And there she is.
Skye.
She's windblown and flushed, cheeks pink from the cool night air.Her chest is rising and falling fast, like she ran here, like she couldn't get here fast enough.Her eyes are slightly red as if she might have been crying, or just extremely tired.
Her eyes take me in from head to toe.The loose rumpled shirt.The glass still clutched in my hand.The worn look, I know I'm wearing like a badge of defeat.
"What did the school say?"She asks immediately, pushing her way past me like I might slam the door shut otherwise.
I step aside, but the last thing I want is for her to see me like this.
"Skye, you shouldn't be here."
She turns to face me, arms crossed, jaw tight."Don't.Don't push me away.My dad called me today.Pulled me into some kind of ambush meeting.He saw the photo, and he knew everything.He said you were in a meeting with the Board?"
I shut the door quietly, my back still to her.My fingers tighten around the glass.
"I'm sorry you had to deal with that."
"I'm not," she says."Because it gave me the chance to say everything I needed to say.To him."
Turning, I finally face her.There's fire in her eyes, determination, and maybe guilt.
"I just need to know you're okay," she says, stepping closer."You don't have to fix it or say the right thing.Just...let me see you."
My voice is hoarse when I speak."I can handle the consequences.I can take whatever they throw at me.But I need to know...am I worth the risk to you?"
Her eyes soften instantly.She crosses the space between us and lays a hand on my chest.
"Of course you are.You've always been worth it.Even before I realized what this was."
I drop the glass on the table behind me and wrap her in my arms.She folds into me without hesitation, her cheek pressed against my chest like she belongs there.And she does.God, she does.
Burying my face in her hair, I breathe her in.That faint vanilla scent.The steadiness she gives me, even when I'm falling apart.
She tilts her face up to mine, and I see tears brimming in her eyes.
"I hate that you're going through this because of me.That people are judging you for loving me.It's not fair."
"Life rarely is.But I don't regret it.Not a single second of it."
She pulls back just enough to cup my face, thumbs brushing along the scruff of my jaw."Even if they fire you?Even if your name gets dragged through the mud?"
"Yes," I say without hesitation."Even then."
She leans in and kisses me, slow and soft, like she's trying to imprint her love on my skin.
When she pulls away, her forehead rests against mine.We're both quiet for a beat, caught in the stillness.
"I love you," she says softly."And I'm sorry.For all of it.For putting you in this position.For not being more careful."
"You don't have to be sorry for loving me," I whisper.
She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, her gaze is steady."Then let me stay tonight.Let me be here for you."
I search her face.She means it.All of it.
And I realize, for the first time in hours, I'm not alone in this.
