Page 160 of Brighter Together

I press my mouth against her temple.

“No. They failed you.”

Ella turns slightly. “They’re still my family.”

“I know.”

“And some stupid part of me still feels guilty.”

I hold her a little tighter. “That doesn’t make you stupid.”

She is quiet.

I think about yesterday.

About the panic in her voice when I mentioned police.

About how quickly she offered to pack her things and disappear from my life because she had already decided her mistake made her disposable.

“They spent years telling you that keeping them happy was your responsibility,” I say. “You’re not going to wake up one morning and suddenly stop feeling that.”

Ella runs her thumb over my knuckles.

“I wish I could.”

“Maybe eventually.”

She turns in my arms until she can see me properly.

Water sloshes over the side of the bath.

Neither of us cares.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For going there.”

Her throat moves as she swallows.

“For standing up for me even after what I did.”

The familiar hurt catches again.

Not as sharply as yesterday.

Still there.

“I’m still pissed off about the proposal.”

“You should be.”

“I probably will be for a while.”

“You’re allowed.”

“But that doesn’t mean they get to hurt you.”