someone had been in the bar, I knew I couldn’t sleep there. The last thing we want is to do is let our guards down for a single second. So, as much as I didn’t want to, I forced myself to come sleep here.
There was a time when I loved this place almost as much as Laiken did. It was ours—filled with our love and the promise of a future together. But when she left, the only thing I was waiting for was for her to come back, until it reached the point where it became unhealthy.
Every sound of a car door shutting had me flying to the window, hoping it was her. The creaks that come with every house were far too loud as they broke through the silence. It was all just a reminder that she wasn’t here. And when I couldn’t take it anymore, I finally decided to leave and sleep at the bar.
It started out as only one night, but as one month became two, and days became weeks, I accepted that I was better off sleeping there—where the other side of the bed didn’t remind me of what I lost. The only times I come back here are to make sure everything is still in working order, and to dust from time to time. It’s not like I want the place to go to shit. I just couldn’t stand to be here anymore.
Even now, the emptiness is as strong as ever because while I might know where she is now, she isn’t here. This house was never mine. It was alwaysours. It’s just not somewhere I belong if she isn’t here with me.
MY MOM LIGHTS UPat me as I walk into the room, carrying the breakfast we share together as much as possible. It’s no secret that nursing home food isn’t the best. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure they try their best and the cooks are very talented, but when it’s all made in mass quantities, it’s never going to taste as good.
“Stop looking at me like that,” I say through a chuckle.
Her grin widens. “Like what?”
“Like I’m some kind of hero. You’re going to give me a complex.”
She hums, watching me put her breakfast on the bedside table and turning it so she can eat. “Honey, you’ve always been my hero.”
I can’t explain how much I wish that were true. But if I were a hero, I’d be able to save her, and no matter how hard I’ve tried, I haven’t been able to do that. No one has. Not even the best doctors I could manage to find, and trust me, we went through a lot of them.
I pull up the chair beside her bed and take out my bagel. “My ego thanks you for its daily inflation.”
Mom snickers, rolling her eyes. “You’re such a little shit.”
“Nowthatsounds more like you.”
We both laugh, and I love when we’re in moods like this. There have been times where she’s mentally not all there. Especially during treatments, she didn’t seem like herself. It’s like she was confused and irritated. All she wanted to do was sleep, and I understood it, but I always ached for moments like this.
It goes quiet for a moment as we eat, until my mom says something that shocks the hell out of me.
“So, Laiken’s back?”
I damn near choke on my food. “How did you know that?”
She smirks, not letting her eyes meet mine. “She may have stopped by to see me yesterday.”
That information knocks the wind out of me. To know that she was here, spending time with my mom, it sends a rush of different emotions through my body.
“What did she want?” I ask, trying to seem unaffected.
“To apologize, for starters.” Her hand trembles as she brings the fork with more eggs on it to her mouth, dropping some on her lap that I quickly help her clean up. “She seems just as broken as you are, H.”
Fuck me.“Yeah well, she’s the one that did this, remember?”
