Merlin her head hurt, but not as much as her chest. It felt like her heart was breaking and she didn’t even know why. All she could do was tighten her hold on him and try to breathe. ”I don’t know how I ever could.” How could she have forgotten Lester? They’d grown up together, houses right next to one another. Sloane couldn’t remember a time without Hatch. She knew exactly which bedroom window was his, and how to scale the tree next to it without getting caught to crawl through that window and pester the shit out of him on a hot summer day. He always knew where she was even when she didn’t want to be found. He was the only one who could understand her during January and handle her moods. Lester had always been there, how had she lived a life without him? But this past January was a blur. No sitting in silence and just existing, no hiding away in his room so nobody would bother her. It was events and dancing and she was thoroughly confused by all of it.

Sloane was crying in earnest now, sobs wracking through her body as she lost the energy to hold herself up. Thankfully his tight hold was keeping her from collapsing all of the way to the ground, even as her feet hit solid ground again. As she fought to even out her breathing, she tried to make sense of everything, but couldn’t really get a grasp on the warring stories playing through her head. It took her a few more minutes to finally settle, the headache worse now. ”My head is killing me. What happened?” He had to have context to help her sort through everything. She had memories of her childhood bedroom, a little bed, wooden floors and her broom in the corner; but also of a lavish four poster with a marble fireplace and crisp clean linens. The pain in her head wouldn’t quit and she pulled at the pins in her hair in irritation, yanking them free and tossing them to the ground until her long brown hair was free. It didn’t help much, but it felt far more natural than the tight updo from a moment ago.

”Nothing makes any sense.” She rubbed her temples, putting pressure on where it hurt most, but nothing was easing the stabbing pain.