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How can she still not get it? “I’ll do whatever it takes, if it means I’m forgiven.”
“I’m worried about you driving up here, Hunter. Maybe I should come to you. I can catch a bus, and…”
“I’m already on my way.” The elevator door opens. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
“Livia?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
I hang up before she can answer. It hasn’t escaped my notice that she’s avoided saying she forgives me, and I don’t want to hear her struggling over saying she loves me. I’m not sure I could handle that.
It occupies my mind throughout the journey, though. Asking me to come see her, isn’t the same as saying we’re okay… or that I’m forgiven… or that she loves me, like I love her, and by the time I park outside her parents’ house, I’m more full of nerves than I’ve ever been in my life. This feels like make or break… but what I’ll do if it’s break, I don’t know.
I switch off the engine, sucking in a deep breath, which catches in my throat when I turn to see Livia standing on the doorstep, waiting for me. She’s wearing jeans and a white t-shirt and is biting on her bottom lip, looking doubtful, and I climb from my car, walking straight to her. She stares up into my face, and for a moment, neither of us says a word. I’d like to think that’s because we don’t need to… but we do. At least, I do.
“You haven’t said you forgive me yet.”
“I know.” She sucks in a deep breath.
“Is that because you can’t? Do you need more time?”
She shakes her head, which ought to feel promising. Except it doesn’t.
“It’s because I need to tell you something.” I wait, fear clawing at my spine. Are we over? Is this it? Did she get me up here to tell me to my face we’re through? “Do you remember me telling you that leaving you would break me?” she says.
“Yes.”
“Well, it did. Drew was right about that. It broke me, and…”
“You mean I broke you.”
She shakes her head. “This isn’t about blame, Hunter. I’m just trying to explain how fragile I am. I didn’t know it before, but I do now… and I know I couldn’t do this again.”
“Neither could I. My heart is made of glass when it comes to you. But if you think you can forgive me, and you’re willing to give us another chance, we’ll never have to do this again… I promise.”
She frowns. “Can it be the same, though?”
“Of course it can.”
“But you know how it is when something gets broken and you fix it? Sometimes it’s never quite the same again.”
I bring one hand up, holding it behind her head. “It’ll be the same. Who knows? It might even be better.”
“Is that possible?”
“Anything’s possible. Especially if I learn from my mistakes. Please… just let me try.”
She tips her head again. “They weren’t all your mistakes, and shouldn’t we both be trying?”
“No. You just need to be yourself, exactly like you always were. I’m the one who needs to try harder… to prove you can trust me.” I pull her close, my lips grazing her ear. “To prove how much I love you.”
“You have nothing to prove,” she whispers. “I know you love me… and I love you, too, Hunter. Just please… please don’t break me again.”
“I couldn’t, baby. There’s no way I can ever do that to either of us again. I need you too much.”
