I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Neo breaks it. “You both care, Sam,” he says. “You just have to show
it.”
An idea comes to mind then and just as my pen begins its dance
across the page, Hee limps over to the infamously sensitive step
ladder. She nudges it with her paw, meowing for attention. It folds,
collapsing instantly. Neo falls backward, arms flailing. C catches him,
both of them stumbling onto the floor.
Sony and I laugh as smoke rises from Neo’s head.
“Not one word,” he grumbles, pink shading his face as C hugs him
tight and chuckles into his neck.
Neo recovers quick, proud of his work with the string lights. C plugs
them into the extension cord and the ceiling comes alive. All I can
think of, Hikari, is about the smile that’ll light your lips when you see
them.
“Is it okay?” I ask. Neo reads over the letter I wrote you. He hums
every few lines, mumbling critiques to himself.
“You suck at structuring,” he finally says, tossing it onto the box.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Doesn’t matter. It gets the point across. Even if it’s boring,” he says.
“You really felt that way this whole time?”
I nod.
He rubs the back of his neck, patting the butterfly rash on his face
with a wet cloth, and nudges me with his fist. “Then it’s a good thing
we’re here to make you go through with this.”
“Sam! Sam!” C yells my name from outside the room, practically
tripping over himself as he opens the door. “She’s not in her room,”
he pants, elbows