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Back Where There's A Will Save as PDF
Chapters (39)
  1. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. Interlude
  37. Acknowledgements
  38. Content Warning
  39. About the Author

“I gotta go,” I say as I go to move past her.

She grabs my arm, stopping me with a surprising amount of strength for someone her size. I don’t fight her as I stare off unseeing beyond her. I feel her penetrating gaze like a serrated blade to stone, knowing exactly where to carve to reveal everything I’ve been running away from all these years.

“Who’s Billy? You said his name.”

I give a little shake of my head. “Just some kid who used to give Way a hard time. He was a couple years older. I-I don’t know.”

A beat passes where she doesn’t say anything. Bile trickles up my throat. I need to go. I need to—

“Will, look at me.”

I work my jaw, looking everywhere but at her as I desperately try to rein everything in. Gather it up and shove it all under a layer of cool, oblivious indifference.

Nothing will change, nothing will change.

Finally, I lower my gaze to hers, only to be met with sharp green eyes that see far too much.

“It’s not my story to tell,” I find myself saying in a tight, pleading tone I hardly recognize as my own. “Okay? We shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“Will,” she says gently, “there was no Billy.”

I’m shaking my head. “Yes, there was. He broke Way’s arm, so I broke his nose. I—”

She’s shaking her head, and I’m biting my tongue, and fuck, she looks so sad. Why does she look so sad?

Don’t say it. Please don’t say it—

“It wasn’t Billy.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Goddamn it, Ivy. God. Fucking. Damn it all.

I swallow down the questions threatening to stampede their way out of my throat, as memories dance along the corners of my mind, shining light on things I suddenly wish remained in the dark.

“—wanted you to think that—”

I quickly cut her off. “Look, it’s really none of my business.” I rip my arm away from her as gently as I can. “I gotta go.”

She calls out my name, but I ignore her as I go join the guys, plastering on a smile. Even if it feels like every crumb of hope I’ve held on to all these years—pieces of my sanity that relied on believing Waylon all those years ago when he had promised me it wasn’t his dad who hurt him. When I had no choice but to leave him here not knowing if he’d be okay...

It all comes crashing down on me.

I might be a tenacious son of a bitch on the best of days, but on the worst...

I’m nothing but a coward.

A runner.

Sometimes secrets are secrets for a reason.

Especially the ones you keep from yourself.

15

15

Will Foster

THEN

Five days pass before I see Waylon again.