"Don't." His hands framed my face, thumbs brushing away my tears that were beginning to spill down my cheeks again. "You had every right to be angry. I failed you when you needed me most. I failed Leo. I failed everyone I claimed to care about."
"No. I was the one who ruined everything. And I almost ruined it again because I couldn't just forgive him."
"But you didn't," he said firmly. "And I won't let you carry that guilt anymore. Not alone."
I couldn't take it anymore; tears began to flow faster. I was a disaster. Many people make mistakes and learn from them. Others look for ways to avoid them again. And here I was, doing the same thing that ruined me again because I simply couldn't forgive.
"I'm sorry I didn't trust you with this secret."
"Hey," Kyle said, hugging me, "I was never the person who deserved to know that secret anyway. Stop blaming yourself for being scared."
"But I had so many opportunities to tell you now that wewere back together, and I didn't do it either. I thought if I avoided the video, I could avoid everything else, but I fell back into the same error."
"You've had your reasons for not doing it. The important thing is that I was able to stop you in time, and everything's okay."
"Why are you so good to me? I'm a monster."
He cupped my face, making me look at his eyes. "You are not a monster, Lily, you are just a human. And humans make mistakes, and do impossible things to protect the ones they love."
"But why?"
"Because I love you," he said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I've loved you since we were kids, sharing secrets behind the church. I loved you when you hated me, when you blocked me from your life, when you looked at me like I was a stranger. And I'll love you long after we figure out how to get back to our own time."
"I don't know what I did to deserve you," I replied. Because despite everything, he was still here. Even knowing everything I did, even knowing everything I could have done if he hadn't stopped me. I didn't deserve his compassion, and yet, here he was, giving it to me anyway.
"I don't know what I did to deserve you, either, Lily, but I promise to always make sure you feel it was worth giving me another chance."
I let him hold me as I cried. For the girl I'd been, for the future we'd lost, for the impossible gift of this second chance. And when exhaustion finally claimed me, I felt something I hadn't experienced in ten years: safety. The kind that goes beyond being protected, the kind that settles into your bones and whispers that if you fall, someone will be there to catch you. And somehow you believe it.
When I woke hours later, Kyle was still asleep beside me,his arm thrown protectively across my waist. For a moment, I just watched him, the peaceful expression on his face, the way his hair fell across his forehead, the steady rise and fall of his chest. And I felt at peace. Grateful that he was by my side despite everything, and that he was able to stop the disaster.
I slipped carefully from his embrace and made my way home. I was terrified of everything that was coming, but at least I was free. And my family was too.
CHAPTER 49
Kyle
I wokeup without Lily by my side and a bunch of missed calls from several of my friends, so I panicked. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I should have made sure Lily got home safely, but now I was scared of what could have happened.
The exhaustion from all the adrenaline I experienced last night has left me feeling deeply exhausted. Lying there in the darkness, holding Lily as she finally found peace in sleep, had felt like the most natural thing in the world. For those few hours, we'd existed in a bubble where the past couldn't touch us, where the future was just a distant concern. I'd felt her breathing even out against my chest, felt the tension leave her body as exhaustion claimed her, and I'd thought foolishly that we'd weathered the worst of it.
Now, staring at my phone's relentless notifications, I realized how naive that had been.
I sat on the edge of the bed and forced myself to take a deep breath. "Everything's okay," I told myself, "you made sure of it." Then I picked up my phone and started reading the messages one by one, beginning with Lily's text that told me she'd gone home so her parents wouldn't worry.
But everything wasn't okay, and I began to confirm this fear as I scrolled through the other messages.
"Did you know what happened last night?" This message was Mike's.
"Oliver's parents are contacting us all. They need answers about what happened. What did you do last night?" This was Tom.
"Make sure you don't have Oliver's cell phone in your possession when they start searching your belongings. I can back you up on that." This one was from Jared.
What the hell were they talking about?The more I read, the more confused I got.
I finally read a message I wish I had never read.
"Oliver is dead. Someone crashed into him last night."
