⌜ chapter twenty-two ⌟

Despite how much it hurts her to see Eric and not be able to be with him, Letty goes to their next production as well — Hamlet. Again, Eric does amazing in the titular role. His parents and Feeny are there as well, but she sits in the back of the small theater area while they sit at the front.

Eric runs out after the play's over, and he's still wearing his last costume from the end of the play. He smiles as he jumps off the small stage, landing on his feet in front of his parents and his former teacher.

"Oh, there he is!" His mom gets up and throws her arms around him.

"You know, the real tragedy tonight is that William Shakespeare couldn't be here to see how good you are." Mr. Matthews tells him, and he smiles.

"Thanks, Dad."

"I cannot believe how deeply you feel up there, Eric." His mom says, gushing over him. "I mean, when you jumped into Ophelia's grave, overcome with emotion, and then wept openly — where did you get your motivation?" She asks, and he raises his eyebrows as he looks at her.

"Oh, uh... Well..." He clears his throat, and Letty looks down at her hands in her lap.

"Eric!" The director calls, and he turns, relieved to get out of answering her question. "There are some gentlemen here who want to talk to you about your future."

Mr. Feeny goes with him, and Mrs. Matthews sees Letty when she and her husband turn to leave the theater. "Oh, Scarlett." She smiles as she walks over to her. "I didn't know you were here. You should've come to sit with us."

"I, uh— I came in at the last minute." The teenager says as she gets to her feet, and she nods as she moves to hug her.

"I've missed having you come by the house with Eric. How are you, sweetheart?"

"I'm good, I've been keeping busy mostly." She tells her. "How are you?"

"Oh, we're good, hun." She offers her a small smile.

"Everything's been alright at home?" Mr. Matthews asks, and she looks at him. "Since, uh... The woman, uh..."

"Emma." Letty nods, realizing what he's trying to ask. "Yeah, she's really sweet. Um, Alec's on cloud nine having Oliver around. I swear, I don't think I've ever seen my brother smile so much in such a short time. It's a bit crowded at the house, but he's happy, so..." She smiles.

"Did you bring your brother?" Mrs. Matthews asks as she glances around.

"Oh. No, I came with Emma, Oliver, and another friend of ours. Alec's working, Tyler's helping take care of Jack, Jason, and Shawn because they got all Chicken Pox, and Reggie's been getting on Emma's nerves. In her defense, he's doing it on purpose, so... I thought it'd be a good idea to get her out of the house."

"Things never get boring with you, do they?" Mr. Matthews asks, and she shakes her head.

"No. Unfortunately, they don't."

"Hey, Mom! Dad!" Eric yells as he runs over to them. "Guess what just—" His steps falter when he sees the brunette that's standing with them.

"Hey, honey." Mrs. Matthews smiles as she looks at him. "Scarlett came out to see your play. Isn't that sweet?"

Eric nods, but doesn't say anything as he stares at Letty. He never knows what to say when they're anywhere near each other anymore.

"Hey, Scarlett?" A new voice gains everyone's attention, and they turn to see a young boy walking over to them with a man around Letty's age following right behind him. "Can I have some money for the vending machine?"

"Yeah." She nods as she pulls some cash out of the front pocket of her jeans.

"I tried to offer to buy him a drink, but he said that I'm not family. I'm just the chauffeur." Mason tells her, and she tries not to laugh at her nephew.

"Oliver, that's rude. You have your dad's people skills, you know that?" She asks, and the younger boy nods. "Where'd your mom go?"

"Dad called, he's on break at Reggie's." He makes a face. "They're being gross again." He tells her, and she chuckles.

"And by gross, he means they're smiling and acting like love-sick teenagers." Letty explains as she gives him enough for the vending machine. "Just something to drink, alright? We're gonna stop by and make Uncle Reggie cook us dinner."

"So, I have to see them both being gross?" Oliver questions, and the older girl tries to hide the amusement on her face.

"A lot of kids would love to see their parents act the way that yours have been."

"Crazy ones." He shakes his head. "Thanks." He raises the money before walking away from them so he can go get a soda from the machine outside the theater.

"Can you tell that he's related to me and Alec?" Letty asks as she looks at Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.

"How old is he?" The older woman asks.

"He just turned eleven."

"That's normal for a boy his age." She tells her. "But I'm glad to hear that your brother's doing so well."

"Are you kidding? He's got his girlfriend again, and his son back. He's never been happier." Letty says. "And there's nothing to ruin it this time... He's like a whole different person."

"That's good." She says, and the teenager nods. "So, who's your friend?"

"Oh, sorry." The brunette says as she motions to him. "This is Mason. He graduated the same year that I did. I just found out that he's friends with Reggie. He's staying in town for awhile."

"That's nice." She smiles as she looks at him.

"Mason, these are Eric's parents."

"It's nice to meet you both." He says as he reaches out and shakes their hands. "And it's good to see you again, Eric. You were great in the play." Mason says, and he simply nods.

"Hello, Mason." Their former teacher gets his attention, and he smiles as he looks at him.

"Mr. Feeny. Hi, how are you?"

"I'm doing well." He smiles. "How are you? What have you been up to this year?"

"Oh, uh... Just a little traveling." Mason tells him, glancing at Letty. "I helped my dad move out to a cabin in Colorado, and then I just started driving."

"You're not going to college?" The older man asks, and he shakes his head.

"No, uh... School wasn't really for me. I like being on the road." He says. "I work odd jobs here and there, but, uh... I just travel, meet new people every chance I get."

"Alright, well, uh... We should go." Letty says, wanting to change the subject. She can tell he's struggling a bit, as he can't be entirely honest about what he's been doing since graduation. "I have to guide Emma to the car while she talks to Alec, take their kid to get something to eat, and then go home and keep packing up my room."

"Packing?" Mr. Matthews asks, and she nods.

"Yeah. Well, like I said, it's crowded at the boys' house now. So, I'm moving back in with Hope and Jason, that way Alec and Emma can take my room — which is the biggest in the house. And then Alec's current room will become Oliver's."

"Well, let us know if there's anything we can do to help." He tells her. "You're still family, kid." He says, and she offers him a small smile; he and his wife don't miss the sadness behind it.

"I think I'm alright. I have Mason and the rest of the boys helping me, but thank you." She says, and then looks at his son. "You were amazing in the plays, Eric." She reaches out to touch his arm, but stops and pulls her hand back when she remembers his reaction whenever she's tried to touch him since he found her father's journal.

"Plays?" Eric echoes once she's gone. "She came to both?"

"You seem surprised." Mr. Feeny says, and he looks at him.

Across town, the four of them make their way into Reggie's, and then Oliver immediately runs over to Alec. Emma smiles as she watches their son's excitement at getting to be with his dad again, and she walks over to them as well.

Letty, on the other hand, walks over to the bar where Reggie and Lina are arguing. The brunette makes a disgusted face before she turns around and walks away from her older brother, heading back into the kitchen where she's supposed to be working tonight.

"Hey, what's up, children?" He asks when he sees his best friend's younger sister and the boy who's following not far behind her.

"You wanna cook me dinner?" Letty smiles, and he shakes his head.

"Not really, no."

"Yeah, well, too bad. You and Lina make the best food, and you just pissed her off. That means she's taking her break early, and you are cooking for me, Mason, Emma, and Ollie."

"You brought them by, huh?" He asks, and she nods. "And you four saw that play at the college tonight?"

She sighs as she shakes her head at him. "Don't start with me." She says as Mason looks around awkwardly.

"He broke up with you, Scar. Why are you torturing yourself?"

"Shut up, and make my food."

"You deserve better."

"Hey, Reginald — when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

"Call me that again, and I will kick your little misfit ass." He tells her, and she raises her eyebrows, not at all intimidated by the threat.

"That'll be fun, let's go." She motions for him to walk around the bar. "I wanna see you try."

"I'm older, more experienced."

"You're a putz."

"Go sit down, you little shit." He tells her. "Food will be out soon." He shakes his head as he watches her turn around and walk away from him.

—

Letty's at a booth in the back corner of Chubbie's, staring down at the local newspaper in front of her. Her finger's tapping the table as she grinds her teeth, and the brunette jumps when someone sits down across from her.

"I didn't mean to scare you." Eric says, and her eyebrows furrow as she glances in the direction of the exit before looking back at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I still eat here sometimes."

"No. Sitting at my table." She says, and he nods as he looks down.

"I didn't say anything to you when you were at the play, and that was rude." He lifts his gaze to meet hers. "I wanted to thank you for coming to see me." He says, and she scoffs as she leans back in her seat.

"You're welcome, Eric." She shakes her head as she looks back at the newspaper.

His eyebrows furrow as he studies her face. "Are you mad at me?"

"What for?" She asks as her gaze returns to his. "For breaking up with me? For believing you when you said that you were never gonna leave me? No. I'm mad at me for being stupid enough to believe you when you made that promise while we were in Boston."

"I didn't know you like I thought I did when I made that promise."

"So, I'm not who you thought I was?" She questions. "I try so hard to be a good person. I have sacrificed everything to give Shawn a better life than I had. I'm raising Faith and Joy. I help Cory and Topanga. I do everything I can for everyone that I love. Is none of that who you thought I was? Or does none of that mean anything anymore because of who my father was?"

"You told me that you hunted too." He says, and she nods.

"For one Summer." Letty takes a deep breath. "You don't care about the credit card scams or the fact that I hustle people in pool to scrape together a little extra cash. You barely blinked when I was gonna take a baseball bat to Harley's car. You can deal with the illegal things...but you can't accept me as someone who puts down the things that go bump in the night. I don't get it."

"The girl that I loved wasn't someone who's capable of killing anything." He argues, whispering as he leans forward.

"Yes, she was." The brunette shakes her head. "She just protected you from that truth... I never lied to you about who I was, I just didn't tell you that monsters were real."

"You didn't let me see who you really are."

"You wanna know who I really am, Eric?" She asks. "I'm a teenager who's terrified for her future in all regards. I'm a friend, a sister, an aunt, a mother, a student, an ex-girlfriend. You wanna know what I'm not? I'm not a murderer, and I'm not a hunter... I'm just the girl who gets abandoned by everyone who claims to love her."

"I didn't abandon—"

"Really? Because I felt pretty damn abandoned while I was spending Valentine's Day on my bathroom floor terrified to look at the results on the pregnancy test." She hisses, leaning forward in her seat. "I sure as hell didn't see you sitting next to me."

His body goes rigid as he stares at her.

"You can calm down. I was never pregnant." Letty says as she straightens up. "The doctor said that the only reason I was so late for my period was because the stress that I was under was screwing with my hormones."

Eric's shoulders sag as he looks up at the ceiling.

"You never even let me explain. You didn't let me tell you anything." She looks away from him, her glassy eyes moving past him as she speaks. "You leveled our entire relationship without hearing any of the details... I don't even wanna know what version of me you've painted in your mind."

He swallows the lump in his throat as he looks at her. "If I had known that you thought there was a possibility that you were pregnant, I would've been with you when you took the test." He tells her.

"It took me hours before I could even look at it." She admits. "I wouldn't have wanted you there, knowing that you would've been afraid that you were stuck with me forever."

"That's not... I don't know what you want me to say." He says, and her gaze returns to him.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can say." Letty tells him, then she scoffs again. "I think the worst part of this whole thing...is that I am so angry all the time, and I want to blow off some of this steam. No matter how much I talk to Hope and Jason, or bicker and fight with Reggie, or how many runs I go on with Lina... I want to find something to kill. Because at least then you'd be right, and I'd know that this break up was the right thing.

"Because I worked my ass off to not be the person that you think you see when you look at me now. And I did it for me, so that I could have a certain life... A life with you, where we're married and we have kids and a dog. I wanted to have that perfect apple pie life with the white picket fence and everything. And now that's gone, and I want it to be for a reason that's real." She laughs humorlessly as she shakes her head. "I want to find this werewolf and I want to kill it. A silver bullet to the heart, and these three victims are its last."

Eric looks at the newspaper that she flicks toward him. There's a story about three possible victims of a serial killer on the loose: one dead in Philly last month, two this past week. All three people were found missing their hearts and they appeared to be mauled, but the M.E. found human DNA on the first and last victim. They think it belongs to the same person — the killer.

"But if I did that, I'd be letting the twins down. I'd piss off my brother and all of my friends. Shawn wouldn't know it, but I'd be letting him down too..." Letty wipes a tear from her cheek as she looks at the newspaper. "And I'd be letting myself down. Because then everything that I've done to build a normal life for myself will have been for nothing... So, I'll let Mason call one of his contacts, and they'll kill the son of a bitch for me."

He clears his throat as he flips the newspaper over, not wanting to look at the pictures of the three victims anymore. "I still don't know what I'm supposed to say here." He tells her, and her dark eyes meet his lighter ones.

"Tell me how to let you go like you've let me go. Tell me how to move on with my life like you have." She begs. "Tell me how to stop feeling like this every second of every day. Tell me how to make the pain go away whenever I look at you."

"I..."

"Scarlett?" A male voice gets their attention, and she looks down at the table as Eric looks up to find Mason walking over to their table. "Hey, are you ready to go? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." The brunette clears her throat as she gets to her feet, grabbing the newspaper from the table. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."