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That was a loaded question. How I was, was something I didn’t have the energy to dissect myself, much less via text with Charo. I started typing an answer.
Lucas:I’m okay. Just tired, we’ll talk when I get there okay? I will land at—
“Lucas!”
My head lifted off my screen, my eyebrows knitting because that couldn’t be the voice I thought it was. Her voice. She couldn’t—
“Lucas! Wait!”
I turned around.
My eyes scanned the crowd behind me, jumping from head to head, from face to face, until settling on one. Just one. The one face I could never miss. Not even in a packed airport terminal.
And then, everything slowed down.
As if I was starring in a dream, Rosie parted the sea of busy people. Her hair was a beautiful mess of curls, her eyes burning green, her cheeks flushed, and those full lips I’d memorized parted. She was wearing the short-sleeved shirt she had been sleeping in—my shirt—the front tucked into her jeans and… God, why didn’t she have a goddamn coat on? It was November and freezing outside.
“Lucas!” Rosie repeated. She closed the distance while I stood there like a statue. Like a total dumbass, watching her run toward me, and hearing Taco bark excitedly. “Oh my God, you’re still here. Thank God.”
The last three steps she took felt like a haze. Like she wasn’t real, and this couldn’t be happening. I’d have to be imagining it.
“Rosie?”
But instead of answering, she threw herself at me, landing on my chest, and it was as if the ground beneath my feet had finally settled. Everything around me disappeared.
I wrapped myself around her, breathed her in, rejoiced in having her in my arms, being able to do all those things I’d regretted not doing one last time.
She looked up, meeting my gaze with those eyes I’d never forget.
Unable to stop myself, I leaned down and kissed her. Simply content to get one more kiss from her lips.
When I came up for air, I moved us out of the line, not giving a damn if I lost my spot. I looked into her face. “Rosie, what are you doing here?”
She shivered in answer and I took off my coat and placed it around her shoulders. Her head shook but she didn’t complain. Good. I wanted her warm. Safe.
“I…” she trailed off, taking one step back. “I couldn’t do it, Lucas.”
I didn’t like the space between us, but I had the feeling she needed it.
“I thought you didn’t want to do goodbyes,” I told her. “That’s why I left.”
Liar, it was you who couldn’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to her.
“And you’re right.” Her throat bobbed. “I can’t. I can’t say goodbye to you, Lucas. That’s why I’m here.”
I frowned, feeling there was more. Something else.
She pulled out her phone from the back of her jeans. Unlocked it and looked for something. “Here,” she said showing the screen to me.
It was a photo. A selfie of me and Taco on a beach. An old one. From way before the accident and before we’d ever met. I—
“Here,” she repeated. “I’ve been keeping this on my phone ever since you posted it on your Instagram.” The pace of her breathing increased, the air leaving her mouth in big gulps. “I… sort of followed you, Lucas, without actually following you. I checked for new posts every day, went to bed thinking of them, of you, of your face, of Taco, too.”
My own chest mimicked hers, oxygen suddenly struggling to enter and exit my lungs.
“For months,” she added. “Then, you didn’t come to Lina and Aaron’s wedding, and I was heartbroken over missing the chance to meet you in person. Devastated. But I told myself I was being stupid, that it was just a silly online crush.” She shook her head. “But I was fooling myself. I… never stopped thinking of you, Lucas.”
My mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. I just… What was there to say? I was trying to process everything she was telling me. How fucking good it made me feel. How my chest and head were growing a couple sizes too big.
