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Chapters (31)
  1. The Long and Winding Road
  2. Table of Contents
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Prologue: Or, Where Bear Answers the Door
  6. PAST
  7. 1. Where Bear Makes the Wrong Assumption
  8. 2. Where Bear Finds Out
  9. 3. Where Bear Makes a Decision
  10. 4. Where Bear Learns the Art of Breathing
  11. 5. Where Bear Has Bro-Time with Creed
  12. PRESENT
  13. 6. Where Bear Attends the Most Awkward Homecoming Ever
  14. 7. Where Bear Tells Tyson Everything
  15. 8. Where Bear Makes a Promise
  16. 9. Where Bear Goes to Lamaze Class
  17. 10. Where Bear Gets Advice About His Sex Life
  18. 11. Where Bear and Otter Role-Play at a Hotel Bar
  19. 12. Where Bear Faces the Reality of Married Life
  20. 13. Where Bear Sees Everything Change
  21. FUTURE
  22. 14. The Long and Winding Road
  23. Epilogue: Or, Otter’s Perspective, As It Were
  24. Coda
  25. No. Absolutely not. No way.
  26. More from TJ Klune
  27. Readers love the Bear, Otter, and the Kid Chronicles by TJ Klune
  28. About the Author
  29. By TJ Klune
  30. Visit Dreamspinner Press
  31. Copyright

“Given up?” I ask, incredulous. “What exactly have you given up? Please, Otter. Enlighten me. What exactly have you sacrificed? Is there some other life you could be living right now that would make you happier? Tell me. Because I’d sure hate to think that something as little as your family was holding you back.”

“That’s not fair,” he says, and he’s revving himself up again. “Sometimes I get the feeling you think you have the monopoly on what a hard life is supposed to be. Yes, Bear, we all know things were shitty for a long time, but we all don’t still hold on to it. Why you haven’t let things go is beyond me.”

Oh, it laughs. Would you listen to that? Gosh, isn’t it funny to hear these things after all this time? I wonder what else he really thinks about you? Isn’t this fun?

“That’s not fair,” I mock. “Right. I’m sorry that my history is such an inconvenience for you. I’m sorry that I’m a little fucked up in the head, that the Kid still needs the bathtub sometimes because of the fucking earthquakes. I’m sorry that my mother decided to destroy herself so much so that her body gave out. I’m sorry that my little sister had nowhere else to go, so we had to take her in. But you know what? I can make things easy for you. You know where the front door is. Maybe that life you always wanted is still out there waiting for you. Please, don’t let us hold you back. I would hate to think you’d end up resenting us for not allowing you to have everything you wanted.” And it sucks, because when I get really mad, when I’m furious, my voice shakes and cracks, the fragile thing that it is. I’m desperately trying to hold on to my anger, but I’m just sad that we’re doing this. That we’re saying these things. That I’m saying these things.

He hears it too, the way I’m choking on my words, because he’s vibrating, jaw clenched. “I can’t talk to you when you’re like this,” he says, which might possibly be the absolute worst thing to say. “I can’t be here right now. I’m going to say something I can’t take back, and—”

“Like what Izzie just heard you say?”

He’s moving then, out of the kitchen, and I follow him, just because I’m trying to decide if I should tackle him or throw something at the back of his head. He’s by the front door, and he’s sliding his feet into his shoes, grabbing his keys and phone off the table. The sun is bright when he opens the door.