Her breath broke.He remembered her.
She didn't know how her legs carried her forward, but suddenly she was standing in front of him, close enough to see the faint lines at the corners of his eyes, the ink on his arms, the tension etched into his forehead.
"You came back," he said.
She nodded vigorously."You remember me?"
"Yeah."His gaze softened."I never forgot you."
All the air left her lungs.The relief overwhelmed her.His admission was the equivalent of someone not giving up on her, which she wasn't used to in her life.
"I've tried and tried to come back here, but I didn't know how to get to you.I still don't know how I got here."She swallowed hard."I just wanted to come to you."
"You've been crying."His brows lowered."What happened?"
The question cracked her open.It was okay to talk to Finn.
"My mom..."Her voice trembled."She never came back for me, and now she's dead."
Finn's jaw clenched, and his gaze darkened.Telling him, sharing with him, took away her anger.
Kallie blinked fast, fighting the tears."She chose drugs over me.Every time.Even at the end."
Finn stepped closer.She gazed into his familiar brown eyes.
"You're here now."He cupped her cheek.
Her breath shook, and she pressed against the warmth of his palm."I'm here."
And standing there in the fading light of a world that shouldn't exist, Kallie realized something she'd never dared admit before.
"I don't understand how this happens."She patted her chest."But I think I'm supposed to be here."
She'd come because some part of her had been reaching for him all along.
Chapter 8
