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“About what?”

He tiltedSoe You raced out and you’ve been down ever since You know you can tell ”

Can I?

Taking a deep breath, I let the words form in my head There was so much to tell hiue and everything would change

“Nate…seeing hiht inpain Sax waited patiently for me to continue “I told you I had a brother who died when I was younger He was beaten to death by a gang of kids for a pair of new shoes Nate was a part of that gang He was so young that he got a pretty light sentence And I guess now he’s out”

I let out a huff of a laugh It was an odd reaction considering I didn’t find any of this funny, but the only reaction I could have to keep fro ain

“Holy shit, Micah I don’t even knohat to say” His arainst his chest

I could feel the tears coet all this out “We were in a foster home Mom had addiction issues and we’d been placed in this ho, but I was in one of o on his own So he did”

I wiped my eyes, the o back and fix things If only I’d taken him If only…

“Micah, it’s not your fault Please tell ripped my face with his hands and forced er

“I did for a long ti, and Mom wasn’t there for s were not going to get better unless I did so to make them better

“And now?”

“I don’t blame myself But I still wonder ould have happened if I’d been there with hiotten the ambulance there faster”

“Poor girl,” he whispered, leaning his head against mine He reached up and wiped away irl You’re stronger than you think, Micah You’ve been through so much, and look at you Look how far you’ve come”

I closedon the beating of his heart