Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

“You don’t know me.” It wasn’t mean, just a statement of fact. Hugo held
up his hand before Wallace could retort. “I know how that sounds. I’m not
trying to be flippant, I promise.” He lowered his hand, looking down at the
tray. The tea had cooled, the liquid dark. “It’s easy to let yourself spiral and
fall. And I was falling for a long time. I tried not to, but I did. Things weren’t
always like this. There wasn’t always a Charon’s Crossing. I wasn’t always
a ferryman. I made mistakes.”
“You did?” Wallace didn’t know why he sounded so incredulous.
Hugo blinked slowly. “Of course I did. Regardless of what else I am or
what I do, I’m still human. I make mistakes all the time. The woman I was
sitting with, Nancy, she’s…” He shook his head. “I try to be the best ferryman
I can be because I know people are counting on me. I think that’s all anyone
can ask for. I’ve learned from my mistakes, even as I continue to make new
ones.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel any better,” Wallace said.
Hugo laughed. “I can’t promise I won’t screw up somehow, but I want to
make sure your time here is restful and calm. You deserve it, after
everything.”
Wallace looked away. “You don’t know me.”
“I don’t,” Hugo said. “But that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing now.
I’m learning about you so I know how best to help you.”
“I don’t want your help.”
“I know you think that,” Hugo said. “But I hope you realize that you don’t
have to go this alone. Can I ask you a question?”
“If I say no?”
“Then you say no. I’m not going to pressure you into something you’re not
ready for.”
He didn’t know what else he had to lose. “Fine. Ask your question.”
“Did you have a good life?”
Wallace jerked his head up. “What?”
“Your life,” Hugo said. “Was it good?”
“Define good.”
“You’re hedging.”
He was, and he hated how easily Hugo saw that. It made his skin itch. He
felt on display, showing things he didn’t think he’d ever be ready to show. He
wasn’t obfuscating; he genuinely had never thought about it that way. He