Page 94 of Bound By Threads
Me
Just you and me. No Roman. No Elijah. I just… need to see you.
God, I sound needy.
Ok. I kind of am.
Please?
This time, she replies.
Lottie
Where?
I don’t even hesitate. Replying with a smile on my face.
Me
Anywhere you feel safe.
The campus isquiet when she shows up.
Sunset bleeds orange into the pavement, the sky cracks open like it’s been holding its breath for her too.
She doesn’t say anything at first—just stands across from me, arms folded tight like armor, chin tilted up.
She’s fire and steel, and I don’t blame her.
I deserve every ounce of it.
I rub a hand over the back of my neck. “Thank you for coming.”
Fuck. I sound so diplomatic right now. I should have hugged her… or not.
Lottie shrugs, her expression unreadable, and I hate it because I’ve always managed to know what she was thinking even when she was silent. “You said you wanted to talk…” she sighs. “So talk.”
I nod, but the words get caught somewhere behind my teeth. My throat burns.
I try to think of the words to say.
I could apologize, but it would mean nothing without the actions behind it.
“Please let me come home,” I say finally. My voice cracks like the ground’s splitting beneath me, and I don’t even try to hide the way my knees tremble. “Please.”
Her brows pull together, brown eyes trailing over me like she’s searching for something. “What do you mean?”
God, her voice. It’s rougher now, worn from years of silence, but underneath it is something soft and familiar. It knocks the breath from me.
“I want to come home,” I repeat. “The last time I felt peace was when you were still alive.”
I see it in her eyes—the way she’s studying me, scanning for signs that I’m high again… and I can’t blame her. I haven’t wanted to use, since I drugged her. I’m letting the pain live inside me now.
Ideserveto feel it.
Every sharp edge. Every hollow echo.
Because we pushed her to the edge and lost her because of it.
