Hearing those words made jayden’s chest feel like it was eating in kim realize just how badly he’d forked up, how much pain hed caused the nur perse who’d never deserved i
itself. Her forgiveness tomelore Inuri worse thananger would i
“I won’t let anything hari you ever again.” he whispered, his knee heeaking with the weight of the promise. “I wear of my life, Arianna. Ell do better.
Withest thinking, he reached into his pocket and pilled out a piece of candy–one of those strawberry hard candies she’d abras bred as a kid was probably stupid, but giving her sweets when she was upset had been his thing since they were five prars old.
But when he held it out to her, she jerked back like he’d tried to hit her,
The movement was so instinctive, so immediate, that it felt like a knife to his heart. She apologetic smile.
Sorry, I just… I don’t eat candy anymore. My heart can’t handle the sugar spikes.”
She realized what she’d done and quickly tried to cover with an
The explanation was reasonable, medical, perfectly logical. But Jayden had seen that flinch, and it told him everything he needed to know.
She was afraid of him. Maybe not consciously, but some part of her still expected him to hurt her.
And Jesus, maybe she was right to feel that way
“Right,” he managed, shoving the candy back in his pocket. His hands were shaking. “Of course, That makes sense.
He needed to get away from her before he completely broke down, so he stood up abruptly.
“It’s getting late. You should get some cost. Let me set up the guest room for you.”
“I can help the started to say, but he was already walking toward the hallway.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve got i
But she followed him anyway, and when he started pulling sheets from the linen closet, she moved to help him make the bed.
“Artama, you don’t need to
“I’m not an imvalad, Jayden,” she said quietly, but there was steel her voice. “I can make a bed.”
He watched her tuck the corners of the fitted sheet with practiced precision, and something hollow opened up in his chest. This wasn’t the girl he remembered–the one who used to need him for everything, who would crawl into his bed during thunderstorms because she was too scared to sleep
alone.
This Arianna was self sufficient, Independent. She’d learned to take care of herself because the people who were supposed to protect her had failed
her
Because he had failed her
“You’ve gotten really good at this,” he said, trying to keep his voice light.
She paused in smoothing out the comforter and looked at him with those enormous brown eyes.
“I had to,” she said simply. “I couldn’t keep depending on people who might disappear when things got hard.”
The words hit him like a physical blow. She was talking about him. About how he’d abandoned her when she needed him most.
“Arianna, 1-”
“It’s okay,” she said quickly, turning back to the bed. “Really. I’m not that scared little girl anymore. I learned how to be strong”
He should have been proud of her strength. Instead, all he felt was grief for the girl who’d had to learn it the hard way
“I wish you hadn’t bad to,” he said quietly
Cammer Took Everybius
She paired her hands stilling on the pllowcase. For just a moment, he saw a crack in her composed ficute- hard to hide.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “Me too.”
*—a plemple of the man
The next morning was gorgeous–all blue skies and golden sunshine streaming through the windows Jayden had barely slept, too afrak closed his eyes, she might disappear again like some beautiful, impossible dream.
Over coffee, he made a suggestion that felt both natural and terrifying.
“Want to get out of here today? Go explore the city or something? We never really got to just hang out when we were kids. You were always buried in textbooks, and I was too busy being a complete disaster”
That earned him a real sule–the first gemine one he’d seen since they’d found each other again.
“That sounds really nice,” she said, and for a moment she looked like the girl he’d fallen in love with all those years ago.
An hour later, they were driving through downtown Thurlington th the windows down and soft rock playing on the radio Jayden kapt stealing glances at her as she watched the familiar streets go by, her dark hair blowing in the breeze.
God, she was still so beautiful it hurt to look at her.
He parked outside a trendy shopping center, thinking maybe they could walk around, grab lunch, pretend to he normal people having a normal day instead of two broken souls trying to put themselves back together,
They’d barely made it into the first boutique when a young woman approached them. She was pretty, probably mid twenties, and she was looking directly at Jayden with obvious interest.
“Excuse me,” she said, a little breathless with nerves. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but would you maybe want to grab coffee sometime? I could give you my number?”
Jayden blinked, completely blindsided. It had been so long since he’d thought of himself as someone women would hit on that he didn’t know how to respond
He glanced at Arianna,
a, who was watching the whole interaction with barely concealed amusement, clearly enjoying his disconfort
“I’m flattered,” he said, turning back to the woman “hut I’m not available.”
“Oh.” Her face fell “Girlfriend?”
Jayden’s eyes found Arianna again. She was hiting her lip, trying not to laugh at his obvious panic.
“Something like that,” he said, his voice getting softer. “Someone I’ve been in love with for a really long time.”
The woman followed his gaze, understood immediately, and left with a polite but disappointed goodbye.
When they were alone again, Arianna raised an eyebrow at him with a teasing smile:
“In love with someone for a really long time?” she said, her voice light but her cheeks slightly pink “That’s interesting
Jayden felt heat crawl up his neck. He’d basically just confessed his feelings to a complete stranger while Arianna stood right there.
“I just I didn’t want her to..”
“Relax,” Arianna said, her voice going soft and warm in a way that made his heart skip. “It’s funny, actually.”
“What’s funny?”
She looked at him then, really looked at him, and he saw something in her eyes that made his breath catch
“What a coincidence, Jayden,” she said with a gentle smile. “I’m in love with someone too. Have been for a really long time.”
