“Julia, you two need to talk. You need to let him know that you’re there for him, even with everything going on with his family,” Rachel said.
“He needs you,” Sonia added.
“He blames himself for his parents’ accident. And I think he kinda blames me too,” Julia admitted.
“That’s ridiculous. No way,” Rachel said.
“He was in shock. James even said he was still shaken when he saw him. He’ll calm down and start to think rationally again,” Sonia said.
“You need to set him straight,” Rachel said, pointing at Julia. “Get on your white horse and go down there and rescue him from himself.”
Julia rolled her eyes at Rachel.
“Rachel’s not wrong. He’s always taking care of everyone else. Maybe it’s time you go and take care of him.”
“And if he doesn’t want me to?” Julia asked.
“Don’t give him the chance to sayno,” Rachel answered.
Julia let her friends’ words swim around in her mind. Could she just go and confront Tae, tell him she was there to help him,to be there for him, and just... not leave? Force him to give in and accept the help?
“But, girl, first you really need a shower. And use the extra deep conditioner,” Rachel said, face scrunched in disapproval.
Right. Okay.
Shower first. Then rescuing.
Less than a week ago, Julia had knocked on this same door and ended the night in Tae’s arms. Well, actually, they’d panic-rushed to get their clothes back on before his parents came home, but still. Today she feared she might never see him again.
Don’t be so melodramatic, she chastised herself.Just see with your own eyes that he’s okay, and go from there.
She took a quick intake of breath as the door opened.
He looked tired, his normal expressive, dancing eyes looked flat, dark circles framing them from below.
He also looked beautiful, strength and care personified.
“Julia? What are you doing here?”
Not exactly the warm welcome she’d hoped for.
She thought about the time Kari had just shown up at his house unannounced. Was she making all the same mistakes? One thing she knew that Tae hated was pressure. People putting pressure on him to make decisions or have answers he didn’t. But no, she was here to check on Tae and his family. And if anyone had a problem with that, including Tae, then that was on them.
She straightened her posture. “I was in the neighborhood...”
He tilted his head, eyes narrowed. Yeah, playing it casual and lying weren’t going to work here.
“Actually, I drove down because I’ve been worried about you. I just wanted to see if you were okay. And I came to offer, I don’t know, anything, I guess, to help.” There, she did it. She put it out there. She held her breath, waiting. Why was this so hard? It hadn’t ever been difficult with Tae.
Tae’s lips were tight, and his nostrils flared. He closed his eyes and took a breath, trying to steady himself. When he opened them and looked at Julia, she didn’t recognize the person staring at her. Julia wanted to step back and run. She swallowed. “I know you think what you did was helping, Julia. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t cool. I didn’t ask for your help. I didn’t need it. I had it figured out.”
Julia’s mind raced trying to catch up to what Tae was saying, but she was drawing a blank. He couldn’t possibly be this mad at her driving him to the hospital. Coming down here to talk to him? What was it? “Tae, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tae raked his hands through his hair, leaving them on top of his head as his eyes looked anywhere but at Julia.
“I’m sorry,” Julia said. She wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for. But she’d clearly done something wrong. “I thought... I guess I just thought that since you’re so busy looking after your parents, you might want someone to be here for you. And I am—here for you. I care about you, Tae. You’re important to me. I...” She swallowed back the emotions. She swallowed back the words that were too hard and too scary to say.
“Julia, don’t.”
