Page 464 of Call Me Baby 2: Side B

You don’t try to slow it down.

The steam in the shower is suffocating,

but the fog in my head starts to clear.

‘Cause I’m not addicted to Andrew.

I’m not. I can’t be.

“Allison—” he calls from my bedroom.

I lift my head,

wipe the water from my eyes.

“Allison—” he calls again, closer.

For a moment,

I think it's all in my head.

Until I turn,

and he’s right there.

Standing in the threshold of the shower,

chest heaving,

eyes glassy and red around the rims,

lips trembling. “Allison…” he breathes.

And my heart is pounding,

'cause something’s wrong.

I can see it all over his face.

Something’s fucking wrong.

Something happened to his mom.

It’s making my chest heave too.

His hand lifts, but it shakes,

and he pushes it up his forehead,

through his hair,

his voice shattering halfway through⁠—

“You fuckin’ wrote it?”

The same hand drags over his mouth,

as if it hurts to say it.