Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 254

Chapter 254-Coffee Helps

Jessica

Coffee helps.

I don’t know what that says about me as a person, but if my entire life is going to crack open before lunch, then I would prefer it to happen with caffeine in

my system.

Charlie walks beside me through the backyard, his hand brushing mine every few steps. I think I like that-the option of him being there with me through

the shitshow.

I hook my fingers through his while a woman I have definitely seen at the supermarket tells me that if my hearing gets too sharp, I should focus on one

sound at a time and let the rest blur.

“One thing,” she says, tapping the side of her mug. “Not everything. Everything will make you want to bite someone.”

She smiles. “And I don’t recommend biting people.”

Beside me, Charlie coughs into his hand, and I swear he is hiding a laugh.

I sip my coffee and decide not to ask whether she speaks from experience.

That is how it goes for a while.

People come over, one or two at a time. They introduce themselves and offer tiny pieces of information like they are handing me matches in the dark.

A man with a crooked nose tells me to keep water nearby because shifting can leave the mouth feeling dry.

A woman with three kids clinging to her coat tells me not to panic if my teeth ache first.

Another woman tells me not to shift too close to furniture unless I want to wake up with a chair leg in my mouth.

I stare at her, and she nods very seriously and says, “Trust me.”

Charlie laughs under his breath, and I squeeze his hand hard enough to make him wince.

“Be nice,” 1 mutter.

“I’m very nice.”

r

1 roll my eyes, but it feels easier, lighter this time. The air is still too cold and too sharp, the voices are still too many, the smells are stili layered over each other until my head feels packed full of smoke and coffee and people, but every new person makes it slightly less impossible.

Because none of them act like this is unbelievable.

They talk about it the way people talk about the weather or sports or bad knees. Strange, normal, ordinary, impossible pieces of a life apparently had

waiting for me all along.

Mr Vance, my actual teacher, stands in front of me with a plate of eggs in his hand and says, “If you need to miss schout fos a few days. I’ll speak to the

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Chapter 254 Coffee Helps

office

I stare at him with my mouth hanging open for far too long.

“You’re a wolf.”

He gives me a mild look. “I am.”

I turn to Charlie slowly and whisper, “This is so messed up.”

Charlie’s mouth twitches. “What is?”

“I have spent years thinking Mr Vance was just weirdly good at hearing people whisper in class.”

Mr Vance smiles around a bite of toast. “I heard that as well,” he whispers.

My cheeks heat as I pull Charlie in a different direction.

Behind us, Mr Vance chuckles, and I relax a little further.

Eventually, Charlie guides me back toward the table beneath the marquee where my parents sit.

Their eyes lift to mine at the same time, and I get a small, soft ache in my chest. They look tired, hopeful, and guilty all at once. I can’t help but feel for them. Even through all the confusion, I can’t hate them for being scared. They were trying to love me the only way they knew how.

I let go of Charlie’s hand and step toward my parents.

Mum stands immediately. Dad does too, though a little slower, like he is worried any sudden movement might send me running.

I look between them, and there are so many things I could say. So many questions lingering in my mind. Did it hurt you to hide it? Did you think I wouldn’t

find out? Did you ever plan to tell me?

Instead, I look at Dad and say, “I’m not mad.”

His face crumples a little, his shoulders dropping as a tiny, careful smile appears.

“I mean,” I add quickly, because let’s not get carried away, “I might be later. I reserve the right to be furious once my brain has stepped leaking out of my

ears.”

Dad lets out a rough sound that is almost a laugh and almost something else.

Mum presses her fingers to her mouth, tears already spilling over.

“Right now…” I wrap both hands around my mug and look down at the coffee shaking slightly between my fingers. “Right now, I think I understand

guys did what you did.”

Mum takes a step forward, opening her arms to me. “jess.”

“I know you were only trying to protect me,” I say softly, falling into her arms. “And I’m thankful you brought me here”

Her arms close around me immediately, tight and shaking, and for a second I am little again. Small enough to believe Mu Lan fix anything by hiding me

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Chapter 254 Coffee Helps

hard rough. Dad steps in too, his hand coming to the back of my head.

I can’t be angry with them. Not for loving me.

It’s all very conflicting, but right now, all I can feel is tired and strangely relieved, because the thing that has been feeling wrong inside me finally has a

name.

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