Jared shook his head to dismiss Jag’s apology. “I thought you should know what my parents told me. About you. About us.”
Jag folded his arms. “You were my best friend,” he said. “Now you’re a stranger. What else is there to know?”
An apology almost crossed Jared’s lips, but he held it back. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t remember Jag; he wasn’t going to apologise for something that was beyond his control. “My parents feel the same way you do. Physically, I’m their son, but emotionally, I’m not. I can only guess how hard and upsetting it is for them and you.”
Jag lowered his chin. “It can’t be easy for you either.”
“No,” Jared admitted. “But it’s a different kind of hard.” He ran his thumb up and down the spine of the thin blue book in his hands. “I know why I didn’t keep in touch with you.”
Jag’s eyes went wide.
Now that he’d brought it up, Jared wasn’t sure he wanted to carry on.
“Why?” Jag asked when the silence went on too long.
Jared raked his teeth over his lower lip. “Your parents threatened to ruin my school record if I tried to keep in touch with you. At least, that’s whatmyparents said. It might not be true.”
Jag let out a bitter laugh. “Oh, it is.”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“I’m not.”
“If it helps, apparently, I tried to ignore their warning, so my parents had to make sure I couldn’t contact you. I’m sorry.”
“They were protecting you.” Jag’s voice had a gruff edge to it. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I shouldn’t have thought you hated me.”
“From what my parents said, I didn’t. I couldn’t.” Jared cleared his throat. “I know I’m not the person you knew, but I’d still like to be friends.” He raised his eyebrows a fraction as he looked at Jag, hoping he would agree. “I’ll understand if you can’t be,” he said in a quieter voice. “I’ll leave if you want me to.”
Jag shifted his weight from foot to foot. Eventually, he nodded towards the book Jared was holding. “Why did you bring that?”
Jared looked down at it, holding it so he could see the cover. “I wanted to ask you a favour.”
“What?”
“I have a seagull tattooed on my shoulder.”
“Kyrone said.”
“I don’t remember why, but I’m fairly sure the answer is somewhere in this book.”
Jag stared at him, silent and unmoving.
“My parents told me I used to be good at English, but my mind struggles with anything but the obvious now.” He flicked the pages of the book. “Kyrone has read it to me a couple of times, but I’m not grasping the depth of the story. He’s tried to help me, but he doesn’t understand the book in the same way I think you do.”
Jag’s shoulders relaxed a little, but he still stayed quiet.
“I was hoping you’d help me,” Jared said. “Even if I can’t work out the original reason I got the tattoo, maybe together, we can find a new significance for it.”
“You… really wantmeto help you do that?”
Jared nodded. “This book means a lot to you. Kyrone told me you’ve read it a lot.”
“It meant a lot to me becauseyougave it to me.”
Jared dipped his chin. “I know.” He wished Kyrone was with him to hold his hand and give him confidence and strength. “Part of me wishes I could turn back the clock and tell myself not to get in the car on the day of the accident or to take a different route. I’ve lost so much, and so have the people around me.” He ran his fingers around the edge of the seagull on the book cover, focussing on the picture rather than looking at Jag. “But I can’t. I’m trying to make the best of a bad situation, of losing my memory and of my brain not working as well as it used to.” He looked up, straight into Jag’s intensely dark eyes. “Can you do the same? I want to be a part of your life, Jag, if you’ll let me in.”
Jag edged closer, sitting on the end of the sofa. “It’s weird hearing you call me that and not Jeremy.”
