I nod. “Yeah, let’s go.”
I bend over to grab my bag, and he waits for me, then takes my hand. Our fingers intertwine in a way that makes my heart feel full and happy and content. And I have the silly thought that maybe there’s nothing more perfect in the whole world than the way our hands fit together. I smile and press a kiss to his knuckles, and hegrins back.
“Ready?” he asks, tipping his head toward the gate.
“Yeah.”
He squeezes my hand, and I think it again—how perfect this is, the two of us, together. He must see me blushing, because he bumps me with his shoulder.
“Stop thinking naughty thoughts,” he whispers, “or it’s gonna be areallylong day.”
I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t—”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” he cuts in, and then he winks at me, lets my hand go, and pulls his boarding pass out of his pocket to have it scanned.
With a happy sigh and a shake of my head, I hurry to follow him. And a moment later, as we head down the jet bridge to the plane, my hand finds its place on his back.
Another spot made just for me.
It’s perfect. We’re perfect like this, together.
And he’s right—it’s gonna be areallylong day.
Epilogue
Nico
Twomonthslater.. .
Mom,
I’m not sure how to start this letter or exactly what to say, but since I’m leaving for California today, I needed to say something.
I guess that something is this - I miss you.
Or maybe it’s that I miss who I thought you were.
I thought you were someone who loved and supported me. Who defended me and cared about me and my well-being. I thought you were someone I could count on, especially after what happened with Patrick the first time, when you told me “never again.”
I miss that person - my mom.
I don’t know what made you make the decisions you did - to let that man back in your life, accept the lies he toldyou, and then kick me out and abandon me. I can’t reconcile that with the person I thought I knew.
So if you ever find that person again, please tell her that I love her and miss her.
I’m not leaving my new phone number or address, because as much as it hurts, I can’t trust that you won’t give that information to Patrick. But I hope things change for you. And if they do, I hope we find our way back to each other again.
Goodbye, Mom.
-Nico
“It’s awful, isn’t it?” I grab the paper back from Alex and frown as I scan the words I finished writing only a few minutes ago. Guilt weighs heavy on my shoulders, and I shake my head and look back up at him. “I-I can’t... I can’t give this to her.”
He’s not smiling, but his expression stays soft, and he gently takes the letter, folds it up, and sets it on his desk. Then he pulls me into his arms and holds me tight.
“It’s honest and real and your truth, right?”
I close my eyes and nod. “Yeah. It is. I just...”
