Page 134 of Break Point
Thank God he told me. Because now I can fix this. Now I can straighten him out.
And I better get started.
I stop pacing and turn to him, breathing hard and resting my hands on my hips.
“So you’d rather drag yourself through life half-alive than fight for the future you deserve? The future you dreamed of since you were old enough to want anything.”
I can feel the heat rising up my neck.
“You think your dad would want this for you?” I taunt. “For you to give up on yourself like this? And what about your mom?”
Henry says nothing. He just sits there, staring at me like I’m speaking a language he’s never heard before.
“If Madison loved you like I imagine she did, she wouldn’t want you to forfeit your dreams just because fate, or chance, or whatever the fuck you want to call it had different plans for her.”
I cross the room and take a seat next to him.
“Listen to me, Henry Mitchell,” I say, my tone leaving no room for escape. “That accident didn’t take your life. Don’t you dare let guilt do it for you.”
He shakes his head, slow and wrecked.
“I’m so tired of carrying it, Bells.”
He grabs my hands and presses his forehead to mine. His voice breaks on the next words, so raw and small it almost doesn’t reach me.
“I’m not ready.”
Not yet, perhaps. But I will be damned if I don’t help him find the way back to himself.
I tighten my hold on his hands, refusing to let him drift further into the darkness threatening to swallow him whole.
Refusing to let him forget the promise we once made to take on the world together.
“It’s you and me against the world, Henry.” I echo his words back at him. “Remember?”
His fingers twitch around mine, like he’s trying to hold on to that oath.
He stares at me, scanning my face. A hint of a smile tugs at his lips, flooding me with hope.
Maybe the world has flipped upside down.
Maybe this time, I’m the one anchoring him to it.
And I’m not letting go.
1 You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. (Not literal).
CHAPTER 30
NO ONE FUCKING ELSE’S
APRIL 16, 2011
I DROPmy racket before the ball bounces twice, my legs propelling me forward before I can think. Henry’s already halfway over the railing, vaulting down the steps like a man possessed.
I won.
The crowd erupts, wildly shouting my name from every corner of the stands.
