“So, uh, this is probably the worst timing in the world, but…” His expression softens, then tightens—eyes shifty, mouth tight.
The sudden change in him releases a swarm of hornets into my stomach.
This is the part where he tells me the vacation was fun, but we should stick to being friends. Or where he admits he’s been stringing me along as some kind of punishment for abandoning him.
Fuck, maybe he’s going to admit he killed Bobby and staged it to look like an overdose. After all, one of Kai’s ‘Dumb Ways Bobby Can Die’ was my father accidentally smoking rat poison instead of crack…because we’d switched out his drugs.
But my friend-turned-bully-turned-lover doesn’t admit to premeditated murder.
He reaches into his hoodie’s pocket and pulls out a small blue box.
Velvet. Like the kind for jewelry. A ring, to be specific.
My breath stops.
Oh shit.
“It’s not what you think,” he blurts out, his ears turning red.
“It’s not…jewelry?” My voice is shaking.
“I mean, it is, but, you know—Jesus, I’m bad at this.”
He opens it.
Inside, nestled in white satin, is the butterfly pendant I found in the envelope on his bookshelf when I snooped through his room like the creepy little stalker I am. The tiny blue stone embedded in one wing sparkles.
I still can’t breathe.
“I, uh…” Kai clears his throat. “I wanted to give this to you. A long time ago, actually. But then?—”
“Shit happened,” I cut in softly, so he doesn’t have to try to sum up years of bullshit misunderstandings and hurt feelings.
“Yeah, that.” He won’t meet my eyes. “Anyway.”
“How long have you had it?” I ask, even though I know.
Three years and some change.
“A while,” he says breezily. “No idea why I fucking kept it…” His eyes narrow with frustration.
I stare at the butterfly. Its wings catch the light again, glinting silver and blue. Blue like the butterfly’s wings trapped in Bastian’s crystal paperweight in his study, frozen mid-flight.
The coincidence makes my skin prickle.
I can’t shake the feeling that I was always meant to get this necklace at this exact moment. After I came back to Agony Hollow. After I met Professor Rooke.
Right before…what?
I look up, shivering at the intensity in Kai’s eyes.
Whatever he’s about to say, I know I’m not ready to hear it. And it’s going to hurt him. Deeply.
He opens his mouth, but I cut in.
“We—” My voice cracks. “—were completely different people back then.”
“Yeah.” He finally looks at me, his expression so raw and honest it makes my heart ache. “But we’re still us, you know? Under all the bullshit. We’re still those same kids in the woods. Just, you know, surviving.” He clears his throat. “Together.” There’s a hint of a question in his voice.
