“Explain it to me, Honey. Please. Help me understand why we’re both miserable when we don’t have to be?”
“Did you ever think I’m tired of this? That maybe, I’m tired of everyone assuming they know what's best for me?”
“I never said—”
“You implied it,” Honey cuts him off. “You and everyone else. Poor Honey can't make her own decisions. Poor Honey needs to be protected from herself.”
“That's not what I meant,” Zach says, his voice strained. “I just—I see him, Honey. I see the way he is with you, and I—” He stops, shaking his head. “Forget it. It doesn't matter.”
The silence stretches between them.
I should leave. This is none of my business, but I’m desperate to go to my cousin and give him a hug. Even with all this shit he’s going through, he’s suffering the exact same fate as Honey and putting everyone else’s happiness before his own.
“Honey—” Zach's voice breaks.
There's movement on Honey's end—voices in the background, someone calling her name.
“I have to go,” Honey says. “Jamie needs me.”
“Okay,” Zach says, even though he looks like he wants to argue. “Just—be careful. Please.”
The call ends, and Zach lowers his phone slowly, staring at the blank screen like it might give him some answers.
He runs a hand through his hair, sighing out.
I can’t leave him like that. Stepping around the corner, I say, “Zach?”
He looks up with glassy eyes, unsurprised to see me. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough.” I slide down the wall to sit beside him, our shoulders touching. “They're going to confront their fathers.”
“Yeah.” Zach's voice is hollow. “Because apparently everyone I care about has a death wish.”
“They're brave,” I say quietly.
“It's stupid,” Zach mutters, but there's no heat behind it. “They could get hurt. Both of them, and yeah, I might not be the biggest fan of Jamie, but he makes you happy, and that’s all I want for you.”
“That’s why they are doing it.” I rest my head on his shoulder. “To make us both happy.”
“I hate not being able to do anything to protect her.”
I raise my hand and rest it on his knee. “Don’t you see, cuz? That’s not what she wants. If it was, she would have sent you there. She wants to be her own person. To fight her own battles. You’ve just got to let her and hope she’ll come to her senses soon.”
“I’m tired of waiting.”
“Patience is a virtue.”
He rolls his eyes and shakes his head but doesn’t respond. He knows I’m right. Honey will find her way back to him. It’s only a matter of time.
We sit in the hallway in silence, both processing what this means.
Jamie didn’t tell me he was going because he knew I’d be upset, but weirdly, I’m not. I’m relieved I know where he is, andthat he’s still fighting for us. He wants us just as much as we want him, and I can only hope he doesn’t get stuck under his father’s thumb.
From the living room, Ella's voice rings out. “Mommy? Uncle Zach? Where are you?”
We both stand, brushing off our clothes and trying to look like we haven't been sitting in the hallway having emotional breakdowns.
“Coming, princess!” Zach calls.