Page 249 of The Sidekick

He has to stop. If he doesn’t…

His hands clutch at his head, the paper floating down as he drops to his knees and starts sobbing.

I witness him break apart right in front of me and can’t do a single thing about it.

I’ve been tempted to break bans before but never like this.

I was wrong. He isn’t like me. He isn’t a perfect statue to watch without touching.

He’s like Tera. He just hides all his emotions behind a lifeless mask. That’s why he saved her. They’re fucking kindred spirits. He needs her as much as she needs him.

He needs me.

No. I can’t do that to Tera’s savior. Even I have some standards.

I may not be able to be there for him but Tera can. I just have to convince myself that it will be enough.

I’m stuck watching him as he loses his mind with grief.

It’s fucking horrible.

I want it to stop. I can feel that slippery slope of violence approaching and I don’t have an outlet yet.

When he calms down the paper gets tossed to the side for a breeze to catch it. He’s given up and shutting down. It makes my rage calm a little but nowhere near enough. I’ve seen what’s underneath that mask and he has nothing to soothe it.

He stumbles to his feet and gets into his car. I’m not sure about his driving right now.

I rush to my rental and follow him as he peels out of the lot.

I fumble my flip phone open. He’s going too fast for me to catch up. This rental is not built for a street race. He’s like a stunt driver with the risks he smoothly takes in the traffic. He makes it seem easy.

It makes me want to hunt him more.

“Hi,” Tera’s voice answers after the first ring. I put it on speaker so I can focus on driving, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat. “How is everything going?”

“They ditched him. He refused to leave you behind and they bailed. Work with a chance of never returning.”

“Ok,” she whispers but I can hear the pain in it. She loves the guy and wants good things for him so she feels the same pain he does.

I don’t say anything else as I try to keep him in my sights.

“Don’t leave him alone, Southie. Please.”

“I won’t,” I assure her. If he’s like Tera he’s about to go off the rails in a big way.

It’s like she reads my mind. “He’s going to drive for a while and be crazy about it. He’s practically a stunt driver so don’t worry about that. It makes him feel better.”

“And then?” I’m not going to be able to follow him like this. If I have a bar to land at or a restaurant, I can wait for him there instead.

“He’ll go home,” she sighs as if she’s defeated. “And he won’t come out for a long time.”

I hear a male voice mumbling words of comfort to her and she sniffles.

“You’re right.” She says to whoever she’s talking to and then returns to me with a determined voice. “Can you take care of him, South?”

“Me?” I can’t make the same tones of voice she can so the word washes out in the middle and goes soundless with surprise.

“Yes. He’s going to shut me out,” she sniffles and takes a deep breath. “He’s a runner and he needs some time. Please?”

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