Those words play on repeat in my head.
First the cell, now the office. I’m always getting him into trouble. Why am I like this?
“C’mon, Hope.” Marie gives me a nudge toward her car, and somehow I manage to load my things in—and then climb in myself.
“It’s okay, they’ll be fine,” she tells me as she grabs my hand.
“What if they get suspended? What if?—”
“Nope. We’re not doing it. We’re not going to think in the future. Just focus on the present.”
“The present says they’re in trouble because of me,” I burst out, the weight of guilt sinking deep into my bones like spikes.
“Hey! That’s not true.” Marie gives my hand a squeeze. “If those assholes said something about me, they would’ve done the same.”
“And you’d be okay with that?” I ask, my voice choking.
She shakes her head sadly. “Of course not, but I also know that we protect the people we care about.”
The slow, quiet thrum of anxiety flows underneath my skin, permeating tremors in my fingers.
At once, there’s a leap in my heart race and my pulse quickens. There’s a stutter in my breath, and then my breathing becomes shallow.
“I don’t want to get Heath into trouble.”
Marie shoots me an encouraging smile. “That’s inevitable.” She pauses. “Because he loves you, he’s always going to step in to make sure that you’re safe. It’s something that you have to be okay with.”
I nod, absorbing her words.
“I used to feel the same way you’re feeling right now. Guilt right?”
I nod again.
“It’s okay to feel this way because this is new to you. You’ve never had someone who jumped in without thinking. Someone who wanted to protect you. Someone who cares a lot about you.”
I hear everything she says, but one question keeps circling in my head. “What if it becomes too much and he leaves?”
Marie bursts out laughing. “Heath leaving you?” She lets out another cackle. “That isn’t happening. He isn’t going anywhere because he’s obsessed with you.”
A reel plays through my head, highlighting everything we’ve been through. He stayed when he didn’t need to. And now he’s here because he wants to.
I trust Heath with everything in me.
I need to trust his love too.
Because the way he loves me isn’t like how my parents love each other. This love is different. It’s kind, patient and safe. It’s the opposite of what I’ve seen my entire life, but exactly what I’ve read about my entire life.
“Heath loves you more than anything,” Marie says with a grin.
“I love him too. A lot.”
She smirks. “You tell him that when he comes to you.”
“I will.”
___________________
Marieand I are sitting in her room, eating cookies that her mom made, when my phone rings.
