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Jade shoves me away gently. “Don’t make fun of me, Wentworth.”
“I’m not making fun of you, Jade. This whole thing…” I take in the photos displayed on the walls before my gaze settles on her. “It’s amazing. You’re amazing. Your mom would be so proud.”
“She would, wouldn’t she?” Wiping the corner of her eye, Jade tilts her head to the side. “Wanna see it?”
“Yes.”
Wiping my hands against the side of my legs, I follow after her as she leads me to the first photo, and I just stare.
Jade is holding scissors to her hair.
I move past her, following the images as they’re displayed on the wall—telling a story of Jade’s battle photo by photo, piece by piece—my throat tightening as the onslaught of emotions assaults me.
Seeing her like this, out in the open, unafraid to show herself to the world, her emotions, her battle, her truth, even after everything that she’s been through, humbles me.
The next one is an up-close photo of her. The shadows play over her face, the clippers pressed against the top of her head, one lone tear sliding down her cheek as she stares at her reflection.
“I’m so sorry, Jade.” I turn toward her. “I should have been the—”
“There is nothing to be sorry for, Prescott. You were there.”
She takes my hand in hers. I suck in a breath as her icy fingers clasp around mine, but before I can react, she stops in front of another photo.
Of us.
I’m holding her in my bed, both of us fighting our own demons.
“You were there when it mattered. When I was at my lowest, you were there, and you helped me cling to reality. Cling to life. But that’s as much as you could do. I know that now. I knew that when I saw you lying passed out on your living room floor. I knew it before, but that was when it hit me. Really hit me.”
I turn to her to find her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“We were each other’s life jackets. But a life jacket can only help you so much. After a while, you’ll either have to learn how to swim or drown trying. I picked swimming, and I was praying you’d do the same.”
“I was drowning.” My throat bobs as I swallow, but I force myself to say the words out loud. “You left, just like Gabriel left. I lost football. I failed MCATs. Ifailed, Jade. And I was drowning. It wasn’t until I almost made the stupidest mistake of my life that I realized how far I’d sunk and that if I wanted to make things right, I’d have to fight.”
“Prescott…”
She tries to take my hand, but I step back, needing to say the words.
“I did a lot of stupid shit this last year, Jade. I put it all on the line, and I still lost. I lost it all. But I’ll never regret anything as much as I regret losing you. There are a lot of things I’d do differently if I could, but not our story. Not you. We went through hell, and we’ve made it out, and I’d do it as many times as I’d need to if it would mean I got to have you for only a second longer.”
“Prescott, you…”
I shake my head. “Let me finish. I’ll never regret falling for you. I’ll never regret loving you because Idolove you, Jade. I’m not sure when it exactly happened, but somewhere on the way, somewhere in this hell, I’ve fallen in love with you. You were my light, my saving grace. You, Jade, you’re what saved me. When you walked away, you saved me. I didn’t know it at the time, but you were right. I’m not going to lie and say things have been easy these last few months. They haven’t. My leg will never be the same, and some days when it hurts, my first reaction is to reach for that bottle and relieve the pain, but I haven’t done it. I’ve been clean for three months now, and the only reason that’s possible is because of you.”
Jade shakes her head, her blue eyes shimmering with tears. “It’s because of you. You put in the hard work. You say no when the temptation is there. Not me,you.”
“Because you showed me I can. You make me want to be a better man, always have. I just hope…”
“What?”
“I hope that you can give me a second chance. Or maybe it’s a third chance?” I run my fingers through my hair. “The fuck if I know. It doesn’t even matter. The point is... I want us to try again, Jade. For real, this time. No sneaking around. No lies. No pretending. Just you and me.”
“Just you and me,” She repeats softly, a wistful look on her face. “But what if my cancer comes back?”
“It won’t come back, but if it does… If it does, we’ll deal with it. Together.”
She looks at the photo of the two of us, the silence settling over us as she mulls over my words.
