Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 727(@200wpm)___ 582(@250wpm)___ 485(@300wpm)
Andrew went to the edge of the roof and surveyed the campus. Neil stepped up beside him and looked cautiously over the side. Heights didn't make him squeamish, but the lack of a safety rail was unnerving when it was a four-storey drop. Neil pulled his cigarettes out, shook two free, and lit them. Andrew propped his between his lips. Neil cupped his in his hands to shield it from the breeze.
Andrew turned to face him. "I'll take an explanation now."
"You couldn't ask for answers inside where it's warm?" Neil asked.
"If you are worried about dying of exposure you're a little late." Andrew raised a hand to Neil's face but stopped with his fingers just a breath from Neil's skin. Andrew wasn't looking at his injuries; he was staring at Neil's unguarded eyes. "Did I break my promise or were you keeping yours?"
"Neither," Neil said.
"I know you have had ample time in my absence to come up with your precious lies, but remember I gave you a truth on credit in November. It is your turn in our game and you will not lie to me."
"Neither," Neil said again. "I spent Christmas in Evermore."
He shouldn't have been surprised that the first thing Andrew went for was the bandage on his cheek. Aaron and Nicky had looked past it, not even noticing it amongst the rest of the gauze and tape. Andrew had spent too much time watching Kevin's back to not put the pieces together. He scratched up a corner of the tape and ripped the bandage off like he wanted to take Neil's face with it. Neil braced himself for violence, but Andrew's blank expression didn't change at the sight of Neil's new tattoo.
"This is a new low for even you," Andrew said.
"I'm not wearing it by choice."
"You chose to go to Evermore."
"I came back."
"Riko let you go," Andrew corrected him. "We are doing too well this year and your feud is too public. No one would have believed you willingly transferred to Edgar Allan mid-season." Andrew smashed the bandage against Neil's face again and pressed the tape flat with hard fingers. "You weren't supposed to leave Kevin's side. Did you forget?"
"I promised to keep him safe," Neil said. "I didn't say I'd hound him every step of the way like you do. I kept my end of the deal."
"But not like this," Andrew said. "You already said this had nothing to do with Kevin. Why did you go?"
Neil didn't know if he could say it. Thinking about it was almost too much. Andrew was waiting, though, so Neil choked back his nausea. "Riko said if I didn't, Dr. Proust would—"
Andrew clapped a hand over his mouth, smothering the rest of his words, and Neil knew he'd failed.
Riko said Easthaven's Dr. Proust used "therapeutic reenactments" to help his patients. It was a thin line between psychological cruelty and real physical abuse, and Riko made it clear Proust was willing to cross that line if Neil disobeyed. He should have known better than to trust Riko's word. Hatred thawed a little of the new ice in his veins, but the bored look on Andrew's face was hard to stomach. A couple months ago Andrew was so drugged he laughed at his own pain and trauma. Today he didn't care enough to do even that. Neil didn't know which extreme was worse.
Andrew lowered his hand when Neil went quiet. "Do not make the mistake of thinking I need your protection."
"I had to try. If I had the chance to stop it but did nothing, how could I face you again? How could I live with myself?"
"Your crumbling psyche is your problem, not mine," Andrew said. "I said I would keep you alive this year. You make it infinitely more difficult for me when you actively try to get yourself killed."
"You spend all this time watching our backs," Neil said. "Who's watching yours? Don't say you are, because you and I both know you take shit care of yourself."
"You have a hearing problem," Andrew deduced. "Too many balls to the helmet, perhaps. Can you read lips?" Andrew pointed at his mouth as he spoke. "The next time someone comes for you, stand down and let me deal with it. Do you understand?"
"If it means losing you, then no," Neil said.
"I hate you," Andrew said casually. He took a last long drag from his cigarette and flicked it off the roof. "You were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs."
"I'm not a hallucination," Neil said, nonplussed.
"You are a pipe dream," Andrew said. "Go inside and leave me alone."
"You still have my keys," Neil reminded him.
Andrew dug Neil's keys out of his pocket and pried his car key off it. Instead of handing the rest back, he tossed them after his cigarette. Neil leaned out to see if they'd land on anyone, but the sidewalk below was empty. His keys clattered harmlessly against the ground. Neil straightened and looked at Andrew.
Andrew didn't return his stare but said, "Not anymore."
Neil opened his mouth, changed his mind at the last second, and turned silently away. He took the stairs down to the ground floor and pushed open the front glass doors. His keys had landed further out than he expected, but sunlight glinting off the metal made them easy to find. Neil scooped them up and spotted Andrew's cigarette a couple feet away. The ash had broken off on impact, but the end still gave off a thin tendril of smoke.
Andrew was watching him, still perched on the edge like he had a death wish. Neil wasn't sure why he did it, but he plucked Andrew's cigarette off the sidewalk and stuck it between his lips. He tipped his head back to meet Andrew's unwavering gaze and tapped two fingers to his temple in Andrew's mocking salute. Andrew turned away and disappeared from sight. It felt like a win, though Neil wasn't sure why. He ground the cigarette out beneath his shoe on his way back indoors.