Page 28 of Come Back To Me
“You sure that’s all?” He buckles in, eyes full of concern.
“Yeah.” My lips move from side to side. “If you must know, I cried a little after tripping on a box of Gareth’s things.”
His shoulders drop and he rubs my shoulder. “Yeah. I can see that being hard. I would have come to you if you needed me, you know? Even with the mice down there.”
I chuckle, lips twitching. “I know. But it was something I needed to be alone for.”
“I get that. Now I at least know better to let you take all the time you need.”
“Thanks.” Silence stretches between us after he starts the car and fills it with music, singing along to a Mariah Carey song. I press my side to the door, turning my face to the window, and I watch as everything carries on normally around me while knowing that will no longer be the case for my world at home.
“What about a sexy cat?” Leo slides a headband with black ears attached over his head while wiggling his nose.
“Don’t bunnies wiggle their nose?”
“Oh, a bunny would be cute, and that is a pet name Glen calls me sometimes. Mostly because he says I have the energy of one.” He takes the headband off and waves it around.
“It’s true.” I snort. “I keep trying to figure out a way to transfer some of that to me.”
“Look, I may seem awake but I’m fucking dragging on the inside. I have not been sleeping well.”
“How come?”
His eyes flash with something hard to make out. “I . . . I guess ’cause I’m worried about you, and well, we miss him too. It’s been weird not hearing his loud-ass laugh in the background when I call.”
I give a sad smile. “Yeah. I’m sorry. It was stupid to ask. You guys lost him too.” I forget, I’m not the only one who was close to him. We were all friends. We hung out all the time. It was usually Leo and me dragging them to places with us that they didn’t want to go.
“I’ll go for you,”Gareth would say.
“It’s okay. I know it’s nothing compared to what you’re going through, but—”
“But it doesn’t make it less valid,” I finish for him, placing a hand on his as he reaches for a pink Ghostface mask.
He nods with a hint of a smile on his lips. “How about this one?”
“Who’s Glen gonna be? Sydney?”
He rumbles out a laugh, clutching his shaking stomach. “You know, he can wear a black wig pretty well.”
“I don’t even wanna know,” I clip, heading in another direction. He’s quickly on my heels once the mask is back on the hook, pointing at different costumes.
I stop in front of one that says zombie husband, and I swallow my breath. I’m not sure I’m seeing things right until Leo steps up beside me, making a sound with his throat. “What a weird costume. What the hell is a zombie husband anyway?”
“Maybe they mean like a zombie groom.” I inch closer, taking in the ripped pocket and gray-painted face of the guy on the plastic covering.
“Yeah. That makes more sense.” Something else catches his attention and he rushes to another aisle, bouncing on his feet. I step away from the costume. Who needs that when they have the real thing at home? Laughing to myself, I search for my friend and find him in front of theNightmare Before Christmasaisle.
“Perfect. I can be Sally, and he can be Jack.”
“And who do I get to be? Zero?”
He hides his laughter behind his hand. “Or . . . Oogie Boogie.”
“How about the Scooby Doo crew. You can be Scooby, and he can be Scrappy Doo,” I muse.
“Haha. How about no. Okay, fine . . . we’ll keep looking.”
It takes another hour before he lands on another bright idea. Traditional serial killers. Except the version of Freddy he wants to be is anything but. I grab Art the clown, and as I’m heading to the fitting room, I stop when I see someone move fast behind me in one of the door’s mirrors. Leo is asking anemployee something and two other shoppers are waiting to try on costumes.
