Unprofessional Without A Witness [Discontinued]

26

"The Larson twins really want you back on the Warblers," someone said conversationally.

Wes turned, seeing a boy that had fallen in step with him without him noticing. "You slapped me."

"Guilty. Sebastian, by the way. It's annoying, isn't it, that the only way to focus is to pinch yourself or be slapped? Pain's what we work to escape but it's the only way to bring us back to ourselves."

He didn't know how he knew what the boy was saying, but he understood him perfectly. "You too?"

"Mhm. It was both of them, I live with my uncle now. At least you're an only child."

"You aren't?" Wes knew the emotional attachments people had to their siblings— he couldn't imagine watching someone he loved being hurt.

"Got a little sister. Well, she's not so little now. I made a deal with them, they could do whatever they wanted to me so long as they didn't lay a finger on her."

"And?"

"They broke the promise when I was thirteen. I took her and ran."

Wes didn't ask why he didn't run before then. It was the same reason he hadn't told people the first time his father hurt him.

"Your spot could have been filled if they didn't still want you," he said. "The waiting list for the Warblers is a mile long. But nobody's even mentioned replacing you because as much as they might not want to admit it, they don't want to. They want you back."

He shook his head. "They'll want an explanation, I don't know if I can do that."

"I've told them once, and I'll tell them again, if David's forgiven you, they should be able to too."

Wes paused, looking at Sebastian. "But he's my boyfriend, of course he forgave me."

"He's your boyfriend, but because of that, he's also the one you hurt the most. If the person you hurt most can forgive you, the people who were just there can too. They might as well have not been there in regard to how much it affected them."

"You... You're right, aren't you? That's... I never thought of that."

"I know. And there's one more thing, regarding that."

"Hm?"

"If David can forgive you, you can forgive yourself."

Wes stopped walking at those words. But Sebastian didn't. He just kept walking, leaving Wes in the middle of the empty hallway to grapple with his thoughts.