As soon as I got on the ne, I shut my eyes and zonked out. Didn’t say a word to Wayne the


    whole flight.


    He must’ve known I wasn’t in the mood, because he didn’t bother trying to talk.


    When we finallynded, I turned to him. “I’m going to see Hayden. I’ll grab a cab.”


    He hesitated for a second. “My parents are here.”


    I tensed up. “You told them?”


    “Yeah,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “They’ve been freaking out about you. When you


    were out, they called, like, every ten minutes to check in, so-


    I cut him off. “I get it. I’ll let them see I’m alive and kicking so they can chill.”


    We headed toward the exit together, and sure enough, I spotted Lindey and Matthew in the crowd,


    looking all worried.


    “Rea!” Lindey waved the moment she saw me.


    I waved back and hurried over with Wayne.


    Lindey grabbed my hand right away, her eyes all emotional. “Oh, you silly girl… what do I even say


    to you?”


    She looked like she wanted to call me reckless, but if I hadn’t been, her precious son might not


    have


    made it.


    Instead, she pulled me into a hug. “You’re our brave girl. A total blessing.”


    Matthew gave a soft chuckle. “Alright, she’s fine now. No need for the waterworks.”


    “You’re right,” Lindey said, dabbing her eyes. “You and Jace are both safe, and that’s all that


    matters.”


    “We’re really sorry for everything,” Matthew added quietly, resting his hand on my shoulder.


    I could see the concern and gratitude in their eyes, but the second I thought about how weird it was


    that Jace and I had the same rare blood type–and all the doubts swirling in my head–I couldn’t


    feel,close to


    them.


    I knew I was spiraling again, just like when I thought Matthew might’ve been involved in my parents‘


    car crash, only to realize I was totally wrong.


    This time, though, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions needed to ask them straight up.


    I


    “Matthew, Lindey… you both knew Jace and I had the same blood type, didn’t you?” I asked,


    watching their faces stiffen.


    Matthew hesitated, then nodded.


    “Are you thinking we didn’t tell you for some shady reason?” Lindey asked, already catching onto


    where my thoughts were going.


    They both knew what was up.


    I didn’t dance around it. “I want to know why you didn’t tell me.”


    “Rea, we didn’t say anything because we didn’t want you to overthink it,” Lindey said quickly. “We


    were afraid you’d think we wanted you and Jace together just so you could be his personal blood


    bank.”


    There it was, exactly what had been gnawing at me.


    “But not telling me made me overthink it even more,” I said tly.


    Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    Matthew sighed, looking guilty. “We underestimated you.”


    He wasn’t wrong. They had.


    I hadn’t just saved their son–I almost lost my life doing it.


    “It’s our fault, both mine and Matthew’s,” Lindey said. “We didn’t want you two carrying that weight


    around. Your blood types are so rare, and we thought if you knew, you’d always feel anxious, like


    it’d hang over you, affecting everything.”