"I'm not making the same choice."
His throat worked. "You don't know that."
There it was again. Fear. As if he was bracing for a blow that hadn't happened. Maybe never would.
I shook my head. "No. What I know is that you're standing here looking at me like you're still twelve years old waiting for somebody else to decide whether you get to stay."
Kieran froze. The words hit exactly where I intended them to.
My voice dropped. "Nobody is sitting in a courtroom deciding your future."
His eyes never left mine.
"Nobody is deciding whether you belong."
I took the final step between us.
"You're here... and you're here with me."
For a moment, Kieran just stared at me. I could see the fight still happening behind his eyes. The fear wasn't gone. It wasn't going to disappear because of a few words. Nine years of hurt didn't work that way.
His voice came out rough. "You don't know what's going to happen."
"No." I nodded. "I don't."
The answer seemed to surprise him. I understood why. He'd been expecting promises. Guarantees. Something impossible. I wasn't going to insult him with either of those things.
"I don't know what happens five years from now," I said. "I don't know what team I'll be playing for. I don't know what city I'll be living in. Hell, I don't even know what Coach Reynolds is going to be yelling about at practice tomorrow."
A weak laugh escaped him. Good. At least he was still with me.
"What I do know is that you're acting like you're something that happened to me."
His forehead creased. "What?"
"Like you're a problem I have to solve. A distraction I have to manage. A sacrifice I'm making."
The hurt on his face was immediate.
"Kier, that's not what you are." I took another breath. Carefully. Because this mattered. "Do you honestly think I spent the last ten days wishing I was somewhere else?"
"No."
"Do you think I spent Christmas Eve wishing I was at practice?"
His mouth twitched despite everything. "No."
"Do you think I was standing on Cedar Ridge thinking about video review?"
That earned me the smallest hint of a smile. "Probably not."
"Definitely not."
The smile vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, but I saw it.
Progress.
"Kieran, being with you isn't costing me anything." The words settled between us. "It's giving me something."
