Chapter 74: Sarah

There is a figure sitting on the front steps, huddled and dark beneath the neon spotlight of the street lighting. His feet are tucked in, his arms wrapped around his shins and his chin resting on his knees. I don’t need to be close enough to see his face to know who it is.

I stop when there are still a couple of steps between us. If I get too close, I don’t know what I will do. Hit him, kick him, fall into him and howl. There is an invisible line between us. If I cross it, I will overload and break. There are too many words tumbling around my head, wanting to be poured out of me, needing to be set free. I snatch at my thoughts, scrabbling to find just one and voice it. I sound small. Lost. “You left me there.”

The figure on the steps shakes his head. “You didn’t need me. You never have.” He sounds just as small. How dare he? How dare he pretend he’s the powerless one here?

“I needed you to support me!”