Page 87 of Going Home

"She doesn't need whatever you're about to lay on her, okay? She's going through it enough as it is."

"I know. I just want to talk. Promise."

She nods and looks around, keeping her voice low. "Lex feels terrible for outing your secrets like she did, but I gotta hand it to her. If I were her, I'd have shouted them from the rooftop the first night you came barreling in here saying she was a shit friend."

"I deserved it," Felicity agrees with a chuckle. "Say, what do you know about the teens they took in? Hailey and Lucas."

"Not much besides how terrible their home life was. Colt's the one who brought them home, not Lex, which tells you everything right there. Lucas is a good kid, and he's a good big brother. We both know Lex's soft spot for that, but Hailey's a little jaded. She's been through some shit, but Lex hasn't given details."

Memories of Lex being humiliated and tormented by Zane come flooding back. She may not have been quite as close with Lex for as long as Colt and Ky, but she’s seen more than enough to know Zane's an asshole. Always has been, and from the looks of it, always will be.

Ky walks over to them with concern in his eyes. "What's up?"

"I was looking for Lex," Felicity says.

He waits for Melanie to walk away with a warning glance before he lowers his voice and leads her away from the rest of the crowd. "She's with Lane."

"Gavin told me. You could have, you know. Told me."

"I didn't know if you'd want to be here with the rest of us while we wait. It's a morbid fucking thought as it is. All of us sitting around waiting for the call that she's dead."

"She was my friend," she whispers, her lip trembling.

This is what their relationship has come to. He wants to do whatever he can to keep her from feeling discomfort to the point of risking not letting her know her friend is dying. It's comforting while also painful.

"Your house was the next stop once we heard from Lex. I wouldn't have kept you from knowing she passed."

My house. Not our house.

Tears sting, and she looks at the wall, her estranged husband's body blocking her from everyone else. "She's been married a fucking week, Ky. She's a newlywed."

His hand reaches out and touches her shoulders, and she feels the storm inside her calm immediately. "I know," he says and blinks away his own tears.

"This feels like a bad dream."

"That's how life has felt for a while now," he says and locks eyes with her. "There's so much we can't control. No matter how much we want to, it's really up to whatever power you believe in."

She nods and wipes her eyes. "I know. Like the fact we're about to be grandparents before we reach forty."

"Our life took a few turns we hadn't anticipated, huh?" he says with a chuckle. "Why were you looking for Lex?"

"I need to talk to her. No fighting, just... talking."

His eyes widen. "Really?"

"I read more of Vicky's diaries. I read all of them, actually. What always bothered me was feeling like I never really knew her, and now I feel like I do. Far too late, but I learned a few things."

"Anything you want to share? I know how difficult your relationship with her was, and I know you really struggled with it after she died."

"She had schizophrenia, but she refused treatment. She chose to self-medicate instead, and that alone really put a few missing puzzle pieces into place for me."

He sighs. "Yeah, it kind of does. You never knew? Your parents kept it a secret all this time?"

"They don't know. But reading her entries, she really was the big sister I never knew I had."

Tilting his head, he narrows his eyes. "What do you mean?"

She laughs and looks at the ground. "She was not okay with anyone talking shit about me. It was one thing for Vicky to be a bitch to me, but no one else was allowed. She overheard Autumn saying something, and she wasn't happy."

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