“Can we—”
She looked at him over her shoulder, her heart aching.“No.Not right now.”
His shoulders slumped.“Okay.”
Ellie got into her car, closed the door, and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.
She’d told him she never stopped loving him, and all she got in return was silence.
****
Dasher hadn’t left.Even after she walked away from him in the parking lot, her shoulders stiff, chin lifted like she didn’t give a damn, he couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Because he knew better.He knew that walk, that posture.He’d seen it before.The first time he left town.When Ellie stood on her porch and told him she wouldn’t wait.That she had a life to build.
Now here they were again.Ten years older.No wiser.God, he’d screwed it up.Dasher leaned against his bike just outside the community center, arms crossed, eyes locked on the door she’d walked through nearly twenty minutes ago.He hadn’t followed her inside.He didn’t want to crowd her.But every instinct in him screamed to go after her.
He should’ve said something.Should’ve told her the truth.That last night had been everything.That the feel of her skin, her breath against his neck, the way she looked at him in the firelight ...it wrecked him.Undid him in a way he hadn’t felt since the first time she said “I love you” in the back of his old truck.
But instead of saying any of that, he’d shut down.Because he was a coward.He’d told himself he was protecting her.That if he pulled away now, he could spare her the pain of what he might become again.A man who brought trouble.A man who made promises and broke them.
But watching her walk away like that didn’t feel like protection.It felt like punishment.
He dragged a hand down his face, then pushed off the bike.Screw it.He wasn’t going to hide behind the fear anymore.She could hate him for staying.He deserved that.But she was still the woman he loved, and he wasn’t walking away twice.
Inside, the community center buzzed with pre-event chaos.Folding tables lined the walls.Volunteers bustled around with rolls of wrapping paper, labeled boxes, and long checklists.The toy drive wasn’t for a few more days, but prep had kicked into high gear.
Ellie stood at the center of it all like a commander mid-battle.She had a clipboard in one hand, phone in the other, a tight, too-bright smile on her face as she gave directions.
She didn’t see him at first.Which gave Dasher a moment to really look at her.Her hair was scraped into a messy bun.A smudge of glitter clung to her cheekbone.She had that focused, determined expression he remembered from the early days.She was still that woman.Stronger, even.Fiercer.And he’d broken something in her last night.
He watched as one of the older volunteers asked her a question, and Ellie answered without missing a beat.Her smile was intact, voice smooth, professional.But the second the woman walked away, that smile slipped.Just for a moment.
That flicker of pain damn near gutted him.Dasher stepped forward.
Ellie caught sight of him then, and her whole body went still.Her grip on the clipboard tightened.Her jaw set.
He lifted a hand in a half wave.“Need an extra set of hands?”Dasher asked.
She stared at him.“You’re still here?”
“I figured I could help,” he pointed out.
“You figured wrong,” she told him plainly.
A few people looked over, sensing the tension.Ellie gave them a brittle smile and lowered her voice.
“Dasher,” she said, flat but quiet.“I’m not in the mood.”
“I get it,” he said, hands shoved into the pockets of his worn jacket.“I just thought I’d stick around.Help out.Least I can do.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she said tightly.“It didn’t mean anything.Remember?”
He winced.That one hit like a punch to the chest but he certainly deserved it.“That’s not what I meant.”
She didn’t answer.Ellie just turned back to the table and began sorting toys into bins, each movement sharp and efficient, like she could scrub away what happened if she just worked hard enough.Dasher stepped closer, not touching her, not pushing.Just ...present.
“I was scared,” he said quietly.
