Landon & Shay: Part Two (L&S Duet #2)(20)

Shay





He hadn’t spoken in over twenty-four hours.

When Landon’s mother called his phone to check on him, I answered because he hadn’t left the bed. She was overseas and was scrambling to get a flight home, but wouldn’t be able to make it for another twenty-four hours.

“What should we do?” Raine whispered as she, Hank, Eric, and I sat in the living room. “He has to eat something. He hasn’t left that room since you two got back.”

“I know, but he won’t move. He won’t talk. He won’t do anything. I was surprised he even got up to go use the bathroom,” I said.

“His father was an asshole,” Hank grumbled. “He treated Landon like shit.”

“True, but he still loved him,” I replied.

Eric frowned and scratched at the back of his neck. He was in school up in Wisconsin and had driven down the second Raine informed him about what had happened. Greyson was dealing with some of his own personal issues but would be on his way as soon as possible.

“This can’t be good for him, for his mind. You know how dark that place can get for Land. He’s already been through so much shit, and he was getting better. He is getting better, but I feel like this is going to throw a big wrench into his progress,” Eric said. “He’s come so far, but fuck. This is heavy. I don’t know if he can carry the weight of it right now.”

“I’m fine.”

We all looked up to the hallway where Landon was now standing. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, and his shoulders were rounded forward.

“You all don’t have to worry about this,” he commented, tapping on the side of his head. “I’m fine.”

“Dude, you don’t have to be fine right now,” Hank told him. “Your father passed away, and that’s big.”

“Like you said, Hank, he was an asshole and treated me like shit. I’m better off without him. Not like he wanted me anyway.”

Those words pulled at my heart. I stood and walked over to him. “What can we do? How can we help?”

“For starters, you can all stop moping around,” he said, brushing his hand beneath his nose. “I’m fine. Eric, I know you drove a long way down here, but you didn’t have to. I already sent Grey a text and told him to stay where he was. He’s dealing with his own tornado—he doesn’t need to come into mine. I’m just going to nap for a bit. You can all go your own ways.”

He turned on his heels and headed back to my bedroom.

I looked back at our friends, and they all wore somber looks on their faces. “We’ll be right here,” Eric said sternly. “We’re not leaving. Now go ahead—he gestured toward the hallway—

“go take care of our boy.”

I nodded in agreement and turned to walk toward my bedroom. Each step I took felt heavy. I didn’t know how to give Landon what he needed because he wasn’t saying anything. He wasn’t opening up. He wasn’t letting me—or anyone—in.

As I entered my room, I saw his body curled up in a ball. He hugged one of my pillows, and his eyes were shut. He looked so fragile, so broken.

I crawled onto the bed and lay behind him. I wrapped my body around his and snuggled up against him, feeling his chilled skin against my warmth.

“You don’t have to do that,” he commented.

“Do what?”

“Hold me.”

That was when I held on tighter. I knew when people say you don’t have to hold on to them, that’s when you need to hold on the most. I’d done it for my mother on the nights she cried after she learned about my father’s betrayal. I’d crawled into her bed, wrapped her in my embrace, and held on tight.

I did the same for Landon, thinking of Mima’s words as I did so.

Sé valiente. Sé fuerte. Sé amable. Y quédate.

Be brave. Be strong. Be kind. And stay.





Landon wasn’t notified of when his father’s funeral was taking place. April hadn’t replied to any of his messages, so we had to track the information down on our own. When Landon, his mom, and I showed up to the church where the funeral was being held, we were stopped almost immediately when April saw us walking into the building.

“No,” she stated in her all-black outfit. Her eyes were puffy as if she hadn’t slept in days, and her hair was pulled up into a perfectly crafted bun. “You can’t be here.”

Landon stuffed his hands into the pockets of his gray slacks and shrugged. “He was my father. I think I have a right to be here more than you do.”

“That’s not how Ralph would’ve wanted it,” she disagreed.

Landon’s mother stepped forward, standing tall with her shoulders rolled back. “Yes, well, that’s not a call for you to make.”

“You definitely shouldn’t be here,” April scolded, eyeing Landon’s mother up and down. “You’re the last person he’d want here.”

“I was married to him for over twenty years. And you were, what? Screwing him for twenty days?”

“Try seven years,” April spat out, the venom in her words stinging Lori. “And the only reason he was able to put up with you in those last few years was because he had me to come to when he was overwhelmed with you.”