I am him.
I have to go.
Leo closed his eyes, searching for any strand of peace amongst the chaos in his brain. But he found nothing except absolute certainty that Heyton was the wrong place for him to be. Lila, Charlie, they were better off without him.
Resolved, he opened his eyes and ditched the park. Leaving Lila without saying good-bye broke what was left of his burned-out heart, but there was no other way. Even dazed as he was, he knew that going back to the house was a bad move. He’d heard the sirens, and he’d never forget the mess he’d left behind at school.No.He couldn’t go back. Not now. Not ever.
There was only one home left for him.
Charlie paced the hallway, straining his ears to eavesdrop on the crisis meeting going on in the living room. Reg, Kate, social workers . . . the police, they were all there, and had been since Charlie had finally admitted defeat and gone home with Leo’s grubby bandage stuffed in his pocket.
He’d yet to admit that he’d found it by the canal, but then, once it had become clear that he’d returned home alone, no one had asked him anything else, and that was making him nervous. Did Kate and Reg know that Charlie and Leo spent every spare moment huddled up in bed, kissing the hell out of each other? Were they waiting for the police and social workers to leave before they forced Charlie to confess?
Nah. If they do know, they won’t care until Leo’s home.
If Leo wasallowedhome. Charlie had seen foster siblings disappear from his life over crimes less severe than the beating Leo had inflicted on Darren Stroud—broken nose, cracked ribs, a possible concussion.“He could’ve killed him,”one of the social workers had said. No one had argued.
The front door opened. Heart in his mouth, Charlie spun on his heel, but it wasn’t Leo—it was Fliss, her expression as grim as Charlie had ever seen it.
She rounded on him before she’d undone her coat. “If you know where he is, you have to tell them. This is serious, Charlie.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
“Real talk? Are you sure about that? Because I haven’t told Mum and Dad that you and Leo are together, but I will if I think you’re doing anything to make this horrible shit worse.”
Charlie blinked. “We’re not together.”
“Whatever. I don’t care. Just don’t play any silly games. You’ll only make it worse for him.”
“What do you mean?”
Fliss inclined her head towards the living room. “What do you think they’re talking about in there? Do you think they’re having a nice little meeting about increasing Leo’s art therapy and taking him to church more?”
“No one here goes to church.”
“That’s not the point, Charlie!” Fliss’s shout echoed in the empty hallway. She glared at Charlie for a long moment before her expression softened. “Look, Leo’s messed up big time, but you and I both know that there’s no way he wanted to hurt that boy as bad as he did. He’s not an ASBO kid; he’s had some really horrible stuff happen to him.”
“But Mum and Dad know that too, don’t they?”
“Of course they do, but they don’t see the Leo that you see—that Lila sees—and the social workers have to assume the worst.Think, Charlie. Where would he go?”
Charlie shook his head, struggling to grasp whatever it was that Fliss was trying to say. “I don’tknowwhere he is. I’d tell you if I did, I swear.”
“Damn straight, you would.” Andy emerged from the kitchen, a mug of tea dwarfed by his large hand. “Which is how I can tell that you don’t know jack. Leave him alone, Fliss. He’d say if he knew anything, right? Charlie?”
“Right.” Charlie bit his lip, guilt surging through him even though he’d done nothing wrong. Because he did know something that no one else did . . . that he loved Leo, and that perhaps—maybe—that Leo loved him too. “Do you think . . . um—”
“What?” Fliss snapped. “Spit it out.”
“Fliss,” Andy said.
“No, she’s onto something.” Charlie frantically tried to make sense of the images flashing through his mind. “Give me a minute.”
Under the weight of Fliss’s glare and Andy’s obvious bewilderment, Charlie thought of every bad dream he’d ever watched Leo endure. Every mutter and murmur. Every cry. Every flinch of pain. “The house,” he whispered. “Leo and Lila’s old house . . . I—I think he’s gone there.”
“Seriously?” Andy raised an eyebrow. “Why would he gothere, of all places? There’s nothing left of it.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie frowned as Fliss stamped on Andy’s foot, the message in her furious scowl clear:shut the fuck up. “Is that where the fire was?”