He was trying not to think about it – if Cash had left like that – but the idea kept creeping back into his head. If Cash hadn’t been solid against him now, the panic might have got the best of him. But he had Cash’s hand on his back to reassure him, and the rhythm of his heartbeat, audible through his chest. And if he took the words I won’t as a promise, a certainty, Theo could just about remember how to breathe.
He had left the shoulder of Cash’s shirt damp with tears by the time he felt clear-eyed again, close enough to calm to relax his embrace a fraction. He would have been embarrassed; but Cash spoke again, and he stilled to listen. Eli Swan. “From school,” he said, with a hesitant murmur of assent. Only a little, but he could picture him. And he had met Cash’s other friend again this year, and Angie went by Swan now – so this must be the same person she had talked about, the person they had lost. This was – important. “Your friend.” More than a friend, he imagined – but he waited, quiet too, for Cash to continue.
He had left the shoulder of Cash’s shirt damp with tears by the time he felt clear-eyed again, close enough to calm to relax his embrace a fraction. He would have been embarrassed; but Cash spoke again, and he stilled to listen. Eli Swan. “From school,” he said, with a hesitant murmur of assent. Only a little, but he could picture him. And he had met Cash’s other friend again this year, and Angie went by Swan now – so this must be the same person she had talked about, the person they had lost. This was – important. “Your friend.” More than a friend, he imagined – but he waited, quiet too, for Cash to continue.
