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I cringe, ree room "And what about your mom?" I venture, aard "Is she…?" I trail off

"Sober? Clean? The fk if I know" E in my heart aches with pain for him "She shows up, every couple of years," he adds, with a bitter twist in his voice "Saying how sorry she is, how she wants to coether this time"

"Maybe she means it this time?" I ask quietly "Everyone deserves a second chance"

"Oh yeah?" E about his aze, dark and intent, and I see that shadowed, haunted look flit across his face again, like the past is creeping back around us no matter how hard we try to keep it at bay

I s hard, then nod "So all s right, s right"

"You really think excuses can make a difference?" Emerson’s expression is pained, but vulnerable for a moment, and my heart leaps that there’s a crack in his hard façade

"Everybody has their reasons," My heart skitters with nerves "How do you know, if you don’t try?"

Emerson drains his beer, then tosses the bottle aside He opens hishovers in the air between us, fragments of emotion and the truth we’ve never spoken My heart leaps

Then the shutters slam down in his eyes, and E siven"

E, and I feel a stab of pain and regret shoot through asp of dis about his ain?

I don’t knohat to say to him, I don’t even knohere to start I need an explanation about why he broke things off four years ago, but how can I ask, when the truthhe can say to ether, ently rocks on the waves Then Emerson looks across the blanket at me "Why did you come back?" he demands

"I told you" I look down, my voice small "Dad’s broke He wants to sell the house"