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Lou didn’t have his usually playful smirk today, however. There was sadness in his eyes. Was it because he was breaking his big news to me? Whatever it was, there was something I needed to get out first. This was when it had to happen. If it didn’t, I didn’t know when I would have the courage again.
Approaching him, our eyes met. I melted.
‘Lou, I love you. I always have. And I want us to be together,’ I rehearsed.
Sitting next to him, he did something he never had before. He put his hand on my thigh as his gaze fell to the ground. The gesture froze me. What was going on? Pushing through it, I began.
“Lou, I…”
“My grandmother died,” he said cutting me off.
“What?”
“That’s what my parents came to town to tell me. The funeral was last Saturday.”
“They didn’t tell you about the funeral?” I asked shocked.
Lou had told me about her. He had said that his grandmother was the only reason he had survived his childhood. Now she was dead and his parents had stolen his opportunity to say goodbye.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered feeling my heart ache for him.
Then Lou did another thing he had never done. He fell into my arms and cried. I held him forgetting about whatever plan I had. Lou needed me and I was going to do whatever I had to to be there for him.
Chapter 3
Lou
Nothing ever felt real until I told Titus. And having said it, I knew that my grandmother was truly gone. I would never see her again. It wouldn’t even be in a casket. My parents had robbed me of that. I always knew that my family hated me, but I never knew they could be this cruel.
“She’s gone,” I said feeling his warm arms wrapped around me. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“I’m so sorry,” he kept repeating.
It was enough for me to forgive him for not reaching out to me until now. He had said that he was coming to rescue me from being alone with my parents. I had even seen him standing outside the door. He had chosen not to come in.
Seeing him walk away had hurt me. The only thing I wanted was to do what I was doing now, cry in his arms. But he had abandoned me. I had never felt more alone.
But, none of that mattered now that he was here. We didn’t need to talk about why he had gone. There were a lot of things we didn’t need to talk about.
I didn’t know how I was going to break the news of my engagement to him. It was partly because I wasn’t sure if we were actually engaged. Yes, he had proposed with a choir of his teammates singing in the background. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me and I had said yes. But where has he been since?
My parents dropping that bomb on the day of my engagement was a shitty thing for them to do. There was no doubt. It had ruined what was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives. But I wasn’t the one who had done it. I was the boy who had had his heart ripped out of him. There were more important things than grand gestures and Sey had asked to be my husband.
Sure, as I sat stunned, he had sent his teammates home and had held my hand as I tried to process it all. But eventually, he walked me home and I haven’t heard from him since.
Did he think it was up to me to reach out to him to talk about how I was doing? Was he trying to give me my space to grieve?
Whatever he was doing, I hated every moment of it. And considering it had been over twenty-four hours since I had last heard from him, I was starting to believe that his proposal had been a joke. Maybe “joke” was the wrong word. Maybe he had done it because he knew how insecure my parents made me feel and decided that this would prove to them that someone valued me.
I hadn’t told him anything about the struggles I had had with my family over the years. But couldn’t that be a sign that he was the one? Him knowing what I needed without me having to say anything?
“What would you like to do?” Titus asked me eventually breaking the silence.
“Nothing,” I admitted. “I just want to sit here.”
“For as long as you want,” he said meaning it.
“Actually, do you know what would be really nice? Having a game night. Nothing big. Just something nice, you know?”
