Addicted for Now (Addicted #3)

by Krista Ritchie

“Why do you love me, Lil?” “Lo, really, where are you?” Concern spikes her voice. “Just answer me.” I let out a long breath. “Please. Why do you love me?” I grip the phone harder, tears clouding my vision. “When we were eleven, we were at your house, reading comics,” she says, and for some reason I know exactly which memory she’s trying to draw for me. We were on my bed, surrounded by several open and splayed X-Men comics, and we would read the same one at the same time. She’d wait patiently for me to hurry up, her eyes skimming the panels quickly while I soaked in each line, each bleed of color. “Do you remember?” she asks after a long pause. “Yeah,” I say, my voice shaking. “We both knew you were kind of like Hellion. You make the wrong choices, even when you know where the right ones lie.” I nod to myself, tears spilling. I try to breathe a full breath, but the pain chokes me. “But that day, you said you aspired to be Cyclops. Scott Summers was strong. He took care of everyone in the face of crisis. He was a man that people wanted by their side.” Her voice shakes too, like she’s near tears. “Lo,” she says, “you’ve made it. You’re my Scott Summers, and without you, I wouldn’t be here.” I close my eyes and let that sink in. She doesn’t have to say, I love you because… The sentiment is attached to each and every word. She loves me because she believes I’m strong. She loves me because she’s a part of me. She loves me because I’ve become a better man through all of this.