Page 84 of Angels Fall

“And maybe I felt a little selfish for that?” I shrug. “For wanting you, when Scotty was the one who was dying. And… well—”

Tyler has me wrapped up in his arms before I can even finish that sentence. He hugs me tight, his chest warm and hard. His embrace is everything I wanted seven years ago when I was standing in the corner of Scotty’s hospital room watching him die.

And then I’m there. In that spot. Stuck in the corner. Just watching the whole thing play out. The beeping of the machines, and the shouting, and my parents…

Stuck.

Then it’s gone. As fast as it came, it fades. The beeping stops. The chaotic voices wither away with the passing seconds and I’m right where I am. Wrapped up in Tyler’s arms, just the way I wished I was on that day.

Does it matter that it’s seven years late?

Does it really matter?

I decide no. It doesn’t. Because he’s here now. And late is always better than never.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I wipe the tears off my face. Look up, then wipe his tears away too. Our eyes lock and this time I think he finds the answers he was looking for. I know I do.

“You know, sometimes things just happen.” I shrug. “You stayed away because you needed to at the time—”

“It was a mistake,” he says.

But I put up a hand. “No. No. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe this turned out exactly the way it was supposed to.”

“You stripping and me crazy?” He laughs that off because… yeah. Truth.

I huff out a breath of air, kinda loving this—hating the topic, but loving this all the same. Because at least it’s real. At least we’re being honest. At least I’m not angry anymore.

I don’t know why I suddenly seem so Zen about things, but there it is.

Relief.

“I’m not angry at you,” I say. Because I feel the need to say this out loud. “I’m not angry at anyone. Anymore,” I clarify. Because clearly anger was my problem. Even Other Guy Ricky called that one. “I guess… I guess it’s just over now.”

“I get it.” He sighs. There’s a lot of hidden meaning in those three words. Things he’s done, regretted, gotten past somehow. And now it’s my turn.

I lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him. Enjoy the way he slips his tongue into my mouth. The little twisting motion he makes. The way our lips fit together.

It’s a soft kiss.

A touching kiss.

A forgiving kiss.

And when we break apart, we are more together than ever.

Outside the night air is cool. And there’s a little bit of wind, which makes the drone weave and dip.

I’m watching Tyler control it. My head tilts left with the drone when he barely misses the dirt hill surrounding the parking lot, then bobs right as he skims past a light pole.

“Tyler!” I say.

“I got it,” he says, thumbs busy pressing on the touchscreen. But then the drone does some move out of a World War II dogfight where they aim straight for the ground. Maybe I made that up. That cannot be a real move because—

“Jesus!” I say, grabbing my hair. My twelve-thousand-dollar drone is gonna—

“It’s cool,” Tyler says. The drone pulls out of the nosedive and resumes flying, very low to the ground. But now it’s all wobbly and shit. Off balance or—