"You did the right thing," Slim told me.

I didn't say anything as I sat down in the woods. I was starting to shake from all of it. Hot tears begun to slide down my cheeks as I broke.

"I...I killed 'im. My best friend," my throat was closing up. My body shook more. Maybe I'd die of a broken heart.

Slim crouched down next to me. "George," his voice soft enough that I thought I was imagining it, "It was right."

"No it ain't! What gives me the right to kill Lennie?"

"You was protecting other people from getting hurt."

I groaned. "Was I?" Everything felt surreal, like what had just happened was a terrible dream and I'd wake up and we'd work some and save our stakes and "Buy the land," I muttered. "For the rabbits."

"Rabbits?"

"We was going to buy a farm and Lennie was gonna tend to the rabbits. Least, that's what I told 'im."

"Ya couldn't have known ya was gonna kill Lennie," he pointed out, but I didn't respond. "George? You didn't know, did ya?"

"No," I took off my cap and rubbed my hair. "An' if I had, we'd nev'r have come 'ere."

Slim's hand on my shoulder made me look up at him. His eyes looked concerned as he fully sat down next to me and put his arms around me. I leaned against him, just giving up.

"It's gonna be alright, George. We can get that land, the two of us. Whatever you wanna do."

I didn't smile, but I held onto him. He was suddenly the stable one and that's what I needed then, and he understood.

"I jus' wanna be with you," I told him. "That's wha' I want."