I turn the handle and come face-to-face with Theo.
His eyes widen when he sees me. He’s been crying, and for a second, we just stare at each other in shock. I’m pretty sure my heart stops entirely and then starts right back up, tripping over itself as it tries to piece together how Theo is standing outside my door.
“Theo,” I breathe, eyes darting all over his face.
He inhales a gasping, broken breath, his terrified eyes latching onto mine. “I don’t want to die.”
My stomach nearly falls straight out as he takes a step forward and then another. My arms come up on instinct, and betweenone breath and the next, his weight is falling against me, and I’m supporting it all in my arms.
He’s solid and warm andhere.But he’s shaking violently, and when I pull him tighter against me, burying my face in his dirty hair and inhaling the slightly sour smell of him, a broken sob rips from his chest.
Chapter 20
Hunter
Withhiswordsstillringing in my ears, I try to pull back so I can look at him, but he clings tighter to me.
I’ll be able to look into his eyes later. Hopefully.
God, it feels like my heart is going to pound right out of my chest. I’m shaking just as hard as he is, and his soft cries are tearing at my heartstrings.
I whisper his name again, but I’m not sure he even hears me. He definitely doesn’t hear Mom padding down the small hallway toward us. Her eyes take in the scene, and she gives me a smallnod before turning around and heading right back down the hall.
Inhaling a deep breath, I try again to get Theo to look at me. This time, he pulls back just far enough that I can see his blue eyes.
“Hey,” I croak out. “What’s going on?”
He shakes his head. “I just… I don’t want to die. And I was—I almost… I was going to—” His words cut off with another sharp breath before more sobs tear from his throat.
“Shh.” I pull him back to me and slide my fingers through his hair. He was going to… what? I swallow hard. “Were you…?” I trail off, barely able to force the question out. “Were you going to hurt yourself?”
For a long while, I don’t get an answer, and I already pushed him too far once. He’s here. He’s here and he’s safe, and I’m not going to risk fucking everything up by making the same mistake again.
“Let me take you upstairs to my room, okay?”
He nods against my shoulder.
Hooking my arms under his thighs, I lift him up, holding him firmly against me, chest to chest. His arms drape over my shoulders, and he just… slumps, all his weight collapsing against me.
It’s tricky to get up the stairs with him in my arms, but I manage it, and when we’re in my room, I kick the door shut behind us.
He’s still clinging to me, and when I try to set him down, he just holds on tighter. “Let me get you into bed, Theo.”
“Don’t leave.” His voice is muffled against my chest.
“I won’t,” I whisper, my heart jumping into my throat.
I wait until he nods, then carefully place him on my bed and tuck him into the blankets. His eyes follow me as I walk around and join him on the other side. After crawling in beside him,I hold my arm up, and he scoots closer, his body relaxing into mine as he buries his face in my throat and inhales deeply.
Running my hands up and down his back, I hold him while his body shakes and shudders under my touch.
I have no idea how much time has passed when he lets out a small breath, and I realize he’s asleep.
Crying. He fell asleep crying. Fuck.
He looks worse than I’ve ever seen him. Not in a bad way, in an exhausted way. Like the tiredness that always plagues him has completely taken him over. Like he’s more exhaustion than man.
I have no idea why he showed up, especially after not talking to me for a week, but fuck, am I glad he did. I hope I can figure out what’s going on. I hope he’ll talk to me. He’s here. That has to be a good sign, right?
