Oh, well if it’s Luke’s menu…then yes dinner was delicious. *winking face with tongue emoji*
OUCH! Talk about kicking a guy when he’s down. *astonished face emoji*
Knife wound to the gut, man. I’m not sure I can recover from that.
You’re still talking to me after what I did to you…
That was far worse
I don’t want to discuss what happened, but I won’t ignore it either.
We don’t have to talk about it right now, Ender.
Whenever you’re ready to, we can. There’s no rush.
Ugh.He’s only making it worse by being so nice about it.
I’m sorry
You don’t need to be but thank you.
When the conversation stalls, I wake up my friends so they can go to Connor’s room. I took a quick shower before sliding into bed and checked my phone one last time.
As the only source of light fades, the darkness in the room has me sinking into the usual negative talk that consumes me. Eventually we’ll need to talk about why I left the way I did, but I’m thankful he’s letting me take my time. How am I supposed to tell him he triggered me, while avoiding having to tell him all the bullshit from my past? All it takes is one morsel of information, and it will spiral into him asking questions, all with answers I don’t want him or anyone to know. I like him…a lot, but I’m terrified to let him in and lose the possibility of something more. I have too much baggage for anyone to stick around—no matter how much they claim to care, everyone leaves eventually. The mental exhaustion of it all eats away at me little by little each day. And as much as I try to pretend, I’m fine, I know it will inevitably break me someday.
A sudden sound has my heavy lids snapping open, and I grab my phone, pressing the green button before the second ring, to see Gabe’s pretty blues staring back at me.
“Hey,” he says, lack of sleep clear in his voice.
“Hi.”
“Sorry if I woke you, or if I’m bothering you. I just wanted to say goodnight.”
“You could’vetextedme goodnight.” His excuse isn’t fooling me.
“Too impersonal,” he says with a sultry grin, making it impossible to resist him even if I wanted to.
The faint sound of his television in the background fills the silence between us, conveying so much more than it should.
“For the record, you’re not bothering me.”
“You look like you were sleeping. I’ll let you go.” He hesitates. “Can I call you tomorrow maybe?” He seems unusually nervous, pausing between each word.
I contemplate asking for what I really need from him, but I don’t want to seem desperate. I take a deep breath and say it.
“Gabe, can we stay on the call for just a little while…please?”
The tender gaze he set on me while positioning his phone against a pillow on the bed next to him, never losing eye contact with me, breaks some of the chains that have bound my heart for years. I close my eyes to prevent any emotions escaping from them—I don’t want to spoil this moment.
“Goodnight, Ender.”
“Goodnight, Gabe.” My response is featherlight on my lips. I don’t dare to open my eyes, or I know they’ll reveal all the broken pieces within me.
Chapter Ten
A Piece of the Puzzle
Gabe
