Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

we’re all traveling on.”
Alan shook his head. “You want to stay here? Fine. I don’t give a shit
what you do. If that old bastard over there wants to do the same? Good for
him. I don’t want this. I didn’t ask for—”
“None of us did,” Wallace snapped. “You think this is easy for any of us?
You died. I can’t even begin to imagine how it must have felt for you. But that
doesn’t mean you get to act like an asshole about it.” Oh, the hypocrisy.
Wallace cringed inwardly, remembering all he’d said and done to Hugo, to
Mei, to Nelson, three people who were only trying to help him. He owed
them everything, and he’d flung it back in their faces, all because he was
afraid. Where did he get off scolding Alan when he’d acted the same way?
He hated the comparison, but it was the truth, wasn’t it? “You want to go?
Then go. See how far you get. Maybe you’ll get farther than I did, but it won’t
matter. You’ll turn into nothing. You’ll be nothing. Is that what you really
want?” Alan started to speak, but Wallace overrode him. “I don’t think it is.
And deep down, I think you know that. For once in your life, use your damn
head.”
And with that, he spun on his heel and stalked away, leaving Alan behind.
“That went well,” Nelson murmured when Wallace put his hand on the
back of his chair.
Wallace sighed. “I don’t know if I had the right to say any of that to him.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just … he’s me.” The words were easier than he expected. “In a way I
don’t like to look at because it shows me for who I was. Hell, who I am. I
don’t know. It’s all jumbled up in my head. How can I tell him he can’t be an
asshole about all of this when I acted exactly the same way?”
“You did,” Nelson said evenly.
“I shouldn’t have done that,” Wallace whispered, ashamed. “I was scared,
more than I’d ever been in my life, but that doesn’t excuse the way I treated
all of you.” He shook his head. “Mei said something the first night she
brought me here. That I needed to think about what I was saying. I didn’t do
that.” Humbled, he looked at Nelson. “I’m sorry for how I treated you. I don’t
expect you to forgive me, but regardless, it’s something I needed to say.”
Nelson watched him for a long moment. Though Wallace wanted to look
away, he didn’t. Eventually, Nelson said, “Okay. I appreciate that. Mei’s