Everyone had mementos to remind them of their past, of the lives they lived, the places theyâd been and the memories they had made. Morganâs problem was that mementos were the only part of the equation sheâd had, without the memories or emotions to go with them. Mementos of her father and the amazing man he had been from the man heroes whoâd become her aunts and uncles. Mementos of her mother, and all the amazing things Morgan was far too young to understand and even now struggled to remember. Mementos, of the girl who had been alone until suddenly she wasnât. Until her only friend wasnât her older brother anymore, but more. Marâi and Jake were the first among many to become friends, they opened the door to a world beyond the boundaries Morgan had grown comfortable confined in. Marâi was a shining light, a brightness to guide her way. Jake had been something else. His hand had been a comfort, and his light may have been dimmed but it always kept Morgan aware of where she stood. She never felt lost beside him. Not then, and not now.Â
Donât wish it, do it. Itâd be easy for that stupid saying to drop from her lips but Morgan in all good conscious couldnât bring herself to say it. It was too diluted, too untrue. There were things none of them could do, no matter how hard they tried or even wished. She would never put that strain on Jake, even if her heart wanted to hand him something to hand onto. Her eyes fell to her shoes, wondering if sheâd been too brash in confronting him. Perhaps telling Marâi would have been better, butâ his hand was on hers, and soon Morganâs eyes met his as well. âYou knowâŚâ Her tone was quiet. âCollapsing isnât a choice. The definition is to fall down suddenly because of pressure or having no strength or support.â The words felt out of her mouth in a ramble, her nerves striking at her. âThereâs so much pressure Jake. On all of us. And you have so much strength but support?â He was stubborn. Preferred slinking in the back, not being seen or the center of attention. Morgan understood the impulse but she refused to, let him hide away, to let him fade. âLet me be your support, Jake.â She pleaded.Â
   It wasnât as if Jake could ignore that on some level all of the people that cared about him worried about him, the problem was that Jake had a habit of ignoring that there was anything to worry about or of ignoring that others cared altogether. It was certainly a hell of a lot easier than taking accountability for himself, after all. The only person that Jake wouldnât dare to push away was Marâi and she had a way of keeping him in check when they were together, but it wasnât like that was all the time. âSomebody has been reading the dictionaryâ he teased, his tone just as quiet as her own. The words had left his mouth without much thought, a habitual deflection to her very obvious concern for his behaviour. âSorryâ.
Jake had had a support system. He would always have his older sister, but he had once had both of his parents in addition to her support. Jake had been convinced that he could go it alone ever since. After all, the less people that he let himself get attached to, the less that he had to lose. As for those that were stubborn enough to stay, he liked to get creative when it came to finding new ways to push them away or force distance between them. It was the exact kind of self destruction that she had been talking about that had tipped Jake over the edge in the first place. She wasnât usually so brash, but then, he could understand somewhere deep beneath his pride that some conversations could simply never be light-hearted and fun.Â
âItâs not that easy...â he sighed. âHalf of the time I donât even realize that Iâm being an ass until itâs too late..â his fingertips drummed gently against her knuckles as he tried to find the words to articulate what he felt, something that Jake was often shortcoming with. âI can tryâ Letting her in would never happen overnight. âIf youâre going to insistâ