Allen’s face twisted with something like sympathy before he blanked it. “So you decided to become someone worse.”
Rick’s eyes narrowed. “I decided I wasn’t going to be used anymore.” Allen flinched at the intensity. Rick eased his grip. “You don’t have to understand it today,” he said. “You don’t have to say anything. You can hate it. You can be angry. Just don’t shut me out.”
Allen stared at him. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Rick took a step back. He took his hand away and watched Allen. “Okay,” Rick said. “Then I’m going to make it easy.”
Allen furrowed his brow, clearly confused. “How?”
Rick glanced at the phone. “Put it on the counter,” he ordered quietly.
Allen hesitated, then did it. He put it down and stared at it. Rick didn’t reach for it.
Allen looked at him. “You’re just… leaving it?”
Rick nodded. “I’m not hiding it now. You found it, so what’s the point?”
Allen’s breathing sped up. “What if I call the police?”
“Do you want to?”
Allen stared at him, then licked his lips as he glanced between the phone and Rick. No, he was already tangled up in it and he didn’t know what to do.
“I’m going to go,” Rick said.
Allen blinked. “Go?”
“You need space. If I stay right now, you’re going to feel trapped and do something we’ll both regret.”
Allen whispered, “I am trapped.”
Rick shook his head once. “Not by me.”
Allen stared at him. “I am.”
Rick took a step toward the door and heard Allen say his name behind him. He stopped and looked back, seeing Allen’s hand gripping the edge of the counter, his eyes wide as he stared at him. “What?”
“If you leave, what happens?”
Rick kept his voice low. “You breathe and you calm down. You decide what you want after that.”
Allen swallowed. “And you?”
Rick’s mouth curved slightly. “I’ll come back,” he said.
Allen’s eyes widened. “You can’t just—”
Rick cut in. “I can.”
Allen’s gaze darted to the phone, then back to Rick. “What if I tell you not to?”
Rick held still for a minute, letting the question hang between them, then he answered honestly. “I won’t force my way in,” he said. “But I’m not disappearing, Allen.”
Allen stared at him, breathing shallow. “Rick—”
Rick softened his voice. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “I’m not going to punish you for finding it. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know I didn’t do anything wrong. That’s not the point.”
