I looked up, startled.
“You donotget to decide you’re poison and call that noble,” Max snapped. “You don’t get to frame self-loathing as sacrifice.”
I flinched.
“And you don’t get to walk away and pretend that’s care,” he continued. “That’s fear wearing a halo.”
“I’m older than him,” I said weakly. “I have more power.”
“And Cameron istwenty-two, for fuck’s sake. He isn’t a child,” Max shot back. “He’s not fragile like glass. He’s choosingyou.”
I shook my head. “He deserves better.”
Max laughed, and the sound was short, sharp, and joyless. “No. He deserves honesty. Not martyrdom. Not silence. Andcertainlynot you disappearing because you’re scared.”
My chest tightened until it hurt to breathe.
“I don’t know how to stay,” I whispered. “I don’t know how to love without hurting someone.”
For a moment, Max’s expression softened a fraction.
“Then learn. Because Cameron already has.”
The words hit like a blow to the ribs.
I took the beer, walked into the living room, and collapsed onto the sofa, suddenly exhausted, hollowed out, as if someone had scooped me clean.
Max followed and sat across from me, elbows on his knees. “You think leaving fixes anything? All it does is confirm his worst fear.”
I closed my eyes.
That when things get hard, I disappear.
God.
“What you did tonight,” Max went on, relentless, “was choose your fear over his trust.”
Silence stretched between us.
Finally, I said, barely audible, “Can I stay?”
Max let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Fine, you can stay. Tonight.” He pointed a finger at me. “But tomorrow, you stop hiding and you fix this.” Another sigh. “I’ll get you some sheets.”
He disappeared down the hall.
I leaned back and stared at the ceiling, the beer untouched in my hand.
I wanted to shut my brain off. Drown it.Anythingnot to picture Cameron coming home to an empty flat and those three neat lines of lies.
Because for all my rules, all my control, I knew exactly who I was hurting.
And I wasn’t sure I could justify it to myself.
Cameron
“I hope you’re hungry,” I called as I pushed the door open, pizza boxes balanced precariously in my arms.