“He wrote this for you,” she said quietly. “He asked me not to read it aloud.
He said it was yours.”
I hesitated before picking it up. My fingers felt clumsy as I unfolded the page.
Ted leaned in slightly, his eyes scanning the shape of Rick’s handwriting like it was a language he used to speak.
“Ray and Ted,
If you’re reading this, then I didn’t make it to our pact. But I still showed up, I guess.
I carried you with me everywhere I went, even when I didn’t know where I fit.
You were the best part of my youth, even when I felt like a footnote in it.
I remembered the lake, the music, the jokes, and the way it felt to belong to something once.
I just didn’t know if I belonged to it still. Thank you for loving me in the ways you knew how.
You were the brothers I always wanted.
I loved you both. I always did.
— Rick.”
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