“Y-you and I?”
He throws out a short nod, something flashing through his features. A thoughtful look but also something else. “We need to put you back where you belong.”
“I’m sorry?”
“With him.”
I blink up at him.
His eyes flick back and forth between mine. “We need to get you back together with him. That’s the only way he’ll stop spiraling. That’s the only way we fix him. By fixing your relationship.” While I’m reeling from that, he adds, “But that’s it. That’s all you need to worry about, you and him. Not our friendship. Not whatever the fuck comes to your mind. Just you. And him.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Who: The Bubblegum
Where: Dorm room at St. Mary’s School for Troubled Teenagers
When: 2:30 AM; right after Reign drops Echo off at campus
Dear Holly,
I belong with him.
With Lucas.
It’s not a novel idea. It’s not an idea that I’ve never had, getting back together with him. Especially in those early days when everything had happened. But then time passed on, without any contact from him, and I lost hope.
It’s back now though.
It’s back and I’m afraid.
I shouldn’t hope. I shouldn’t dream.
I shouldn’t even think about it.
But I am and it’s all because of… him.
The guy who never wanted us to be together in the first place.
The guy who’s always made it clear how much he hated me for his best friend, who I’d assumed would’ve done all that he could to keep Lucas and me apart over the years, is the one who came up with this idea.
He’s the one who’s going to help me get Lucas back.
Again, I should be afraid but I’m not.
I’m so very strangely not afraid at all.
Because of what I saw tonight.
In his reddish-brown eyes.
That guilt. That regret. That pain that I feel for Lucas.
And so despite years of hatred and friction between us, I’m doing this.
I’m taking his help.
I’m getting my ex-boyfriend back and I’m fixing everything.