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Nav
Hetookseveralcalming breaths as he shoved his clothes back into his duffle bag. He was packed in a matter of seconds, but as he listened to Lexie light him up for leaving all those years ago, anger bubbled through his skin. He knew he had hurt everyone. He knew his brothers struggled when he left. He knew Lexie suffered when he left, but he had no choice. He was faced with an impossible decision and when it came down to it, leaving was the best option for him.
Just as he was starting to reflect back on the pain he felt all those years ago, Eagle’s commanding voice filled the tiny cabin. He pulled back to reality, let out a long-held breath, and climbed up the stairs with his duffle secured onto his shoulder and his sandals in his hands.
“Let’s go!” Eagle shouted out as he led the pack of eight off the boat and onto the dock. Lexie was far ahead standing next to Adam and Kennedy, to which he was not surprised after her little revelation of how close they had become over the years. Lexie had always been close with his brothers, so he shouldn’t be feeling so shocked by her defense of Adam, but it stung nonetheless. As she grew to be a part of their little family over the years, he didn’t expect their relationships to die along with his, but he also didn’t expect her to remain so close to Adam and Tristan. It was becoming more evident that the woman walking down the dock at the front of the group was not the same woman he left standing in disappointed agony three years prior.
He trailed behind the group and allowed himself to reflect back to that brief moment as he stood along a dock much like this one with Lexie. His face, turning black and blue and crusted over with a thin layer of blood, stared at Lexie through the dark night. He had hoped Lexie hadn’t seen his face, and if she did, she never mentioned it. She was standing several feet away from him, leaning against the dock railing and staring off into the dark waters. He could see the tears rolling down her cheeks as they sparkled against the soft lights several yards up at the top of the dock. He’d never forget the conversation they had that night, her words driving arrows through his heart over and over again.
“Nav, you abandoned me when I needed you the most and you can’t even formulate an excuse. I am done. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep hanging on to whatever remnants of love you’ll give me when I’m giving you everything I have. Either figure your shit out or watch me walk away, for good this time.”
His heart shattered as he watched Lexie walk away from him that night. The next time they spoke, they said their goodbyes and moved on in different directions. His heart still ached over the loss of Lexie all those years ago. As he shifted back to the present moment, Lexie’s smile gave him hope. Her joyous laughter could be heard from the front of the group and Nav knew this was his one chance to make things right–to prove to her that he had changed into a new man. He was no longer the boy who couldn’t commit for fear of abandonment. He was ready to give himself to Lexie, but he wasn’t sure she was ready to accept him for what he was.
