Coming Clean

Once Lincoln was calmed down enough, he took a deep breath and straightened up to his full height. He nodded to Jeremy and pushed away his fear as he approached hesitantly.

“Lincoln.” His voice was hoarse as he struggled to look him in the eye. The images of him close to death flashed in his mind; the fear in his voice when he called to them for help. “I am…so sorry.” He cleared his throat and forced himself to continue. “We should have never done that to you.” Lincoln remained expressionless. “I wanted to help you when you called out to us, and I regret it so much.”

Lincoln sighed and stopped him. “Honestly, you don’t need to do this.” They all looked at him in confusion. “I may struggle to be near you for obvious reasons,” he clenched his fist and continued. “But that is for me to deal with. We were children, and no matter what you say, it will take me a while to forgive you.”

Jeremy dropped his head slightly but froze when Lincoln rested his free hand on his s