Reclaimed Hearts: A second chance, forced proximity romance

Navigating Emotions

The wet bike ride back gave me time to think. Which was quickly becoming dangerous.

My mind flip-flopped the entire ride to the Bennett’s.

Maybe I should pack up and head home. I clearly didn’t belong on Bayside Boulevard.

Declan definitely flirted with me the day I crashed into him.

But now he acted as if he didn’t really care?

Where did that leave me?

No Declan. No Reid. At least, not in that way.

If Reid was acting like everything was totally normal between us, then I should be able to do so, too. Reid and I had been great friends before we dated. The first summer he came to the island, he was like a lost puppy, trying to find a place to fit in. And he fit in great with our group.

His second summer with us we started dating, but it was casual. The friendship took precedence. We kept in touch often when he was at home and not on the island.

This past year? No communication at all. Outside of my birthday message to him, that was. The friendship dissolved the moment we broke up.

By the time I made it to the house, the sun had begun to set. Tonight wouldn’t be the night to make any big decision about leaving. It would have to wait until the morning.

All I wanted right now was to get out of my wet clothes and into a warm pair of pajamas.

I didn’t bother parking my bike in any sort of manner. As soon as I was close enough to the front door, I let it fall into the grass and took off across the front porch.

Slowly, I turned the knob, cringing when I heard the little click. I wasn’t sure if Reid was home or not, but if he was, I didn’t want him seeing me like this.

I closed the door behind me as softly as possible and waited. If the dogs were inside, they would surely come running any second. After a moment without noise, I started making my way across the kitchen.

Except my wet feet and the tile floors didn’t mix. Not five steps in, I slipped, landing on the cold, hard tile with a thud.

It was the second time I had ended up on my back reconsidering my life’s choices lately. I had to say, I wasn’t a fan. I would much rather be upright and not in pain.

The fall had been so hard, it knocked the breath out of my lungs momentarily. Panic started to set in until I was able to take a breath. Once that happened, my brain realized just how much pain I was in. My head didn’t hit hard, but it still ached, as well as my back and hips.

“Owww,” I moaned, then planted my hands on either side of me in order to lift myself into a sitting position.

That didn’t work either. All the water from my wet clothes had pooled under me, which sent me slipping once again.

“Marlowe?” The kitchen light flickered on, making me squint. Of course Reid would come in now. That seemed to be the theme for our summer—Reid coming in to save the day while I looked completely horrible. It wasn’t so much a damsel in distress as it was a Marlowe in a mess.

“What happened? Why are you on the floor?” he said, rushing in and crouching beside me. “Are you okay?”

The worried look on his face killed me. Even though we weren’t on the greatest of terms right now, especially since he knew exactly where I was coming back from, he still cared.

I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off. “Why are you all wet?”

My face flushed. Once again, I was in a position I didn’t want to be in. First, in a towel. Now, soaking wet, in pain, on the floor.

“Stay there,” Reid demanded. He jumped to his feet and ran out of the room.

This time, I was able to push myself up without slipping again. I scooted down a ways to avoid the growing puddle on the floor, and gently got to my feet.

I had just let out a large sigh when Reid returned, towel in hand.

“Here,” he said, draping it over my shoulders and wrapping me up. “Now, what happened?”

But I just shook my head. As much as I was sure he cared, he didn’t need to know the whole story. Plus, I really wanted to get out of these wet clothes. Between them and the air conditioning, I was freezing.

He stepped forward, as if he were to wrap me up in a hug to warm me. But at the last second, he dropped his arms and kept his distance.

“What happened?” he repeated. He stared at me, trying to decipher if I were going to lie or not.

I decided to tell the truth. “Nothing. I fell in the pool.”

Reid’s upper lip curled. “And no one there happened to have a towel?”

I bit my lip, trying to figure out how to get out of this without saying too much. I knew he was already mad about me going in the first place. He thought he had the right to be, but he didn’t.

“It’s a long story,” is all I could come up with.

“That’s how it’s going to be?” he said, as if he had read my mind. I blinked, thrown off for a second.

“How what’s going to be?”

He turned and leaned his back against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “You. And him,” he said, as if it disgusted him to even consider talking about Declan. “Do the girls know about him? The guys? I can’t imagine Caleb is too happy about it.”

I stared at him in shock. Emma knew about Declan, but only the crash and him showing up at the cafe. I hadn’t told her about the Bayside party yet.

Reid huffed, seemingly getting my answer from my lack of response. He dropped his hands and pushed away from the counter.

“Do you even know who Declan Storms really is? What kind of guy he’s like?” His voice rose by the word, almost yelling.

I blinked. Blinked again. Did he really think I was that clueless? I was the one who went to school with Declan. Lived on the island year-round with him. Somehow, I had to think I knew Declan better than Reid, even if I barely knew Declan well at all.

“Sure. He’s the kind of guy who came to have dinner with me on my birthday,” I shot back, tightening the towel around my shoulders. My teeth clattered together and goosebumps broke out all along my skin.

Reid exhaled slowly and calmly, almost too calmly. He kept his gaze trained on me, his chin tilted down, his onyx eyes flashing with fire.

“If you only knew,” he started, but I didn’t let him finish.

“Knew what, Reid? You can’t go around telling me to stay away from people just because you don’t like them! You don’t have the right to tell me who I can and can’t hang out with anymore, remember?”

“I’m still your friend, Marlowe!” he bellowed. He was close to exploding, but I didn’t even care.

“Friend? How can you call yourself a friend if you never called? Never texted? Never bothered to check in? With any of us?” I didn’t mean to throw my friends into the mix, but it happened. It was true, and he knew it.

The second he left Covington Cove last summer, he cut off all communication. Obviously it was the hardest on me, but the others felt the loss too. If he really wanted to call himself our friend, then he wouldn’t have done that.

The fire subsided slightly at that blow. I only half regretted saying it, though.

“Are you… mad?” I asked, wondering just what was going on with him.

He shook his head, his curls flying every which way. “No, Marlowe. I’m not mad. I just can’t believe you, of all people, would be with him.”

“What?”

Reid threw his hands in the air. “With him! Him, Marlowe! Of all people, you’re with him?”

“I’m not with anyone, Reid!”

His comments took me by surprise. They were blunt, harsh, and unlike Reid.

But I stood by my answer. I wasn’t currently looking for a relationship with anyone. I wasn’t relationship material, it turned out.

The further I kept myself from people, the better. I was the girl who people liked, but couldn’t love. I had been shown that again and again, first with my parents, then Grace, and Reid. Everyone I got close to ended up leaving, so keeping my distance was for the best.

At least, better for my heart.

So no, I didn’t consider myself to be ‘with’ Declan. But a party was a party, and I wouldn’t deny myself of having fun.

“I’m going to get into dry clothes,” I said while Reid still stared at me in disbelief.

There were a million more things I wanted to say, but none of them would be right. I didn’t even know what was right anymore.

Reid didn’t have any say over who I hung out with. Who I dated.

So why did he care all of the sudden?

And why was my heart pulling toward him, just knowing that he did care?