#i will reply to last chap’s comments tmrw i promise i am not ignoring anyone and def care about feedback <3

[scoopsgf]

RECKLESS ABANDON - CH. 12 IS UP

summary:

Eli is the first goodbye.

They sit side by side on the concrete stoop outside his building. His shoulders are sloped with defeat, and he’s fingering a cigarette but he hasn’t lit up yet.

“You trust these people?”

“No,” Rory says, arms wrapped around her knees. “I mean, I want to seeing as they’re technically my family or whatever, but it’s not like I know them all that well.”

“So why go?”

“Where else am I gonna stay?”

Eli turns. “Are you kidding me?” he asks, all fierce and fire—he gets that from Constance and they all know it, but they’d never stoop so low as to say it out loud. “You’ve gotta be high if you think Abuela and I wouldn’t move heaven and fucking Earth for your twiggy ass.”

Rory isn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Settles for some in-between, quickly swiping tears away before they can fall. God, this is so hard. She thought Eli would be the easiest for some reason, maybe because he’s normally so sweet about everything, but instead it feels like a piece of her is being chipped away. What if she never sees him again? Or Constance, or even Ezzie, who was never quite around but still made sure to buy Rory’s favorite snacks whenever she went shopping, and lent her clothes to wear, and ruffled her hair in passing?

“I don’t wanna be an inconvenience,” she whispers, hiding in the burrow of her arms for a beat to collect herself.

Eli ducks down. “Never,” he says firmly. “Fucking never. I—Jesus. Eres parte de mi alma, understand?”