Page 83 of Unraveled

After I opened the door, my mouth hung open at the picture he made without hair. Despite the shocking difference, he remained the handsomest man I’d ever known.

His expression didn’t change upon taking in my own hairless image. Instead, he simply pulled me into him.

He backed me into the room, kicking the door closed with his foot.

“I’m not sure what you see in me. I’m a mess, Kellan. An absolute mess.”

He pulled back to stroke my face. “If you’re a mess, then you’re the most beautiful mess ever.”

I scoffed and saw his jaw clench.

“If you want to push me away, fine. Keep pushing, babe, but I’m not going very far. You may think this is the best thing for us—that somehow you’re releasing me from some burden you’ve imagined because some asshole didn’t love you the way I do. That’s fine. I’ll take the hit. I’ll take it all, because I believe this is just a temporary roadblock. But the one thing you need to believe, if nothing else, is you are not this cancer. You aren’t a mastectomy, you aren’t the woman without hair. This does not define you, nor does it somehow devalue your worth. I wish you could see what I do.”

“What do you see?” Tears were streaming down my face, my voice barely a whisper.

“I see a fighter. A woman who seems to think she’s in this battle alone because she doesn’t believe she’s worth fighting for if she doesn’t look like a runway model or can’t have sex. I’m here to tell you differently. I’m in this with you—whether you choose to believe it or not. I’m here for you. Your parents are here for you. Your brother is here for you. And not out of some obligation, but because you’ve made our lives richer for being in this world. Do you know what I told your brother the day of your surgery? What I told him to convince him to give me a chance to see you?”

I’d always wondered. “What?”

“I told him I thought you were the one. Now I don’t think it, I know it. I love you, Layla. I don’t care if it’s only been a couple of months, and this seems quick. It’s the simple truth. And I refuse to accept your breakup proposal.”

My eyes rounded in surprise at his declaration. But I realized it truly was that simple. I was in love with him, too. Maybe it was fast according to some. Maybe it was due to my heightened emotions from the cancer. But I didn’t think so. And I could no longer fight it. “I love you, too. I just thought you—”

“Nope. You don’t get to tell me how you think I should be feeling. Do you love me less because I shaved my head?”

“No, of course not.”

“Why would I love you less because the package you come in is going through hell right now?”

“I’m sorry.” I said it sincerely as he wrapped his arms around me in a soul-searing hug.

“Apology accepted. Don’t break up with me again, okay? I have a bet with your brother that we’d last a lot longer, and I’d hate to lose.”

I stepped back, laughing through the tears and giving his arm a swat. “You always know what to say to put a smile on my face.”

His expression turned serious. “You put one on mine every day, so it’s only fair. It’s okay for you to feel insecure, to have doubts, or to curse the fates. Just talk to me.”

“It’s only hair, and I didn’t think it would hit me this hard.”

He kissed my forehead. “Don’t diminish your feelings. This poison you’re putting in your body is causing you to lose your hair. It’s as big as it makes you feel. But let me be there for you through this.”

“What do I give in return, though?” Although I was starting to realize how much I let my insecurities define me, I also felt a lack of reciprocation in this relationship. “Who gets to be there for you?”

“You’ve given meaning to each day and ensure I don’t take anything for granted again. Thanks to you, I put the past where it belongs, along with the anger I’d had toward my cousin. You made me see how trivial it was to harbor those feelings. I see our future together. One day, you and I will look back on this quarrel as the thing that solidified our relationship.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“I ask myself the same question every day. Now then, I’m not the only one here. You ready to see your family?”

“What?”

“We were all worried. And we all wanted you to know you’re not in this alone.”

I fought my panic. “I really can’t believe you all shaved your heads.” I ran my hand over the smooth surface of his, missing his thick hair already. At the same time, his action made me even more deeply in love with him. “When did this happen?”

“I drove up to Bellingham today, and we all went to the barber, before driving back down here.”

“I’m sorry.”