Chapter 38
Dawson
Ifelt like an idiot after pounding on the front door for a solid minute without an answer. I could have scaled the old oak tree up to his bedroom window, but the polite part of me thought it’d be better to give him a chance to answer the door first.
Then the asshole part of me quickly saidfuck this noiseand I started marching around the side of the house towards the backyard. I peered into the darkened living room through the glass doors like the creeper I was, but there was no sign of Theo. I skirted the pool, the inlaid LED lights giving off a dark blue hue that helped light the way.
The massive oak that stood sentry at the far corner of the house felt like an old friend I had lost touch with. How many nights had he watched me climb his knots and branches to reach Theo’s window? Theo used to joke that the tree was on our side and liked being part of our story.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it? You’ve never fallen off or broken anything while climbing him to get to me, so I think the old guy is rooting for us…get it? ‘Rooting’ for us?”
A breathy laugh escaped my nostrils as his teasing lilt echoed in my memory and a pang hit my heart. God, I needed to seehim. I notched my foot in the familiar spot and grabbed onto the lowest branch, ready to haul myself up when a thud and bit-out curse reached my ears.
I looked around until movement above me snagged my attention and my heart dropped into my stomach. One of the windows led out onto the lower roof and ran the length of the backyard where Theo was shuffling around on the roof’s incline.
“Holymotherfuck,” I gasped, gripping my hair in panic. I stopped from shouting his name out, terrified of startling him and possibly causing him to lose his unsteady balance.
He looked around as though searching for something, letting out a triumphant noise when he noticed the brown bottle in his hand. He took a long pull of the drink, belching noisily before it slipped from his fingers and somehow caught on the gutter, unbroken. He giggled drunkenly and dread snaked down my back.
“Theo?”
His head swiveled around until he saw me and a bright, goofy grin split his cheeks.
“Baabyyyy!” he slurred happily. He took a step towards me instinctively and stumbled slightly. I sucked in a sharp breath, torn between dashing upstairs to pull him back inside and not wanting to take my eyes off him for a second.
“What are you doing up there?” I called out, my voice shaking as badly as the rest of me. He tilted his head back and pointed up at the sky lazily.
“I was looking at the stars and I wanted to see them up close. I can almost reach them from up here,” he said in a tipsy voice.
My pulse was riotingand my breathing quickened with each movement he made, every one of my muscles tensing painfully in anticipation of the moment this all went tragically wrong. If the height wasn’t enough to kill him, the fall to the concrete below would. A quick glance at the pool showed me it was too farfor him to jump into, especially in his condition, so that wasn’t an option.
“Baby, listen to me. I need you to go back inside for me. Can you do that?”
Theo’s head dropped back down in my direction, his brows drawn together and his lip jutted out in a tiny pout.
“But why? It’s sooooo pretty up here. You have to see it, Mercury. It’s like—like on that wheel thing. I’m on top of the world!”
He flung his arms out wide and he turned in a slow, awkward circle on the tilted surface, ending up closer to the edge. Curses flew out under my breath as I tried to think of a way to get him down safely while keeping him in my sights. Theo began singing “A Sky Full of Stars” at the top of his lungs, oblivious to my turmoil as I tried not to lose my damn mind. Jesus, I fucking hated myself for not rushing over here the instant my gut said something was wrong.
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in my head and I whipped out my phone to call Dani. I practically vibrated with impatience as it continued to ring.
“This better be good because I’m watching?—”
“I need you to come to Theo’s house right now,” I rushed out.
“What? Why do you?—”
“No questions, Dani, just do it. Please! I’m by the pool.”
“Okay, okay. I’m coming now.”
“Hurry!” I hung up and mumbled to myself that it was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. He would be fine. Hehadto be fucking fine.
Theo’s singing cut off abruptly as he stared at the pool behind me.
“Babe, look…” he whispered loudly with an awed tone. “The stars…they fell in the water.”
I glanced behind me for a split-second to see the lights had timed out in the pool, leaving the water dark and glossy with the calm surface reflecting the starry sky.
