He sighs. “For that and everything else.”
“I think a part of me knew you wouldn’t do it. You were holding onto me so tight it felt like if I went over then…”
“Then I’d go over too.”
I nod.
Sure, I was terrified. But I think it was more so from being dangled over the side of a bridge than from actually believing Isaac would let me fall.
“Look at me.”
It’s one of those commands I instinctively obey. Raising my head, I meet his gaze as his hand comes up to cup the side of my face.
“If something happened and you had, I would’ve dived in after you without hesitation.” His words are so steady, so sure, leaving no doubt he’s telling the truth. “I would never hurt youlike that. Ever. And I’m so sorry for giving you a reason to believe for even a second that I would.”
There’s another damn wave of emotions that I can’t seem to fucking control. I quickly duck my head and tuck my face back into his neck to hide the fresh tears that sting my eyes.
“I’m sorry for pushing you,” I whisper.
He sighs again. “You have nothing to apologize for.” He falls quiet for a bit before he goes on. “You deserve to know, Jackson, that I did care about Dylan a long time ago. Having people believe that I could have hurt him—that I could’ve evenkilledhim—well…it hasn’t been easy. It’s been really fucking hard actually. And whenyouseemed to believe it too, I think something in me broke. I lost my head.”
Now I kind of feel like shit. I told him he was just like everyone else, but maybeI’mthe one who’s just like the rest of them. I believed the rumors could be true. I fell for that stranger’s games. I didn’t trust the one person I probably should have.
“But that’s not an excuse for what I did,” he adds, his voice wavering. “Earning someone’s trust doesn’t start by breaking it. I never should’ve let it all get to me like that. I should’ve had more control. I’m so very, very sorry.”
He sounds all choked up with nearly as much emotion as I’ve felt in the past half hour. It’s easy to make a conscious decision.
“I forgive you.”
His arms tighten around me while something else in him seems to loosen. “I’ll keep trying to earn that. I’ll earn your trust too.”
I close my eyes, letting my body finally relax against him now that I’m not shaking anymore. Between the warmth circulating inside the car and the comforting hold he has on me, my eyes refuse to open again. While my mind is a little clearer,the exhaustion is even heavier than before. I think I could probably fall asleep here, but I don’t want to take more than Isaac’s willing to give me.
“Why did you stay in Viridian Falls?” I ask, my voice coming out sleepier than I expected. “Why didn’t you ever leave?”
Isaac stays quiet, and this time the silence stretches on longer. I start to wonder if maybe I’m already asleep and only dreamed that I asked the question.
“I was fifteen,” he finally says, and I’m not sure yet if it’s meant to be an answer. “I was staying over at a friend’s house for the weekend, and my older brother, Elijah, was at a party. Something happened that night that made him call our parents to come pick him up. I don’t know what. He never told me. I guess it sounded like it was bad enough that both our parents wanted to go to make sure he was okay, so they loaded up my little sister in the car and left to go get him.”
Again, quiet. I wait patiently as a dread more potent than the one I felt earlier settles in my chest, projected like a shadow around us.
“It was late, and it was raining.” Once more, his voice trembles, getting worse with every word. His hold on me tightens like he’s borrowing back a little of the comfort he gave me. “Their car went off this bridge, and they all died. My sister was only nine. That was twenty-two years ago today.”
And now I feel evenmorelike shit.
He was out here paying his respects to his family, and I interrupted to accuse him of murder.
Fucking classy, Jackson.
“My brother left, and my grandmother took me in. She died a few years back,” he continues, pausing to take a deep, steadying breath. “I haven’t heard from Elijah since he left, and I have no idea where he is. I think it was the guilt that drove him away. He was gone before the funeral.”
“That’s why you’ve stayed,” I guess. “In case he comes back.”
I feel him nod against the top of my head. “He’s the only family I have left. If he’s even alive. Maybe I should’ve given up on him a long time ago, but I guess just the thought of him coming back one day and me not being here is enough to make me stay.”
It’s not lost on me just how much Isaac is opening up to me right now, like he really meant he’d earn my trust.
I raise my head to meet his gaze again. “I’m so sorry, Isaac.”
