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Liv folded her arms and glared at the spot of wall just behind Juliette’s shoulder.
“Liv… I can’t even begin to express to you how sorry I am. There aren’t enough words… what I did was despicable. I betrayed you. It was the worst thing I ever did in my life, and it makes me sick to remember how I treated you. I know I have no right to beg your forgiveness – and you have every right to tell me to go to hell – but I’m going to do it anyway. Please, Liv, will you forgive me?”
Something like hope flickered in Liv’s eyes, and she finally looked at Juliette. “You’re sorry?”
“Of course I am.”
“Then come out to your mom.”
“What?”
“You heard me. If you truly care about me, then you’ll drop this charade – for both our sakes.”
“Liv… I can’t do that.”
“Then, your apology means nothing.”
“It does! Liv, I swear it does. I’ve never been sorrier for anything in my life –”
“Words! You give me sweet words, but your actions speak louder than your words – they scream, Juliette. They scream that you care more about keeping some dumb secret than you care more about me, about us.”
“I love you,” Juliette whispered. “Please, Liv, I love you.”
“I don’t believe you,” Liv said flatly.
There was only one thing she could do to convince Liv, and that was the one thing Juliette couldn’t do.
“Please, Liv, don’t let it end like this,” she begged. “I know you love me too.”
Liv’s expression took on a haunted look. “I did,” she said softly. “At least, I loved who I thought you were. I was a fool. That woman doesn’t exist.”
Those words pierced Juliette’s heart.
“Please, Juliette, just go. There is nothing more to say.”
“I have to fight for us!”
“There’s nothing left to fight for.”
Juliette felt like she been punched in the stomach. Liv went to lie on her side in bed, facing away from Juliette. Juliette ached to comfort her, but Juliette was the last person Liv would want to accept comfort from right now.
She wandered through to her room in a daze.
It was over. It was really over.
How could she have fucked everything up so thoroughly?
There had to be a way to fix this.
There was, but it was one path Juliette couldn’t take. She lay down on her side, imitating Liv’s position, wrapping her arms around her knees.
Was it really so impossible? She can’t be the first gay person in history faced with coming out to unsupportive parents. People all over the world did it every day, even knowing that they would be disowned and kicked out of the house, many in circumstances where their only recourse would be a homeless shelter or living on the streets.
That wasn’t the case for Juliette. She had much better options. She wouldn’t be left destitute – at least in terms of money.
But she would lose the only family she had. How could she do that? How could Liv ask that of her?
She could, because deep down, Juliette knew it was a fair request. Asking the woman she loved to live a lie wasn’t reasonable. Asking someone to come out, even if they were consequences, was a reasonable requirement for dating them.
