AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He arches a brow. “When was this?”
My shoulders are too heavy for a shrug. “I was trying to make a final Hail Mary play…To get him to drop the charges.”
He sits on the edge of the mattress and presses his palm against my wrapped head.
“Being the most dramatic woman I’ve ever met, you decided to run away from living instead of handling things.”
“I didn’t want to testify.”
“You didn’t need to die. How exactly would that have helped me?”
“No body, no case. At least, that’s what they always say on the legal TV shows.”
“That only works for homicides, and even then that’s not a guarantee.” A smile tugs at his lips. “No offense, but I hope you won’t be wasting any more of your time in law school.”
“Part of that decision was already made for me, actually.” I pause. “It’s probably for the best. I just want to write.”
He clasps my hand. “I want that for you, too.”
The soft beeps from the machine fill the room, and he slowly pulls me closer to him until my head rests against his chest.
“What’s happening with your case and Brett?”
“My case is officially nonexistent and Brett is probably getting disbarred,” he says, rubbing my back. “But if it’s alright with you, I’d rather spend your limited wake hours talking about anything other than him.”
“Where are we as a couple, then?”
“Together,” he says.
“Do my parents know?”
“They’ve been put in their place,” he says. “I’d rather not talk about them either.”
I smile. “If you could go back in time and change anything between us, would you?”
“Yes and no.”
“You have to choose one.”
“I would’ve still let you go,” he says, running his fingers through my hair. “But I would’ve said ‘Goodbye’ and done my best to explain things to you.”
I nod, hating that the truth still hurts my heart.
“But I would’ve made it clear that you’ll always be mine and I’d wait for you to get through college,” he says. “I would’vemade sure you knew that I’d chosen you, but we had to wait for the right time.”
“I wanted to marry you back then,” I say. “I was planning to ask you.”
“Ateighteen?” He smiles, trailing a thumb against my lips. “I take back what I said about you being mature.”
“I’m being honest,” I say. I thought you said something about feeling that way about me, too.”
“I was very serious about you, until I found out yourrealage, of course.”
Before I can apologize again, he presses a finger against my lips.
“I want to be with you for the rest of my life,” he says. “I plan to propose within a year, but you still have a terrible way of guessing all the foreshadowing elements, so can you pretend you don’t have any idea when it happens?”
I nod as tears prick my eyes.
“I love you, Genevieve,” he says. “I truly fucking do.”
“I love you, too.” I suck in a breath as he stops a tear stream with his fingertips.“Can we pick up where we left off?” My words dissolve on his lips into a soul-searing kiss.
The End
