She shook her head but didn’t speak.
I nodded; it hurt, but I knew that I had ruined our good memories there with my actions.
A few shaky scribbles later, my name next to colorful tabs, and I had agreed to permanently break part of my own heart to give her back her own.
Epilogue-Melanie
5 months later
The settlement conference with Ben was the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of a new one. After months of chaos and uncertainty, I had finally been able to start healing from all the damage he had inflicted.
When I returned home from the detention center, Griffin had announced his ‘intentions’ to my family and asked me out on a date. A mortifying memory that I was sure would haunt me for the rest of my life.
My parents, Griffin, Kyle, and Lily were all waiting for me when I got back to the rental after the meeting.
“Now that you are free, I have something I need to say.” Griffin had wrapped me in a hug after I told my family that Ben had finally done the right thing and agreed to set me free. Griffin placed his lips gently on the top of my head, and I looked up at him, confused by the seriousness in his voice. Kyle and Lily had been too busy bickering about something ridiculous to hear his quiet words, butmy parents had and were both smiling softly. Which only added to my confusion.
“Kyle, I told you that I would let you know before I pursued your sister.” Griffin said my brother’s name loud enough to pull his attention from Lily. Kyle’s eyes narrowed at his words while my jaw dropped.
“You did,” Kyle confirmed through gritted teeth. The smirk that had been on Lily’s face dropped into a scowl at Kyle's defensive tone. She turned her angry eyes on him and smacked his arm at the same time.
“What was that for?” he sputtered, his narrowed eyes going wide as he spun to look at the angry little woman beside him. Lily weighed a whopping 120lbs and stood at roughly 5’3, with short, wavy, black hair, sparkling honey-colored eyes, flawless mocha skin, and bold facial features. What she lacked in size, she made up for in personality.
“Don’t take that tone with me and don’t give Griffin a hard time!” she hissed at him, and I snorted.
“As I was saying,” Griffin interrupted with an exasperated sigh, “I promised that I would let you know when I decided to pursue your sister. Consider this your notice.” Griffin turned back to me and wrapped his hands around mine. “I know that things are still messy for you, and I don’t want to rush anything, but I need you to knowthat I’ve always seen you, not only how beautiful you are, but how talented, kind, and intelligent you are. I’ve spent all these years keeping my feelings to myself because you were taken, but I would be a fool if I kept them to myself now and gave someone else time to swoop in. Melanie, would you go on a date with me? Would you allow me the honor of showing you how you deserve to be treated?”
“I’m pregnant…” I said and took a small step back.
His eyes softened, and he smiled.
“I’m aware.”
“I’m going to get fat.” The words slipped out without any permission from my brain, and my eyes widened in horror. Lily groaned loudly and snagged my arm to drag me into the other room as she stomped past me.
“One minute.” She yelled over her shoulder. Once we were in the other room, she spun around and grabbed my shoulders. She gave me a tiny shake as she stared at me. “Melanie, you will not turn that man down. You will not run from the chance of real happiness.”
“We saw how that turned out last time.” I mumbled like a petulant child.
“Your narcissistic high school boyfriend was never going to be your happily ever after and you know it.” She scoffed. I furrowed my eyebrows at her, wanting to argue but knowing deep down that shewas right. There had always been signs, beyond just the cheating, that Ben and I were not compatible.
“My life is a mess!” I exclaimed and threw my arms up.
“A mess that he’s been by your side for.” She reminded me, her eyebrows raised slightly, and she tilted her head the tiniest bit as if to say ‘DUH’.
“What if he realizes I have too much baggage?”
“It’s a date, not a marriage proposal, you can take it slow and let someone treat you how you deserve… You’ve only ever known Ben.” Lily spun me back around and pushed me into the living room, where Griffin was still waiting for me. My parents and Kyle had conveniently disappeared, and when I looked back for Lily, I discovered she hadn’t followed me.
“Uhm…” My cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I panicked.”
“Come here.” He said softly. I took a hesitant step forward and then another until my hands were in his again. “There’s nothing to apologize for and you don’t need to panic. If you need more time I will wait.”
“I’ll go on a date with you.” I blurted out before I could change my mind.
Griffin stayed true to his word; he had spent every day of the last five months showing me how I deserved to be treated. He traveled back and forth from Seattle every weekend, showed up for every baby appointment, helped me move into my new condo, set up the nursery furniture, sent me flowers just because, and cried when I gave him a key to my condo and told him that I wanted him to feel like he was always welcome in my home because I was falling in love with him and couldn’t picture my life without him.
We had agreed to wait until I was divorced, and he had figured out what to do about the business before we found a place together, but it felt right to exchange keys to each other’s places.
