I could have helped you instead of just standing there, watching. I could have insisted that Hayle come pick me and Leo up. There were other, better, roads untaken, and that’s what haunts me.”
Watching tears fill Violet’s eyes spurred on my own, and I blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. Given our current positions on the couch, I couldn’t reach him for a hug. But I wanted, needed, to touch him. So, I scooted close enough that I could lean my head on his shoulder. It was more for my own comfort than his, which probably said something I didn’t want to think about right now.
I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault—that night had been a cluster of fuckups, including Violet’s. But it wasn’t my place. He would either get there on his own or not. But I had to hope finally getting this off his chest would carry him one step closer.
“I forgive you,” Violet said with a waver in her voice. “Just as I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Tristin opened his mouth to argue, but she held a hand up to cut him off. “I have ghosts still haunting me over that night too. I wish you’d never had to go to juvie because of me, but it’s done now, and I just want all of us—you, me, and Leo—to move on.” She stood. “I hope that you do.”
Looking at me, she said, “I should go, but maybe I can visit again over Thanksgiving break?”
I smiled at her. “I would like that. Text me.”
“I will.”
After she was gone, Tristin and I sat there in silence. There were still so many words left unspoken between us, but I found that I didn’t care so much anymore. I hadn’t forgotten that he’d been a complete ass and pushed me away—wasn’t sure I would or could forget.
But, for the first time since he’d walked away from me, I felt like I had him back in my life. And, this time, I hoped he stayed there for good.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thea
I sat in the dirt and gazed at wheat fields for as far as the eye could see. It was peaceful, quiet, but something was off. The colors weren’t right. Instead of golden wheat against a blue sky, everything was dulled. Gray, even.
The space surrounding me was wide open, but still, I felt trapped.
I pushed to my feet and began running through the fields, the wheat slashing at my bare legs. I searched for something else, anything else, but there was nothing. Only an endless sea of crops and sky.
Thunder sounded from behind me, and I turned, finding an old pickup speeding toward me instead. Except, no, there was thunder too. And lightning.
Instinctively, I looked beyond the truck, to where a funnel cloud was forming overhead. It was so big, it looked like a monster preparing to eat the entire sky.
Not again.
Already knowing how this was supposed to go, I waited for the truck to reach me, to rescue me. But it didn’t slow down.
My feet urged me to move, to get the hell out of there. Except, my feet had somehow frozen to the ground, despite the hot summer day. I just stood there, waiting for my fate.
Waiting for the truck to drive right into me and toss me aside like yesterday’s trash.
I heard my name being called from far away, and—
“Thea, wake up.”
I sat up, my breaths coming out in short gasps. A figure sat on the edge of my bed, and I questioned for a second whether he was real. “Hayle?”
He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Yeah, sweetheart, it’s me.”
“When did he start calling me sweetheart?”
“You don’t like it?”
Oh, shit. I’d said that aloud? I hadn’t meant to.
“I do. It’s just...”
“You’re Leo’s,” he sighed more than said.
I didn’t reply to that. The last thing I wanted to do right now was get into all of that again. Leo wasn’t even at the townhouse tonight, since he and his brothers had been taking turns sleeping at the mansion to keep Vincent from throwing a fit.
So, I changed the subject. “What are you doing in here?” And why was I shaking?
“You screamed, so I came to check on you.” He softened his voice. “Nightmare?”
I focused on the question, and after a few seconds, it all came rushing back. Sinking against the headboard, I answered, “Yes. There was a tornado...then, I got hit by a truck.”
“Fuck. I guess it’s not surprising, though. They were both pretty traumatizing events.”
“I guess.”
Really, the