“I’m right here.” I clutch her cheek again, pink and purple streaks swiped on them. “I’m not going anywhere.” She tries to hold my gaze, but her eyes are flooded with tears. “I’m really scared,” she cries. My heart breaks into a million serrated pieces. She was never supposed to be in this house. She was never supposed to meet my family. She was never supposed to be swept into the darkness of my childhood. I’d left it all behind me, and to think that the one girl, the only girl, I’ve ever loved is hurtled to this place is fucking sickening. I hate it more than I’ve ever hated anything.
