Page 155 of Beautiful Scars

“Look at me Meisie,” I tell her.

She drags her eyes back up to me like it’s painful.

“I don’t know how else to tell you. It’s you. Just you. Fuck everyone else. Fuck anyone who tries to change that. I’ll kill them. That’s a threat. I swear to God, Meisie, I’ll kill them all. My name’s Kill, so that’s the way it has to be, and you can’t argue with your old man’s logic.”

She smiles properly this time but I barely see it. I pull her into my chest.

“Do you think we can fix this?” Her voice is barely audible down there.

“Already fixed, princess.”

Her hand creeps up my back, and I kiss the top of her head.

“You look lovely, by the way.”

“So do you. That skirt isn’t half as bad as I expected.”

I chuckle. “That’s one, Meisie.”

We don’t say anything else for the rest of the song. For the first time, perhaps since I’ve known her, it doesn’t feel like there’s something unsaid hanging over us.

There are a hundred unknowns, and no answers, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.

“There we go folks—the modern-day Danny and Sandy,” the DJ says, breaking the wee trance we were both in. I’m about to flip him off with the finger but he’s already preparing the next song. “Right! Second dance. We’re having to break tradition so we’ll have the groom with the bridesmaid, and the bride with the best man. Everyone else, grab someone who’snotyour partner.”

People shuffle onto the dance floor and I check Meisie’s reaction.

“Another weird tradition?”

I chuckle at her. She should be thankful I never pushed for the tradition where the whole wedding party covers the bride and groom in soot from the coal bunker. “Supposed to be the bride and her father’s dance. I’d dance with the bride’s mother—can you fucking imagine? The best man goes with the groom’s mother and the bridesmaid goes with the groom’s father.”

Meisie shakes her head, but there’s a smile on her face. “You people.”

I grin at her. “You don’t need to.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I guess he’s my brother now. For better or worse.”

“I’ll be right here.”

Sarah approaches and I let Meisie go, still watching her from the corner of my eye as Cole takes her hand.

The music starts and Sarah arranges me like you’d stand for a Waltz. I hope she knows I can’t Waltz. But it’s not a Waltzy song that comes on. It’s another Capaldi one—this one’s called Grace.

“I should have given you my song choices,” I tell her.

“Did you like the first one?” She has a smug little smile on her face.

I narrow my eyes at her. “Crafty. I’ll give you that. Tugged on my poor heartstrings.”

She giggles as I spin her around. “Thought it might. Did you tell her?”

“Tell her what?” I stick my chin out, as if I’m daring her to keep pushing me.

Sarah just shakes her head and gives me a dramatic eye roll.

“I told her...in my own way.”

She nods her head while she leads me in step to the music. I’m sure it’s supposed to be the other way around, but I just go with the flow. “I’m glad. She deserves that.”