Goodbye, Evan

24

I'm afraid to blink.

But when I do, I'm still here and Theo is still sitting opposite me, tense and afraid.

"What do I do?" he whispers.

I look down at my wrists and let myself be relieved. Then I look back into his eyes.

"Go down there and talk to him. Tell him everything you've told me. Just talk to him, Theo. That's how you deal with anything."

He stares at an old sock on the floor, unable to look at me.

I take his hand and squeeze it. "Talk to him. Now, or you might never."

Theo squeezes my hand back, almost fiercely, but won't look at me. "What if... what if talking to him means that you..."

That I'll be gone?

"I'll be right here," I say, trying to sound as sure as possible. "I'll be right there. Go say what you need to say."

Finally, he nods. He stands, pushing a hand through his hair, and tramples down the stairs with me in his wake. I linger on the threshold of the door as he passes through it, leaning out enough so I can see what's going on but hiding enough so the likelihood of me being seen is even lower.

Georgia's standing by the door, holding a suitcase and man's coat and looking both apprehensive and pissed off. Theo's now standing in the middle of the room, twisting his fingers into the strings of his hoodie. And the man I assume is his father is standing near the living room door, shaking droplets of rain out of his short, dark hair.

He's strikingly familiar to me: in his eye shape, body type and high cheekbones all belong to Theo but he is separated from him by his paler skin and general posture; while Theo stands like somebody who wishes to be hidden, this man holds himself in a way that demands everybody in the room look at him.

The father finishes inspecting the main room and latches his eyes onto Theo. Immediately, his mouth slides into a grin. He crosses the room in three strides and envelops his son in a hug, likely not noticing how Theo tenses and wriggles away as soon as possible.

"Charles! It's been too long!" he says brightly. "How have you been?"

"...Good."

"Tell me all about it!" his father says, looking around the sitting room again as he speaks instead of his son. Theo takes the opportunity to throw a glance over his shoulder at me. I do my best to smile. "I've missed you, son."

Theo's expression hardens with resolve and he turns his head to look back at his father. "Dad, I want to talk to you."

"Is this about you slamming the phone on me? Well, it's no worry. I can imagine you were a little bit-"

"No, Dad. I mean I want to talk to you about everything. I want to sit down and talk and I want you to listen to me."

I grin. That's it, Theo. Fucking tell him.

The father looks down at the son. "I just got back, Charles-"

"...Please, Dad. It'll only be a few minutes. Please. I just want you to listen to me."

Sighing, the dad turns around to look at Georgia. "You can go home. I'll call you when it's time for you to make dinner."

Georgia doesn't budge. Her eyes flick to Theo.

"Georgia."

Finally, smiling sweetly with her mouth only, she turns her back and walks towards the front door. It opens and closes but I don't hear feet on the gravel outside.