Page 22 of Tino

“Yeah,” I admitted.

“I feel like the worst son in the world for being mad about the letters and the move,” he admitted. “Hearing how cold Niam’s parents were to him and Wilston’s mom. Fuck, my parents were perfect compared to them.”

“I feel the same way. I was so angry that I wasn’t allowed to visit you, or call in any way.”

“Did I ever show you my letters?” he suddenly said, sitting up.

“Um, no?”

“Just a sec.” And then Tino rushed to his bag, rummaging through his many letters from me. He made two piles on the floor each with letters. I stared down at them confused. What was he doing?

“Here,” he said, dumping the letters from one of the piles in front of me on the bed.

“What?” I began asking, but then I realized these weren’t the letters I’d sent him.

“These are all the letters I’ve ever written to you.”

I was crying. Full on crying. I was made of way too much water. That had to be the only logical reason for all these damn tears. “Thank you,” I croaked, then started with the first letter. It wasn’t until I reached the fiftieth letter that Tino stopped me.

“I think that’s enough for tonight, Tair.”

“But,” I began protesting.

“Nobut. We both need sleep and it’s already late.”

But what if I never get the chance to read them? That was the question I never got to ask. I was scared of that “what if”. I finally sawproof of how much he’d missed me. How much he’d been through without me helping him through it. The bullying because he was the new kid, then how it got worse due to his lack of magic. But Tino was right. We needed to get some sleep. So, even though it pained me to do so, I piled the letters on the nightstand as perfectly as I could, then snuggled into him and let him comfort me like I comforted him.

Chapter 16

Tino

Hane arrived with our breakfast and informed us that Willow would stop by in an hour’s time. I couldn’t help but fearing it was bad news, but I decided to stuff my face and ignore it for now. She would be here soon so worrying would be a waste of time anyway.

“Did you ever…” Tair began, looking almost shy. “Find someone else before you were shunned?”

“Like a friend?” I asked, not really getting his question. He still had a lot of my letters to go through, but he’d see I remainedfriendless until my banishment. Not because I was bullied at first, but because no one could compare to Tair, so why would I even bother?

“No, like,” he blushed, then swallowed nervously, like he desperately wanted to finish his question, but it also pained him to ask.

“A lover?” I guessed. He nodded, looking even more pained.

“No,” I quickly said, wanting to ease his worries. He sighed with relief, but now I had to know too. “Did you?”

He shook his head quickly, then smiled. “It might sound stupid, but I was waiting for you, and if I never found you, I would simply be single forever and get a lot of animals to keep me company.”

I laughed. “I had the same idea. I would be the crazy dog man in my early years and then the crazy cat man as I grew older.”

He began laughing too. “Why in that order?”

“Because I wouldn’t be able to run around playing with the dogs when I got too old, so that’s when the cats would get their turn at my endless love and affection.”

He just shook his head at me, grinning widely. “Gods, I love you.”

I leaned over and was just about to kiss him when knocking started at the front door. I groaned, not ready to deal with Willow yet.

Tair seemed to share my unease, but still rose to answer the door. Willow was smiling brightly and I hoped it meant good news.

“Can I come in?” she asked politely and Tair blushed and apologized as he stepped to the side allowing her access to our cabin. I was still sitting on the couch with our half-eaten breakfast in front of me, but she simply sat down in the armchair, waiting for Tair to join us.