Chapter Ten #2
“I promise. My parents come back from vacation in a few days. I’m going to talk to them about staying here and then tell him.”
He shook his head. “That’s too much time for something to happen. Or for him to figure out that you’re planning on leaving. No. I don’t like it. Let’s figure something else out. How about we go pack all your stuff right now while he’s at work, and you can come stay with me? Tonight.”
“James, I’m staying here while my parents are out of town. That was already the plan; I’m house-sitting. When they come home, I’ll explain everything. Then, hopefully, it will all be over. All that’s left to do is tell him. I don’t plan on ever sleeping in his house again.”
“Good. When will they come back?”
“Tomorrow night.”
He nodded. “Okay. That will give me a few days to get everything sorted out on my end in case your parents have an issue with you staying here.”
“I’m sure they will be fine. I just need to explain everything to them. I need to make my father understand that David is a terrible person, that I’ve never loved him, and that I want to be with you.”
“I don’t want you to break up with him by yourself. I don’t want him to rage out and hurt you.”
“I’ve been thinking about telling him at the diner. That way, we’d be in public.” I paused for a moment, nervous to suggest what I’d been fantasizing about. “I’ve also thought about just disappearing. Leaving it all behind and starting fresh somewhere else.”
“With me, right?” There was a playfulness to his voice.
“Yes! Of course!”
His arms tightened around me again and as he held me tight against his chest. “Avery, I’ll do whatever you want.
I’ll follow you anywhere, but I don’t think running from our problems is the best solution.
I just got out of prison, so I’m rebuilding.
I’m lucky to have landed the job I did so quick, but that was special circumstances.
It’s not going to be that easy to find work somewhere else.
I…” He paused, turning his head to let out a frustrated breath.
“I don’t have a lot in my pocket at the moment, and it’s gonna take some time for me to get us stable.
I want to do things right. I feel like we’ve already lost so many years, and I can’t stand the thought of us having to look over our shoulders all the time. ”
“I want that, too,” I told him.
I could feel some of the tension leaving his body as his muscles relaxed. He leaned down a bit and rested his forehead on mine. “Good. So, you’ll spend tonight and tomorrow here and then talk to your parents?”
“Yeah. I’m nervous, but I don’t think they will actually leave me out on the street. Hopefully not, anyway.”
“I won’t let that happen. It might be a struggle, but we'll figure it out if it comes to that.”
“I’m so sorry I’ve gotten us into this mess, James. I was so stupid. I never loved him, and most of the time I didn’t even like him. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” My eyes began to sting, knowing how he must feel. Knowing that I didn’t wait for him like I promised.
“Things happen, Avery. Life is messy and difficult to navigate. I pretty much hated every second of those four years, but I wouldn’t change it.”
“Why?”
“Because then I wouldn’t have gotten a random letter from a cute boy who turned into the love of my life.”
“I wish I had been stronger,” I mumbled. “I wish I would have had enough faith to know that one day I’d be in your arms. I didn’t… I didn’t think you’d actually want me once you got out. There are so many other guys in the world. I thought maybe I was just filling your time until you were free.”
We stood there in silence for what seemed like an eternity until he apologized, “I’m so sorry, Avery.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” I answered almost immediately.
I heard him sigh through the fabric of the mask.
“I don’t remember everything we talked about over the past four years, but I’ve obviously written something to make you feel that way.
So let me be perfectly clear. I want you, Avery.
More than I can even express. You saved my life, literally.
There are so many choices I made, good choices, because I was laser-focused on getting out and getting to you.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but every letter you sent to me made me a better man.
Paragraph by paragraph, you filled me with hope.
You gave me purpose when the rest of the world had thrown me away.
I’ll love you for the rest of my life for that.
Whatever I wrote to make you doubt that, was a mistake. ”
I couldn’t find the words to explain that he’d never said anything to make me feel that way. It was nothing more than my own lack of self-confidence.
“I love you too, James.”
Being pressed up against him, I startled a bit as his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, but he ignored it. “You don’t know how many times I’ve dreamt of this exact moment. Although, it does look a little different than I had originally imagined,” he chuckled.
“I—”
I stopped as his phone began to ring again, the soft buzz echoing in the quiet. With a disgruntled “hmph,” James took a small step back, separating us enough to pull the phone out of his pants.
“Hey, Jenna, is everything okay?”