Page 124 of The Wreckage Of Us
I turned around slowly, water dripping from my fingertips. My throat worked, but no sound came out for a moment.
“I can’t,” I finally whispered.
Her shoulders sagged, a deep sadness filling her expression. She gave a small nod, walking over to squeeze my arm before slipping out the door.
I stood there, trembling.
An hour later, when I finally mustered the courage to peek out the window, Ace was gone.
But the ache in my chest?
That stayed.
And as I crawled into bed, pulling the blankets tight around me, a thought slipped into my mind, sharp and sudden as a blade:
What if I’m breaking both of us?
The thought terrified me.
But more terrifying still… was the part of me that wanted to run out the door and into his arms.
The part of me I was fighting every single day.
Chapter 49
Brittany
I was already on edge when I smelled the sharp, heard the terrifying hissing through the kitchen.
Panic clawed at my chest as I dashed through the house, windows flung open, fans switched on. I hadn’t even gotten halfway down the hall when a scream ripped from my throat.
There it was.
A snake.
Thin, slithering, forked tongue flicking in and out as it moved across the floor of my bedroom like it owned the place. My knees buckled, the air shot out of my lungs, and the world shrunk into a small, suffocating box.
“No, no, no!” My voice cracked, shrill and desperate. I backed up, slammed into the wall, palms flat against it, trembling, every muscle in my body locked. My heart was hammering so fast it hurt.
The next thing I knew, I was out of the house, barefoot, breathless, running like my life depended on it. I barely registered the sound of tires screeching against pavement or the call of my name.
“Brittany! Brittany, hey! It’s me! Calm down!”
I crashed right into a hard, familiar chest. Strong arms wrapped around me before I could fall to the ground. My fists instinctively pounded at his chest, legs kicking out in blind panic.
“Britt, it’s Ace!” his voice cut through the fog, warm, deep, grounding. “Babe, I’ve got you. Breathe. Just breathe.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, shaking violently, hiccuping little gasps. “S-s-snake… Ace… it’s in there, it’s in there, I c-can’t… can’t go back…”
“Shh, hey. Hey. Look at me.” His hands came to my cheeks, tipping my face up. His thumb brushed away a tear I didn’t even realize had escaped. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Just breathe, okay? Deep breaths with me, yeah?”
My throat felt raw, my body curled instinctively toward him. I tried to pull myself together, but the edges of my mind were fraying fast. The world tilted, voices in my head started to echo — childlike, fragile, scared.
I clutched at his shirt, pulling it into tight fists. “Don’t leave… don’t leave me… Ace, please…”
His face softened instantly, the tension in his jaw easing. “I’m not leaving. You hear me? I’m not. I swear.” He swept his hand through my hair, murmuring soothing words I could barely process.
I could feel myself sliding — into the space where I wasn’t fully me, where my mind reverted to that childlike place I’d worked so hard to manage. But this time, it was faint, like dipping a toe in cold water, not drowning.
