Page 48 of Unholy Confessions
Montgomery pulls out her phone and dials a number. "Dad? Can you come pick me up? I'm at RJ's house."
The knife twists deeper. She's calling her father—the same man whose addiction she's been running from her whole life—to rescue her from mine.
"Montgomery, wait."
She hangs up and looks at me with tears in her eyes. "What?"
"What about those paper rings we've always promised each other?"
Her face crumples, and for a moment I think she might stay. But then she shakes her head.
"They're broken," she whispers. "And I'm not sure you're ever going to be able to fix it."
The words hit me harder than any physical blow ever could. I watch helplessly as she finishes packing, as she walks down my stairs, as she sits on my front porch to wait for her father.
I follow her outside, but she won't look at me. We sit in silence until her dad's car pulls into my driveway. He gets out, takes one look at both of us, and his face hardens with understanding.
"Come on, sweetheart," he says gently to Montgomery. His eyes lift to mine, but he doesn't say anything. There really isn't anything to say.
As she gets in the car, she looks back at me one more time. "Get help, RJ. Real help. Not for me, but for yourself."
Then they're driving away, and I'm standing alone in my driveway, watching the taillights disappear. The perfect day we shared feels like a lifetime ago.
I go back inside and immediately start searching through my things, looking for any pills I might have missed. But Montgomery was thorough, and my stash is gone.
The panic is setting in full force now, and I realize with stark clarity that she was right about everything. The shaking, the sweating, the desperate need—this is what addiction looks like.
But admitting it and doing something about it are two very different things.
I sink onto my couch and put my head in my hands, wondering how I went from the perfect morning to losing the love of my life in a single evening.
Those paper rings she mentioned are in a box upstairs—dozens of them that we made over the years, each one a promise for our future. She's right. They're broken now.
And I don't know if I'm strong enough to fix them.
Chapter 24
Montgomery
I haven't slept all night. I've sat up wondering what in the hell is going to happen to RJ now that I know for sure he's using. He's always had an addictive personality and this isn't going to be easy for him to kick.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Mom asks, bringing me in a cup of coffee.
Bless her heart, she's been here all night. I didn't want to go home because there are so many memories there of dad's addiction. "I'm fine," I answer, but it's flat, even to my ears. "Skylar will be here soon if you wanna go home."
"I'm not going home." She reaches out, brushing my hair back from my face. "I need to say something and I need you to hear me, Montgomery."
Here it comes. "Okay."
"It's hard loving someone who has the issues that RJ and Jared have. It will take you to the edges of what you think you can tolerate, and then it'll push you even further. Before you continue with him, for your sake, and his, you need to decide if you can really handle it." She takes a drink of her own coffee. "Are you prepared to be worried about where he is at night, to be checking to make sure he's still breathing when he's asleep, always wondering if he's being truthful?" She reaches forward, grabbing my hand. "I never wanted you to be doing this, sweetie. I wanted more for you."
I shrug, pulling my bottom lip in between my teeth. "The heart wants what it wants, Mom."
She opens her mouth and starts to speak when my front door slams open, and there's my friend. "Why didn't you call me last night when all this shit happened? I had to wake up to a text. Goddamn Montgomery."
I smile sadly at mom. "I'm good. She's here now."
Mom hesitates at the door, her keys jangling in her hand. "You call me if you need anything, sweetheart. Anything at all. Please think about letting me send you my therapist's name, you might need it, okay?" She kisses my forehead before stepping around Skylar, who's already making herself at home by kicking off her boots and tossing her purse on my counter.
