“I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have,” I say quietly, dreading this. “The night of the party, I was drugged. Ronan found me passed out at the bottom of the stairs because whatever she gave me finally kicked in as I was coming down the stairs after you.”
Maeve’s eyes are wide, her breathing shallow. “She? You know who did it?”
“Yes,” I say, then hesitate.
“Who. Was. It.” She demands, but I’m frozen in place, looking into her eyes. I don’t want to hurt her, and this is about to flip her world upside down.
“Callum,” she says, her voice low and breathy, "I’ve spent the last nine years without you because thetruthwould hurt more. I don’t think you understand what losing you did to me. I can’t imagine anything hurting me more than that.”
Damn it.
“Maeve, it was Nessa.”
She leans away from me, like someone had pulled her shoulders, and her eyes narrow. I stand still, holding eye contact.
“We were both betrayed that night, Maeve,” I say gently, "and even more people were hurt in the process.”
Tears start to accumulate in her eyes, and one escapes, rolling down her cheek as she whispers with a broken voice, “Wh… I don’t understand. She… she’s family. My friend.”
Reaching up, I swipe the tear away with the pad of my thumb, then cup her cheek in my hand. To my surprise, she closes her eyes and leans into it. I step closer and lean down to rest my forehead against hers. For a moment, I’m scared, genuinely scared. She’d been pushing me away for so long, and I don’t want her to push me away again. I'm relievedwhen she doesn’t.This feels like a dream, and I'm waiting for my alarm to blare in my ear. I can feel my heart pounding in my ears.
She raises her hand to the side of my head, her thumb stroking my cheek. I take a shuddering breath.Real. This is real.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispers, so softly I barely hear her, “so much it hurts.”
I grab both sides of her face, making her look at me.
“I was always right here. I never left. I couldn’t stay away.”This is it, lay it all out, I tell myself. “I… I love you, Maeve. Always have. Always will. I’ll never be out of your sight again, do you understand?”
She searches my eyes again. I let her and don’t say anything. It’s time to start putting it all out there. One stone at a time. And I’m not sure exactly how, but I can tell that Maeve finds what she’s looking for.
This isnothow tonight was supposed to go. Well, at least I’d been right about one thing. She hates me a little less than she did last night.
20 Years Old
She was propped against a tree in The Junction. It was her favorite place to be on campus, a large, grassy expanse scattered with old white oak trees, perfect shady spots for reading and lounging.
They also provided camouflage if you needed to stay out of sight.
I sat underneath a tree not too far from her, lounging beside a low-hanging limb that was only inches from caressing the ground. These trees had seen it all, had seen the beginnings of everything that surrounded us. They’d weathered the storms that were meant to rip them from the earth, and yet here they still stood, and there she sat, not understanding that she had weathered storms very few would have survived.
I’d sat here countless times, just watching, drawing. She never knew I was here. There was one day I thought she’d spotted me as she was walking by, but luckily she hadn’t. Orin knew I was here. He always knew. It allowed him to attend to a few things when they arose. Ronan floated around doing more of his own thing, but never too far. He and Orin both took their duties seriously, especially after what had happened to Maeve.
She was reading something new, and I couldn’t make out the title, but whatever it was made her look like she was about to cry. Her hand floated to her mouth, where her lips were parted in shock.
After another half hour or so, she began packing her things. I noticed a male student approaching her, a hopeful look on his face. When Maeve saw him, she tensed, gripping the strap of her bag so tight her knuckles turned white.
I began walking toward them, swinging wide so I wouldn’t draw attention to myself. I needed to get closer, needed to know what they were talking about. I stood on the other side of the tree, my back pressing against the trunk, trying to look as casual as possible. I caught the second half of their exchange.
“I already told you no before, and I’ll say it again so it’s fresh. N.O. NO. Got it?”
I grinned.
He stepped toward her, and I almost stepped in until I heard the venom in her tone.
“If I have to take a bullet and shove it in your chest with my bare hands to make you understand, I will. Now get the fuck away from me before I do just that.”
He made a sound similar to a whimper as he recoiled in fear.
