It Takes Two | ✓

Chapter 8

About half an hour later, as Gabe sat on his bed playing a game on his laptop, there was a knock on his bedroom door.

"Can I come in?" Sally asked from the other side of the door.

Gabe shut his laptop and got up to unlock it.

"I'm sorry," Sally said as soon as they were face to face.

Gabe stepped aside to let her in. "For what?"

She made a face and went and sat down on the edge of Gabe's bed. "For a lot of things. But I think the biggest thing right now was me never coming back to the hospital to talk to you about what was going to happen."

Gabe shrugged and used the excuse of shutting the door to turn his back to her.

"I meant to," she continued. "I wanted to. I just... I couldn't bring myself to stand in front of you without any answers." She waited until Gabe was facing her again before she continued. "I wanted to be able to tell you what I was going to do about this and when it would be safe for you to come back because you deserve that. But, well... I never did find those answers. And now you're here again and I still don't know what I'm going to do to keep you safe. I know none of this is fair and I'm sorry."

Gabe leant back against his bedroom door. "Well, life's not fair, right?"

Sally's expression tightened. "I've told you that a few times before, haven't I?"

Gabe shrugged. Yes, she had. He hated it almost as much as it takes two to tango.

"Life isn't fair. That's true. Good things happen and bad things happen and sometimes that's a result of our actions and it's what we deserve, but not always. Not as often as we tell ourselves."

Gabe realised at some point he'd crossed his arms over his chest defensively. He couldn't bring himself to uncross them.

"My point is that fairness isn't something that's naturally occurring. It's something we create because it makes the world a better place." When Gabe didn't respond, she added, "What do you think?"

Gabe let his back thump against the door as he swayed back and forth for a few seconds, thinking.

He thought about all the times someone had done something for him when it had really mattered.

When his mum had died and their neighbour had taken him in for months, even though she was too old to be chasing him through the woods that backed onto their houses every time he ran off.

Sally, who had taken him in and given him a permanent home, who had been more of a mum to him than his real mother ever had.

Alice, who had cared for him before she even knew him, and Bee and Sophie who had offered him their friendship without hesitation.

And then there was Trist. Trist, who had never been fair to him, who had honestly been an asshole to him most of the time. Trist who, every single time he'd seen Gabe in need of help, had offered it without hesitation.

None of those people had made anything fair. The things he'd been struggling with couldn't be squared, and they hadn't owed him anything so it wasn't fair of them to offer him help. It was kind.

"I think... it's not really about being fair most of the time," Gabe said. "You can't always make things fair, but you can always be kind. Even to people who haven't earned it. That's what's important. And I think, even though things have ended up being a real mess, that you've always just been trying to be kind."

She smiled, but she looked like she was about to cry. "Trying."

Gabe went and sat down next to her, leant his head against her shoulder. "That's all we can do, right?"