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“You don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t understand. That boy is like a son to me. I watched him grow up, playing alone in that giant backyard with no one to keep him company. He’d be gone for hours on end and you know what his answer was when I asked him why?”
I shake my head.
“He wanted to disappear. He felt like a bother to his mom and dad who cared more about arguing than assuring him that he mattered.”
“I’m not like that.”
“You’re focusing on the wrong thing. How is he supposed to survive without you?”
“He’s strong. He’ll get over it.”
“No, he won’t,” she says firmly. “You’ll destroy him.”
My eyes water.
I don’t know why I’m being so emotional.
Hawk will get over this. It’s just hitting him harder now because he’s sick. When he gets better, he’ll stop obsessing over me.
He’ll move on.
To Catherine.
Or…
I don’t know.
All I know is, I can’t be here.
My feelings for him are more than I can handle.
If I stay here—
If I give in to him—
I’ll never go home.
“Hawk needs you. You saw him.” She points up to where Hawk’s living quarters are. “You saw him, Shanel. Why are you doing this?”
“I’m trying to protect him. If you knew—” I clamp my lips shut. Shake my head. “He doesn’t belong with me.”
“Says who? Who gets to make that decision?”
I rub my thumb over my elbow, hugging myself to find some sort of solace. Even if I tell Linda that I got pulled into a movie and I live in the real world, she wouldn’t believe me.
And…
If I’m honest with myself, that’s not the reason I’m hiding.
Staring at the floor, I finally admit the truth. “I don’t deserve him.”
“What?”
“I’m not… the main character.” I rub away a tear, trying to forget how sweetly Hawk had done the same last night. “In this world or the other one, I don’t get the happy ending. I don’t get Prince Charming. That’s not my reality. That’s not where my story goes.”
“Then who are you?”
