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“Do what? Be here for you?”
“I don’t need your pity, Zel.”
“My pity?” My eyes went wide. “How could you say that to me? You know how much I loved her too. She was the closest thing I had to a second mother. Please don’t do this…”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Where else would I be? Huh?”
“You don’t belong here anymore.”
“That’s not fair.”
He stubbornly shook his head. “I don’t need you.”
I winced, upset that he was doing this. “Listen, I know you’re hurting, but you don’t have to push me away. I’m not here to talk about our past or the last time we saw each other in this very room. As far as I’m concerned, none of it matters right now. Do you understand me? I love you, Ledger. You’ll always be my friend regardless of what happens between us.”
He contemplated what I was saying with an expression I couldn’t read. I never thought it would come to this, or maybe I did, and I just chose to ignore it.
He didn’t answer me with words. Only his eyes talked to me. His stare held mine, and I noticed a slight headshake with an internal battle suddenly clear across his face.
Needing to have him hear it, I vowed, “I’ll always be here for you.”
That was enough to break his silence.
In one rigid breath, he ordered, “Go home, Hazel. You need to go back home.”
My eyebrows pinched together, caught off guard. “I am home.”
“No.” He backed away from me. “You’re not. Your home isn’t here anymore. Not in this town. Not in this bedroom with me.”
I stepped back, needing more space between us. “Why are you saying this?”
He didn’t hesitate in repeating, “Go home, Hazel. Go home to your New York. That’s your home now. Stop worrying about me. I’m not your concern, and I never was. I don’t need you here for me, so go home.”
I sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady my mind.
My heart.
My emotions.
I wanted to fight with him. I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t true. That this would always be my home. I knew he was just mourning and needed someone to take his anger out on, which caused a domino effect of my love and hate for him.
For what he did and didn’t do.
For what he said and didn’t say.
For how he made me feel like I was nothing more than an acquaintance. Nothing more than a stranger.
Instead of his close friend.
“Please don’t do this,” I shamelessly begged, fearing that it truly was the end of us. “I know you’re in unimaginable pain, but pushing me away won’t change how you feel.” I paused, allowing my words to sink in. “I could take time off school and move back to town to help you through this. Please…” I caressed the side of his face. “Just let me in. I lov—”
“Hey, babe.” A brunette I’d never seen before walked into his bedroom, making the space seem much smaller than a second ago.
“There you are,” she exclaimed, standing beside him and wrapping her arm around his. “I’ve been looking all over for you. This house is so big. There are so many rooms, and I didn’t know which one was yours.” Her stare went back and forth between us before it landed on him. “Who’s this?”
I answered, “I’m Hazel.” Waiting for her recollection of who I was to him.
