Evie used to say that time passed too quickly. She'd always tell him that she willed the hours and days to slow so she could take more time to appreciate every little thing with him. Spencer had always answered with saying how as each human's life progresses, a segment of time begins to be less of a fraction of your life with older age, making time seem as if it flew by faster as life went on. He missed how she would smile and roll her eyes, laughing at how technical he always was. They were so different in that respect. She was wildly imaginative and colorful, seeing the world in so many views while Spencer had always paid attention to every little fact and black and white point that he could possibly remember. It had worked for them, though. They learned from each other and completed a whole in such a way that it was amazing to Reid that he ever lived without her balance.
Now that she was gone however, time moved in a painful lethargic manner in each passing moment. Every second droned on with the knowing that she wasn't there. The four days that he had spent at JJ's house were filled with Spencer lying in bed numbly for the most part. The drapes in her spare room pulled shut and all the lights diminished so not to allow even a gleam of light entrance. Maybe it made things worse, but Spence hardly noticed. He'd eventually be visited by JJ who would just sit on the side of his bed and rub his shoulder or bring him something to eat that he'd just hide after she left. He felt bad for being such a handful for his friend to take on. It wasn't her fault that he couldn't eat or wouldn't talk or rarely sleep. With this in mind, Spencer was able to occasionally find the strength to help her clean around the house or come eat dinner with her, Henry, and Will. On the second day however, JJ was being driven crazy with how worried she was.
"Alright, come on." she had said when entering his room that afternoon. Spencer's eyes flickered up to meet her giant blue ones, but other than that he didn't move. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest as if she was waiting for him to do something. Reid eventually frowned up at her with confusion.
"We're going to get out of here for a bit."
Spencer took a deep breath and diverted his gaze from hers, making her exhale sharply.
"Spence, I'm not letting you be cooped up in her anymore. Come on."
At that JJ had grabbed his hand and yanked him upright, making Spencer cringe from the ache that spread through his head. He knew it was from lying down for too long, but JJ didn't give him much time to consider the pain before pulling him to his feet.
"Where are we going?" he had barely managed to get out. JJ gently led him to the threshold of her spare room and into the natural light of the hallway. Spencer squinted against the light, tugging back a little in protest.
"Wherever you want to."
With that, Spencer turned and began to go back for the spare room, but JJ rolled her eyes and yanked him back.
"Anywhere but there." she added. Spencer sighed with disappointment. She took him through the house which seemed to be apparently empty. Reid glanced at the clock to see that Henry wasn't home from school yet. In a way he was happy and disappointed. Disappointed because he obviously loved the kid, but happy because he hated when he saw him like this.
Within ten minutes, they had arrived at the only place Spencer could really imagine going. His first thought was the bookstore they had always gone to after the first time he took her there, but he wasn't sure if he could quite handle that yet. Choosing something a little less memory ridden instead, JJ pulled into the parking lot of the small park where Spencer and Evie had often gone to on nice days. The same place where the reoccurring memory within dreams kept coming back to him. For two hours he sat with JJ where Evie and him once sat. It was cold and Spencer kept telling JJ she could go back to the car or her house if she wanted out of the chill, but she insisted on sitting with him for which he was grateful. For the next two days after that, they had come around the same time, right after JJ came home and right before Henry and Will returned.
Ever since then however, Spencer continued most of his habits. He didn't talk, continued not to eat or sleep. It was a terrible vicious cycle, but he didn't know what he'd do without JJ.
On the fifth day, it was finally time for her memorial service. Spencer had been dreading it from the start. He could hardly hear her name without feeling like his chest was being ripped apart from the insides, but an entire service about how she died? Reid knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. Not only that, but Evie's father would be there too. How could he look into the love of his life's father's eyes and apologize for letting her die? After his wife too? If he were Evie's father he'd hate himself. He already hated himself.
"Uncle Spence?" a small voice cut through Spencer's thoughts. Reid turned his gaze from where he stared into the mirror to tie his tie to Henry who timidly entered the room as if he wasn't sure how Spencer would react. Spence forced a small small and knelt to one knee to adjust to a more Henry-sized height. Henry broke into a smile at this, taking it as an invitation. His little feet padded across the floor until he reached Spencer and held out his miniature bow tie for help. Reid chuckled a bit as he took it from Henry's grasp and began to help him tie it gently around his neck. Henry kept his big eyes cast downwards to try and what what Spencer was doing, his face contorted in concentration as he watched Reid's efforts quietly.
"I'm sorry." Spencer barely heard him whisper. Reid frowned and tugged lightly on Henry's tie to make sure it was in place before leaning back on his knee and watching Henry peer at him sympathetically through his blonde hair.
"Why's that, bud?" Spencer asked, hardly even recognizing his own voice.
"Because you want Evie to be here." he said quietly, looking down at the floor shyly. Spencer sighed and wrapped his godson in his arms, lifting him off his feet, grunting with the effort of lifting even the 50 pounds Henry collectively was. Spencer knew it was a mix of lying in bed all day and growing weaker from not eating or sleeping, but doing the exact calculations in his head pained him. Lately thinking too hard about anything pained him.
Not only that but he had been having trouble breathing lately; like an elephant was constantly sitting on his chest. His whole world felt dark in every way imaginable. In the sense that he saw no light or beauty in anything anymore. In the way that his grief swallowed him whole, how he drowned in his hollow memories of her. He felt like screaming, like tearing his heart out of his chest, like cursing God for letting this happen. Yes, Spencer was sad and and torn up beyond compare, but he was also frustrated; frustrated that there was nothing he could do. That no matter how many facts he knew, no matter what he tried he couldn't cheat death. Still battling with even the notion of believing that she was actually gone, Reid was in a speedy downwards spiral.
Instead of letting his composure implode like his body willed him too however, Spencer set Henry back down and ruffled his hair, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile at the young boy who did the same back.
"Are you ready?"
Henry nodded and took Spencer's outstretched hand, and together they walked out to face something that no one ever really accepts that they'll all have to confront at one point.
"Wake up!" a voice erupted through the murkiness of her wisps of dreams floating through her sleep. Evie felt her face scrunch up in frustration as she buried her head further into her arm.
"Not right now, Spence." she just barely mumbled.
"Evelyn!" the voice came even louder, cutting through her unconscious state like a knife. Realizing that the voice was in fact not Spencer, Evie jerked upright feeling a sharp pain erupt through her head.
"Ah..." she gasped and clutched her head that she seemed to have rapped against a protruding metal plant above where she slept. Where was she sleeping anyway? Rough dirty ground, small boxed in area, metal walls and large wooden-plank crates stacked behind her.
"Evelyn listen to me, do as they say." Hani said in hushed tones from beside her. Evie squinted up at the indian man that crouched near her and everything came back to her. She wondered if she'd ever get used to not waking up at home in bed next to Spencer. She wondered if she'd ever accept that she may never wake up like that again.
"What are you talking about?" she asked loudly until Batra instantly shushed her. Evie rolled her eyes and frowned at Hani.
"Why do we need to be quiet?"
Instead of an answer, Hani just rose a finger to his lips to quiet her. Evie tilted her head and focused all her attention on listening. It was then when she realized that the truck wasn't moving and the familiar mechanical hum was altogether gone. It was replaced with deep rough voices from outside, slightly muffled.
"Wha-"
"Shhh!"
Evelyn sighed and decided not to pester her new friend any further. The voices seemed like they were growing more and more frantic at this point. From what Evelyn could tell, there were three separate people and they all were arguing.
"They're suspicious, what do you expect?"
"Well figure it out!"
"What am I supposed to do?"
"Your damn job!"
"Alright, shut up, shut up..."
Everything was quiet for a while when the men ceased arguing as if they all took a moment to think. What was wrong? Why weren't they moving? Were they caught? Oh god, please be caught...
Evie was so wrapped up in her dire hopes of being rescued that she nearly missed what was said next.
"They're going to check the truck."
Evie's heart jumped out of her chest at this. She glanced over at Hani with a wide smile on her face but only found herself to be discouraged when Hani didn't return the same look. He curtly shook his head with a deep frown and then returned to intently listening to the conversation.
"Get your ass in there and figure something out then." One of the more gruff voices instructed. Evie could hear another man dramatically sigh and directly after there was a loud click right by the door of the back of the truck. The latch began to slide out of place and Batra's arm was instantly in front of Evelyn, pushing her back away from the door as it slid up and open just enough for one of the men to slip into the truck while slamming the door shut behind him. He pulled a pistol out from his belt and held it straight at Hani and Evie. She'd been trained to be used to the presence of guns, but having one pointed at her still made her heart beat a hundred times faster.
"Alright, both of you. Pick a crate each and get in. I don't want to see you or hear a peep."
Evie saw Hani instantly move out of the corner of her eye. Her mind was racing with possibilities. Either she listened to what the man said and hid from the closest chance she had to being rescued or she took her chances. Would they really shoot her? Trying to put herself in their situation, she realized that they wouldn't want blood and a dead body on their hands if someone was coming to inspect the truck. She could already hear new voices outside of the metallic walls...
"No." she finally decided. The click of the gun being cocked echoed through the box of the truck and Evie's breath hitched. If she didn't try to get out now, next thing she knew she wouldn't even be in America anymore.
"Evelyn!" she heard Hani's harsh, warning whisper from behind her. She glanced back at his worried glance, stopped midway while pulling a crate open. She brought her eyes back when she felt the cool barrel of the gun pressed against her forehead. The guy behind the gun had his teeth clenched tightly, his eyes darting back and forth from the approaching voices to Evie.
"I swear to God, I'll shoot." He insisted. Evie noted she shake of his hand while he held the gun up to her head. Her heart pounded as she watched his finger twitch on the trigger.
"Evelyn, please..." Hani whispered. Evie felt her breathing pick up to nearly a hyperventilation level. She tried to keep her composure for the most part, just focusing on the voices coming closer and closer.
"Fine." The gunman said, lowering the barrel from her head. Evie sighed with relief, still keeping herself on guard however. It wasn't over yet. She was glad she did when the gun was moved swiftly in the other direction straight at Batra. In the fraction of a second it took for Evie to see his finger play on the trigger, she screamed and lunged forward. The gun lowered and the man grabbed her arm harshly instead, covering her mouth with crook of his sleeve. Evelyn stumbled at the sudden yank off her balance. She found her stance however, just in time to be shoved towards the nearest crate. Her arm erupted with an acute stinging sensation, and she could see a dark line of blood out of the corner of her eye as her arm scraped across protruding nails.
"I'll kill him and his family. Shut up and hide."
At this Evie was trapped. She couldn't put someone else in danger. Especially with the way Hani's dark eyes stared pleadingly into hers. Evie sighed pried one of the boards loose on the crate next to her. She glanced over one last time to see Hani ducking into the crate across from her and the guy holding the gun still holding Hani at gunpoint. The voices outside sounded like they were nearly on top of them and Evie could've sworn she heard someone fiddling with the latch.
The board came lose and she ducked into the box that was big enough to hold about four of her if it wasn't stuffed with loaf after loaf of wonder bread. She guessed she was so busy being stuffed into a truck with a destination across the US that she didn't realize they must've gotten a hold of a wonder bread semi.
Evie pushed through the packaged loaves of bread, squeezing in the best he could. The rattling of the door latch grew louder as she grabbed the plank and pulled it back into place, the last she saw being both Batra and the man holding the gun to his head as they both disappeared into the next crate over just as the door slid open and bright light filtered through the cracks between the wooden boards around her. Evie closed her eyes and willed herself not to jump out right there and do something, anything. Her ticket out of her was right outside that crate, stepping up into the same truck that was taking her far from everything she ever cared about. She couldn't risk hurting Hani or his family. She'd never forgive herself.
"Mind if I just look around a bit?" a voice asked calmly. Evie carefully moved towards the side of the crate closest to the two men examining the truck. One was obviously part of the gang and the other seemed to be whoever was inspecting. She looked through the crack that was level with where her eyes were, seeing the silhouettes of the men coming closer in front of the bright daylight shining in from outside the truck. God, how she missed sunlight.
"No, no. Go ahead."
Evie held her breath as he grew closer. Every fiber of her body and mind screamed at her to do something, anything. Instead, she just crouched down as still as she could, cautious not to rustle any of the plastic packaging all around her. There was barely any moving room anyway. She just barely fit into the crate with all of the product. She couldn't imagine how much of a tight squeeze it had to be with the gunman and Hani.
"Sorry about this, we've been really cracking down people lately."
"Don't worry about it."
The way that the man acted so nice made Evie sick. Being packed in tightly with all the bread was starting to make her claustrophobic and she just wanted to go home.
A leg came up directly near her crate and she moved closer to the crack in the boards. Maybe if she was accidentally seen they wouldn't kill him... Who was she kidding though? They'd kill Hani and the man inspecting the truck. They already had a lengthy list of bodies, what was two more?
After about three minutes of walking and looking around the crates and even through the one directly to Evie's left, the shorter and stouter silhouette stood and stretched his spine.
"Alright, I think you're free to go."
Evie felt a deep pang of disappointment course through her. If she was alone, she'd be out by now. In her irritation she even found herself a bit annoyed at Hani for a moment. Angry even.
Eventually the two men left, locking up the truck. Evelyn waited until she heard Hani's crate pop open to crawl over the plastic to the loose plank that she pushed forward. The truck was dim again, the only light being the few rays that made it through a few open holes around them. She crawled out onto the dirty floor of the truck and began pushing herself up, looking up straight into the familiar sight of the pistol's gun barrel.
Evie was suddenly yanked up by a rough hand around her arm and thrown back down by the back door.
"If you ever refuse orders again, I won't stop to shoot. Federal Agent or not, your blood makes no difference on my hands." The man snarled. Hani just stood emotionless beside him, looking down at Evie with his big brown eyes that had a flicker of disappointment in it. That was okay though. She was disappointed in him too.
Choosing not to respond, Evie pushed herself up to lie her back against the cool metal wall. Her mind returned to the stinging in her arm and she looked down to see blood oozing out of the deep gash she acquired. Subconsciously, she grasped her bicep with her hand to slow the bleeding and closed her eyes in attempt to get herself together.
The truck lurched beneath them and Evie sensed Hani sitting down on the wall opposite of her. She opened one eye to see her captor taking a seat as well, keeping his gun tight in his hand.
"Looks like I'll be sticking around back here. I don't want to hear a word or see any reaction of any kind whatsoever." he said, looking from both Hani to Evie. Hani just stared directly at Evie and Evie looked back and forth from both of them. She was beginning to doubt Batra was who he said he was.
Tons of people showed. Spencer knew there'd be many people. Evie had touched more lives than she thought, and everyone could always see it but her. He wasn't however, expecting quite this big of a turn out. There was tons of people from the FBI that Spencer recognized. There were a couple family members that he'd seen in pictures that Evie hadn't seen in years. Then there were countless others that he had never met but it meant just as much that they were there than everyone else. He didn't see her father however, and this somehow made him even more nervous. What would he say? Sorry that it's my fault your daughter is dead? Sorry that I couldn't protect her?
While scanning the rows of people already sitting for the service, Spencer finally spotted him in the second row on the end. His face looked even grayer than usual, almost the color of his eyes. His beard was grown out and his wrinkles seemed even more defined than usual. Reid suspected that he didn't look much better.
"Spencer?" he hear a voice from in front of him. Reid tore his eyes from the shell of Evie's father so that he was looking into the eyes of Emily Prentiss. Just the sight of his old friend relieved some of the tension on his shoulders. He was even able to crack just a bit of a smile.
"I am so, so sorry." she said, her voice heavy with a sympathy that matched the way her eyes stared up with a pained softness that he recognized. Spencer swallowed thickly and wrapped his arms around her, feeling her do the same. He felt her hand rub his back through his suit jacket as he sighed into her shoulder.
"Thanks for coming all the way over here." he mumbled quietly. Emily unraveled her arms from around him and put a hand on the side of his face, giving him a sad smile.
"I wouldn't miss it. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask."
Spencer took her hand from his face and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Thanks."
Emily nodded and turned to someone who called her name. Spencer felt the comfort from talking to his friend diminish as the deep stabbing pain returned. It seemed like he was just living off those short and tiny periods of slight comfort. Just when his depression was getting too much for him to handle, JJ would be there or Morgan would visit or Henry would make him a drawing, etcetera. But then those flickers of light would be gone and he'd be submerged in his own darkness again. He hated it. He hated being strung along between life and death.
"Spencer." he heard another voice said from beside him in the crowd of people examining the pictures of Evie on the displays. This voice was familiar as well, but it didn't send the warmth of a familiar friend's voice through him. This one made his heart stop cold.
Holding his breath, Spencer turned to see Evie's dad suddenly standing right there next to him, his eyes looking cold and dead. Just his whole being in general looked cold and dead.
"Can I talk to you?"
Spencer felt his body go rigid and his throat go dry. He nodded nevertheless and followed Mr. Lawrence back into one of the empty rooms branching off the main lobby. It was a small sitting room with a couch, a few chairs, a coffee table, and a piano. Why'd it have to be a piano?
Evie's father sat down, so Spencer did the same, looking at the ground and fiddling with his hands in his lap. It was silent for a while, a silence that was even worse than Ed Lawrence screaming at him and blaming him for the death of his daughter. It felt like days had gone by, by the time he spoke up.
"Spencer, I'm going to tell you something that I wish someone had told me when my wife died." he said, his voice low and scratchy. Spencer knew he must've been crying for days as well. His voice nearly sounded the same. What he said had taken Reid off guard, however. He sounded so calm, like he didn't want to tear Reid's head off.
Spencer looked up at Ed with waiting eyes and he stared back. The resemblance of Evie in her father, especially his eyes, made Reid's throat close up.
"No matter what you have convinced yourself of, no matter how much you think you're making sense of all of this, it is not in any way your fault." he said, never taking his eyes off of Spence. Reid felt his throat close up even more to the point of where it was getting painful. He looked away and focused on the pattern of the rug below them, tracing the small vines woven into the design and trying to keep his composure. Ed seemed to sense that he wasn't going to respond, so he continued.
"My wife died a terrible death, and when I found out my only child did as well, I nearly couldn't handle it. I wanted someone to blame, I wanted to blame myself, I just kept questioning over and over again why this kept happening. But the more and more you question what happened and yourself, the deeper you'll sink Spencer. The sooner you come to terms that what happened couldn't be helped, the better. I know her, Spencer. And I know you do too. So you and I both know that she wouldn't have wanted us to give up our lives after she left."
Spencer bit his lip and closed his eyes, willing himself not to cry anymore. The first tear unexpectedly fell though, and he quickly wiped it away, turned towards the window on the opposite side of the room. Even the tree outside the building made him sad. Every single thing reminded him of her.
"I know how it feels, but don't end up like me. I know for a fact she wouldn't want me to let you."
Spencer finally looked up at Mr. Lawrence and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"I'm sorry." he managed to choke out. Ed just shook his head and clapped a hand on Spence's shoulder, rattling him more than it should have.
"And take care of yourself, son."
With that he stood and left the room like a ghost, and yet, he was calmer than Spencer was. He watched him go and let another tear slide down his face, hurriedly wiping it away once more before taking a deep breath and standing. He was grateful for what Evie's father said, but he just wished that he wasn't wrong.
The service started ten minutes later. Evie's dad stood up and talked first. Obviously Spencer was asked to go first, but he just couldn't do it. He held a note in his pocket however, grasping it tightly whenever he was close to loosing it through people's speeches. When Spencer wasn't just lying there staring off into space and thinking of Evie, he had been writing his speech to her instead of forcing himself to go up there when he knew he wouldn't make it past the third word. It ended up being eight pages long but didn't even cover half the things he would say to her as their last exchanged words. There was no way he'd ever finish telling her everything he thought, everything he wanted her to know.
He did however ask Morgan to talk who was more than happy to do so. He watched his friend walk to the front of the room next to the arrangement of pictures of Evie that were displayed on a stand. There were a lot of pictures of Spencer and her up there. Garcia had done all of the planning and decorating, insisting that Reid shouldn't worry about it. She did a great job, but he couldn't even bear to look at the pictures for more than a couple of seconds. He couldn't even remember how it felt to be as happy as he was in those pictures.
"...not very often that you meet someone genuine like that. You can just tell right of the bat. That girl could brighten anyone's day with a flick of her pinkie. The energy that constantly just radiated off of her affected everyone around her and made every day in this world a happier place to live in. And while it sounds dramatic, I know everyone in this room knows exactly what I'm talking about."
Morgan was saying up at the podium. He kept glancing over at Evie's picture as if he was telling her these things. It somehow comforted Spencer more. He carried on to talk about what made Evie so unique; her strong need to care for people, her creativity, her child-like wonder and curiosity, her knowledge of what the right thing to say was every single time. He talked about some of the best memories her and the team had together, some of them even making Spencer laugh a bit like when recalling the time she had beat Morgan in basketball and he went nuts, not giving up until he got a rematch in which Evie beat him in as well. With ever memory that Spencer remembered however, the more he realized that they were gone. He thought he'd have an eternity more to make new ones but now...
Cursing at himself for not even being strong enough to hold up through the service, Spencer quietly stood and sneaked off the side of the room, earning himself a concerned gaze from Penelope who had been sitting behind him. She looked at him through pulled together eyebrows, ready to stand and come with him, her black frilly dress paired with her short black veil and all. Spencer put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze to assure her that he was fine and kept walking. He could feel her concerned eyes on him as he left, but he rushed to get out of there. It was too overwhelming and all much, much too soon.
He was at her memorial service. She was dead. She was dead. She was dead.
"No, no, no..." Spencer mumbled under his breath, feeling himself begin to gasp for air. As Spencer ran his hands through his hair in desperation and clenched his teeth tight, his chest contracted and he suddenly felt dizzy. Not a panic attack, not now...
"Hey, hey Pretty Boy. Calm down."Morgan's deep voice rumbled from beside him. There was suddenly a hand on his shoulder, distracting Spencer away from his panic. He turned abruptly to see Morgan frowning at him through his thick eyebrows and dark eyes.
"Sorry- I- I-"
"Just breathe, Reid. I know it's a lot to take in. Just take a breather."
Spencer tried to get a grip and grab on tighter to reality as he slipped away. Morgan wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave him a one arm squeeze until Spencer's breathing went from choppy and frantic back to some degree of normal. When he finally felt alright enough to talk, Spencer let out a short chuckle of disbelief at himself.
"I'm a mess, Morgan."
His friend sighed from beside him, taking his arm back from around his shoulder and ruffling his hair. Spencer didn't even as much as try to fix it this time.
"No one expects you to be anything other that that."
People began to filter out of the service room. It must have been over. Her memorial service was over, it was all going to fast. Before he knew it, everyone would just forget and he'd be alone and...
"Calm, Spencer, calm." Morgan said. Reid realized he was beginning to freak out again and worked on slowing his breathing. "I'm sorry if I made anything worse with what I said..."
"No." Spencer interrupted him immediately. "No it was perfect, thank you." Morgan nodded and together they watched people filter out without a word.
"They, uh... They haven't found anything yet." Morgan said after a while. Spencer looked over at him with a confused glance. Morgan looked back at him and cleared his throat.
"On the gang that killed her. I've been working as hard as I can to find these sons of bitches. Anyone whose associated; I don't care if they were just the damn secretary. They'll pay, I promise you that." Spencer forced a small smile for what felt like the billionth time since Evie died. He nodded to please Morgan, but finding the people that killed her wouldn't bring her back. It would make him feel better if their entire association was ended, but he wasn't to that anger part of his grief yet. He was just plain sad and numb. He didn't if he'd ever get past this stage.
"You wanna go put that in the box?" Morgan asked Spencer, looking down at where Spencer was unknowingly gripping the envelope with his letter to Evie inside. Spencer looked down at the slightly crumpled paper and back up to Morgan. Derek was referring to the box where they were putting small little things that they'd bury in place of Evie's body. Every time that Spencer was reminded that there wasn't a body to bury, there was always a glimmer of hope that maybe somehow she had lived. They had searched and tracked for days though, and not only was there no trace of any escape from the blast, but the small diamond bracelet that Evie's mother had given her years ago was found in the rubble. There were figures of bodies discovered there, but they were too charred to give identities. However, they were able to tell that there was at least one female.
Still though, every time Morgan would talk about his progress with his search for any of the gang associates, Spencer would feel that small glimmer of hope. Maybe she had rubbed off on him in that way, but then his realist side would take over. The facts and the probabilities were overwhelmingly unlikely for her survival. The statistics, they didn't allow it. What Spencer wasn't remembering however, was one of the most essential things Evie had taught him in their time together. Statistics aren't everything.
A/N: Finally the next chapter is up! I sincerely apologize for how long it took. I've been getting a lot of questions and I tried to answer all of them but I'm sorry if I missed some, I never have any intentions of not finishing a book. I directed a movie this summer that swallowed all of my time, but it's over now!
Thank you so much to everyone who has been super understanding and supportive and telling me to take my time if I need it. I really appreciate it and from now on will work on focusing on this story!
P.S. SPOILER ALERT
Did anyone else hear about how Emily is coming back?!?