Page 56 of Save Your Breath

But for the most part, Aleks isn’t the talking kind. He likes to be quiet, and I don’t mind that, either.

So, I settle in, content to stay quiet and just be there next to him.

He surprises me when he speaks.

“I didn’t even get to see her,” he whispers. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

My heart breaks at his admission.

I squeeze his arm, letting him know I hear him. Once again, the wordsI’m sorryfeel too weak to speak out loud.

“I shouldn’t have left,” Aleks says. “I should have stayed with her. I should have been there.”

“No,” I argue, shaking my head and sitting up straight. I wait for Aleks to look at me. “Annaliese wanted you to come here, Aleks. She wanted it more than anything in the world. She wanted you to have your dream.”

“She was always putting everyone else before her.”

I smile softly. “For some people, that’s how they show their love.”

He swallows, and then, the impossible happens.

His eyes flood with tears faster than he can hide them.

And in fact, hedoesn’thide them.

He keeps those endless brown eyes on mine long after the first tears streak down his cheeks, freezing on his skin before he has the chance to swipe them away.

“I don’t know how I’m going to do this without her,” he croaks.

“I don’t know either,” I confess. “But I can promise you one thing. You won’t have to do it alone.”

His eyes search mine like he doesn’t quite believe me. But slowly, his brows soften, his bottom lip trembling.

And then, on the wind-whipped shore of Lake Michigan, Aleks Suter breaks.

When the first sob racks his body, I throw my arms around him, pulling him into me as best I can as a girl half his size. He curls up like a little boy, his head on my chest, his arms clinging to me as he cries and cries.

I don’t rush him. I don’t try to comfort him, either. I just hold him and let him feel every heartbreaking second of a moment I know will shape his life forever.

After a while, he settles, the tears drying up as he sniffles and holds tight to me.

“Mia?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re my best friend.”

My heart aches in a way I’ve never experienced when he says it, in a way that tells me maybe this is a moment that will shape my life, too.

“You’re my best friend, too, Aleks.”

We stay on that cold beach until dusk, until Aleks insists we have to go home so my dad doesn’t worry.

But when we get home, I sneak into his room after Mom and Dad are asleep.

I hold him until the sun rises.

One Way Ticket