Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Law looked at it, then back and forth between the trash pile and the keep pile, picked up an old lamp that had seen better days, then shook his head.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s just like you.”
I frowned. “What’s just like me?”
“Finding beauty in old things no one else wanted. You have all the money in the world, but I bet you can’t tell it from the inside of the house. I bet you bought necessities and that’s it, but this trunk will have a home in there.”
His words stole my breath. It was stupid to be surprised he knew me so well, or to think he would have forgotten things, but another part of me acknowledged that Law knew me better than anyone else. Even without having seen me in years, he did. And he was the type who would say what was on his mind.
“Anyway, not that it’s important,” he added, and I realized I’d been standing there staring at him.
“No, it is. I…” I guess I never felt fancy myself, never felt like I was worth much, so I saw things others didn’t. Or looked for things they didn’t. “When you’re not used to having much, you tend not to waste as much.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. Yeah, you didn’t have a lot, but there are a whole lot of people like that, who didn’t have shit, and then they come into money and still aren’t like you. You’re an old soul. You always have been. And you like things simple. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
No, there really wasn’t, and he was right.
Law didn’t wait around for me to reply. He turned for the shed, his movements stiff. There had been times we’d fought, of course. Everyone did, but now he was angry in a different way. Like it lived in his bones and he couldn’t evict it.
“So…what’d you do today?” I asked as we began hauling things into the open grassy area.
“Went to lunch at my parents’ house. Randomly decided to tell them I’m bisexual. You know, the usual. We all lived through it.”
I froze, the small box I’d been carrying falling from my grasp and onto the lawn. He didn’t look at me, and I knew it was on purpose. “You’re being an asshole. I get it—you’re pissed and hurt and you have every right to be. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t be here. But if we’re going to try and be friends, you can’t keep punishing me. I hurt too.”
“Fuck,” he groaned, dropping his head back. Law looked at the sky, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he swallowed. Then he sighed, and his gaze found mine again. “You’re right. I’m sorry. This isn’t like me. I just… After all these years, I didn’t know it would feel so raw. All of it. But it came crashing back in a tidal wave, and I don’t know how to deal with that.”
“I know,” I said softly. “It’s the same for me.” Though it wasn’t as much of a surprise for me as it seemed to be for Law. I was sure he’d spent the last six years differently than I had. Had he had serious girlfriends over the years? Boyfriends? Hell, for all I knew, he could have one now. Outside of my family, my music, and Brit, I spent my time alone. I never had anyone serious except him.
“I don’t recommend doing it the way I did, by the way. I mean, it was one of those rip-the-Band-Aid-off-quickly moments, so maybe that’s good. But it was over lunch and…” We got back to work while Law launched into the story of his family’s argument and how he’d ended up blurting out he was bi. It was him in a way I couldn’t even be shocked at, in a way I never could be. “Mere already knew, of course.”
“She did?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah. I told her…after us.” He shrugged, looking through a box. “Let me guess, you want this?” It was a really old paperweight, but there was something cool about the odd wavy shape of it.
“Who wouldn’t want that?” I asked, knowing that most people likely wouldn’t. Law chuckled and shook his head, this moment like so many we had shared before. Almost as if there weren’t six years of resentment and pain between us.
“Most people, Rem. Most people wouldn’t want this.” But he handed it over, and I put it in the keep pile.
Then it hit me again, what he’d said about his sister. They’d always been close. He used to talk about her all the time. “She knew about me?”
His eyes went wide. “She would never out you. She’s the only person I ever told, and I know I shouldn’t have, but…”
But he’d needed to talk. He’d needed someone. “I didn’t mean it that way.” All I’d been thinking was that there was someone Law loved, who had known about us. That made it feel more real outside of us. “Anyway, go on.”