Summer never has visitors. She scrambles out of her chair and pulls the door open, blinking up at Toni. “Toni?” Immediately she can tell something’s wrong. “What is it? Come in, come in.” She gestures him in, shuts the door. “What’s going on?”
Summer glances over it quickly; it seems official enough, though she doesn’t have a lot to base that on. She puts it on the table by the door and wraps her arms around Toni. “Of course you can stay here.” She squeezes him once, tightly, and takes the bag away, putting it in the first empty space nearby. “Come on,” she says, and pulls him over to the loveseat. “Do you want to talk about it, or not think about it?”
Toni shrugs, leaning against her to wrap his arms around her tiny waist. “I don’t know what to think,” he murmurs, tucking his face in the crook of her neck. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath, feeling his heart constrict again. “Summer, why do you think they didn’t want me?” He’s not crying, but his throat is scratchy and he’s just so done with all of this.
She strokes his hair. “Don’t say that. Don’t say that, Toni, you don’t know that. Sometimes you can’t have what you want; things just don’t allow for it. I’m sure, I’m so sure, you were wanted, you were loved, just like you are now.” She cups his cheek, smoothing away the tearmarks.