She wanted to die.
He wanted to live.
•••
A hand grabbed onto my wrist, yanking me back just as the train rushed past, before I'd even had time to comprehend whether or not I'd carry out the action. I stumbled back into the person's chest, my hear...
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"Remember how we spoke about being more honest with each other?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows at Theo as he evaded my questions once again.
We had spent a few minutes skirting around the obvious, and gone through every possible topic of conversation aside from the one that was hanging over my head. There was only so many ways I could ask how Theo was doing without him brushing off my concern and throwing the question back to me, insisting I had nothing to worry about.
"Okay, okay, I'll be honest," Theo sighed dramatically, earning an eye roll from me as he leaned his arms on the table, resting his head on his hands. As he completed the movement I noticed the faint red tint to his hands, the ghosts of my blood still haunting him with embers on his skin. "I'm fine CJ, but... I, uh, I had an argument with Will."
I felt my heart drop at the mention of his name, the conflict of his two identities weighing nothing compared to my need to know if he was okay. Will or Romeo, his name didn't change the fact that he had stayed with me throughout the night, and became a star in the depths of the darkness I had once thought I would never escape. The hazy memory of him holding me moments before I collapsed still replayed in my mind, crawling in my brain to incessantly remind me that the two of us were apart.
"I wish you two could have met under better circumstances," Theo smiled wryly, ignorant to the irony of his words as I hummed in agreement. "But he was here when we brought you in because I'd texted him about it in the car. Will's the only person I knew who was used to seeing large amounts of blood, and he helped talk me down from my panic since he's used to situations like this, but I didn't expect him to- I didn't expect him to put his life at risk to help you, CJ."
I froze at his words, not fully realising in the moment how far of an extent Romeo had gone to just to make sure I was okay. It had just seemed right that his dark brown eyes would be there to ease my pain, his arms holding me up as his comforting voice was the last thing I recalled before losing consciousness – but throughout all of that I had been too disoriented to take note of his wellbeing. "How is... Will doing now? Is he- has he gotten worse?"
"I was just visiting him before I came back to you, actually, and he's doing better," Theo explained, and I sent him a relieved smile as he leaned back, slumping into the seat. "Will was on a drug trial CJ – that's why we moved to London – and he's getting his dosage increased, so according to all the doctors that should make everything better again."
"That's good news though, right?" I questioned, catching onto the bitter tone to Theo's words. All this was new to me, since I only knew the little Theo had told me about Will, and I had been unaware that so much was weighing on Will being in hospital. Theo nodded in confirmation to my words, shooting me a small smile that didn't quite reach his honey eyes, and as his gaze dipped down I knew there was more to the brothers' conversation than he was letting on. "What was it that you two argued about?"
Theo ran a hand through his hair, avoiding my gaze as his eyes glanced outside through the half-open blinds, seeing the darkness of the night consume all forms of noticeable movement. "What did we argue about?" Theo repeated my question back to me, his voice quiet as though speaking to himself. "We argued about him being in denial, CJ; about how he's living as though he has no responsibility; about how he keeps taking risks instead of trying to preserve his strength and focus on getting better."
