Chapter 81

I need to stop hiding. I’ve been doing that for too long now. Sean’s right, I hid behind my scar for months. I didn’t allow anybody to come close, biting and scratching like a wounded animal. I kept everyone at arm’s length.

He’s right, I know. It just isn’t easy to put into words what impulse drove me to come here. I did it for a bunch of reasons. It’s a path I unwillingly started down when Sean talked to me for the first time. Sean chose to walk by my side, supporting me down this path. He once said being with me was like travelling on a road full of potholes. Like I don’t know that! But in the end, if I crashed into those potholes and didn’t have him beside me, I wouldn’t have stopped, I wouldn’t have slowed down, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to think.

Anyway, after a certain amount of hemming and hawing, I tell him everything.

Silence falls between us. I search his face—he seems a little shocked—a sign that I’ve explained myself well, not like I usually do.