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"Yes, Crim."
"I still love him..." I lowered my gaze to the floor in shame. "James...I still care about him. He kissed me...and I kissed him back. I'm sorry," I apologized.
Even though two weeks had passed, I couldn't continue living with the guilt.
I needed to tell someone, and I figured with Aki revealing something so personal, he and the others deserved the truth.
"Why are you apologizing?" Aki asked.
I looked up at him, not realizing tears were running down my cheeks until he reached out, pausing when he was an inch away.
"I'm going to stroke your cheek," he warned.
I nodded, and he reached out to tenderly rid of the tear that rolled down my flushed cheek with his thumb.
"I'm apologizing because I still love James," I elaborated.
"We know."
"Huh? What do you mean we know?" I questioned, not understanding what he meant.
He didn't remove his hand from my cheek, gently rubbing his thumb against my skin. It reminded me how much I missed his comforting touch, just like the others.
"We knew you still loved James. With us, we had our time to accept Storm's death and separate our feelings. It might not have been enough, and I can't vouch for the others, but for me...it kinda felt it wasn't meant to be. It might sound rude or insulting to Storm, but it wasn't as hard for me to move on. But for you, with everything that happened, you haven't really got a chance to sort your feelings," Aki pointed out.
He gave me a small smile as he continued.
"Not to mention, you have a forgiving heart. You'd rather give someone a second chance than crucify them, but that's based on their actions, both past and present," Aki explained.
"Aren't you mad?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No."
"I thought you guys hated him."
"We do...but if it wasn't for Mr. Bipolar...you wouldn't be standing here with me," he revealed.
"Why not? What did he do?" I asked.
None of us had spoken about what had happened that day.
Everyone avoided the topic at all costs when I was around, and I'd been too tired to care.
Now that we were on the subject, I wanted to know.
"Itsuki had put a tracker on your hair ornaments. We were close to finding your location, but she broke the one with the tracker on it. There was no way we'd find you in the allotted time we'd predicted, but then I got a text with your exact coordinates from a person who'd had a conversation with...you know who," Aki revealed.
"He...told you where I was," I commented, feeling astonished.
"We found you just in time and ended up doing a blood transfusion in the car. It was enough to get you to the palace and get the best treatment. Quil traced the message and it came from James’ old phone. The one he had when he still dated you."
"He left his trail on purpose?"
"To be honest, I don't think so. If he still loves you...he probably knew something was going on and looked into it himself. Guess when he realized you weren't with us and we were searching in the area that woman was in, everything clicked."
"What do I do...I mean, if....just by chance, if he's a part of this crazy ploy and isn't an enemy but a victim...am I allowed to love him again? Won't you and the others hate me?"
Aki gave me a sympathetic smile.
