Chapter 21
Will woke up before his eyes opened.
It started in his body.
A tightness in his chest that stole his breath. A dull ache behind his eyes. His throat was dry, his tongue heavy, like he hadn't had water in days, even though he knew he had.
He lay still for a second, breathing slowly through his nose, letting himself feel where he was before he moved.
Bed beneath him.
Sheets twisted around his legs.
Air conditioning humming faintly in the room.
Hotel.
Tennessee.
Safe.
The word didn't land the way it should have.
He opened his eyes.
The ceiling overhead grounded him. It was plain, unfamiliar, and harmless.
Still, his gaze moved immediately.
Door.
Window.
Bathroom.
Exit points.
He didn't think about doing it.
His mind just started cataloging.
His hand came up, dragging across his face, fingers pressing into his eyes until he saw spots.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath. "That hurts."
His voice sounded rough.
He pushed himself up slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows braced on his knees.
His ribs protested.
They were not broken, but they felt tight and sore.
He breathed through it.
In.
Out.
Again.
The room didn't change.
Nothing moved.
Nothing shifted.
And yet...
He didn't feel settled.
His eyes flicked to the door again.
Standing up, he crossed the room and checked the lock.
Turned it once.
Then again.
Then stepped back.
Waited.
He exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair before turning back toward the room.
Something felt... off.
His gaze moved across the space more carefully now.
The chair.
The nightstand.
The edge of the bed.
Then he noticed that on the other side of the room, something was missing.
His brow furrowed slightly.
There had been something there.
Something that wasn't there anymore.
He stepped closer.
A bag.
Gone.
Shoes.
Gone.
The charger that had been plugged into the wall for days.
Gone.
He stopped.
The realization hit all at once.
"She left."
The words came out quietly.
Flat.
Emily had left with Parker last night and never returned.
His jaw tightened slightly.
He glanced toward the door.
He let out a slow breath, dragging a hand over the back of his neck.
"I didn't even notice."
That sat heavily on his heart.
Not because she left.
Because he hadn't even noticed.
He hadn't reached for her.
Hadn't called her name.
Hadn't even realized she was gone until now.
His chest tightened.
They had been together for so long, he had grown so used to her in his space that her absence should have been the first thing on his mind.
She had been his rock for so long, and he had not even cared last night that she never came back.
She deserved so much better.
He leaned back against the wall, staring at the empty space where her things had been.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Not to the room.
To her.
Wherever she was.
Because she had felt it.
Before he did.
She had known something had shifted.
And he had been sitting there...
Staring at the floor.
His only thoughts had been of his memories returning and Aria.
The name didn't drift in.
It hit.
Hard.
His body reacted before his mind caught up.
He pushed off the wall, pacing once across the room, then back again.
His hands ran through his hair, gripping at the back of his neck.
"I want her to come back."
The words came out before he could stop them.
He froze.
His own voice echoes back at him.
"Aria, where the hell are you, baby girl?"
His chest rose sharply.
And then...
"I still love her," he admitted out loud.
Didn't try to analyze where it came from.
It was just.. true.
Sitting there in his chest as it had always been.
He swallowed hard.
Then shook his head slightly, like that might clear it.
"Then why?" His voice broke off. His hands dropped to his sides.
"Why is she running from me?"
Because that is exactly what she had done.
He knew that now.
Not just leaving the room.
Leaving him.
Putting distance between them, like staying, would've done more damage than walking away.
His jaw tightened.
"This doesn't make any sense. I know I need to be figuring my shit out, and all I can think about is Aria."
His hand pressed against his chest again.
He loved her.
He knew that.
So why did it feel like he was standing in the middle of something he didn't understand?
Why did it feel like he had done something wrong?
His thoughts shifted again.
Emily.
The name came quieter.
But it stayed, and it caused his breath to catch in his lungs.
He closed his eyes for a second.
And immediately he saw her.
Not in fragments.
Not like the flashes from before.
Clear.
Steady.
Standing beside him.
Laughing softly at something he had said.
Looking at him like she trusted him completely.
His chest tightened again.
Different this time.
Not sharp.
Not overwhelming.
But real.
"I love her too."
The words came slower.
He opened his eyes.
Staring at the floor.
"I do."
He knew he did.
Because he felt it.
But his jaw clenched. "It's not the same."
That truth sat there.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Aria felt like something inside him was waking up.
Like something pulling him forward, whether he understood it or not.
Emily felt like something he had built to protect himself with.
Something steady.
Something good.
Something he didn't want to break.
His hand dragged down his face again.
"Jesus..."
He turned, pacing again.
Running both hands through his hair.
"I don't even know what any of this means other than I am so totally fucked."
He stopped near the window, staring out at nothing.
"I don't know who I am in any of this."
That was the part that kept circling back.
Not which woman.
Not which life.
Him.
Who he was supposed to be inside all of it.
He looked at his reflection faintly in the glass.
Disheveled.
Tired.
Eyes too sharp for someone who hadn't slept.
"You're not Chase," he muttered.
Then.
"You are Will."
His jaw tightened.
"No, I am both. And neither at the same time."
He turned away from the window abruptly.
Because standing still suddenly felt like the worst thing he could do.
His chest tightened again.
Not panic.
But pressure.
Movement.
He needed something to do.
His gaze moved to the door.
And that pull came back.
Stronger now.
Not a thought.
Not a decision.
A need.
Aria.
Not because it was simple.
Not because it made sense.
Because when he was near her.
Something inside him stopped fighting so hard.
She didn't fix it.
Didn't erase anything.
She did, however, make things seem clear.
He grabbed his keys off the table without thinking.
His wallet.
His phone.
Movements quick.
Unplanned.
But certain.
"I need to find her."
The words came out steady this time.
Grounded.
He didn't know what he was going to say.
Didn't know what he was going to do.
Didn't even know if she would want to see him.
But staying here, doing nothing, that did not seem like the smart thing to do either.
He moved toward the door.
Hand on the handle.
Paused for just a second.
Emily.
The thought flickered again.
Guilt followed.
Sharp.
Immediate.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Then he opened the door.
Stepped out.
And didn't look back.
Because for the first time since all of this started.
He didn't know who he was.
But he knew exactly where he needed to go.