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“Jesus.” He hugs me. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Knox wants me to leave the state,” I say against his chest. “And I know I should, just for my safety, but I want to end this. Please help me end this.”
Unfortunately, that’s when his door crashes open. And the next thing I know, I’m ripped away from him.
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MANUSCRIPT
CHAPTER 6
Knox shows up at my door with red-rimmed eyes. He takes my hands, both of them, and guides me out the door and all the way to his house, walking backward the whole time. Neither of us speak until we’re in his kitchen, with his mom standing between us.
“Marriage,” she says.
Knox’s grip on me tightens. “Please, Mom.”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Whiteshaw?—”
“Do not apologize to me, honey.” Her features soften, and she cups my cheek. “My boy explained it to me. All of it. And I’m so sorry you’ve been shouldering this on your own. Your parents are doing their best.”
“Something is going to happen. I can feel it.” I gulp. “I just am worried I’m going to work my parents into the ground, and all these medical bills… I just think we’re drowning, and another surgery is going to push us so deep we won’t be able to resurface. I never wanted to ruin my parents’ lives.”
“Your parents love you,” his mom says. She glances at him. “Knox, can I talk to Aurora for a moment alone?”
He reluctantly lets go of my hands, and we watch his back until he disappears out of sight.
“That boy will be listening at the doorway,” she whispers, her tone conspiratorial. “Come with me.”
I smile. He would eavesdrop.
We go outside, into the cool, fall sunshine. I tip my head back and let it warm my face, but all too soon I realize she’s waiting for me to look at her. To ask me something she doesn’t want her son to overhear.
“Go ahead,” I whisper. “Ask.”
“I know why it makes sense, honey. On paper. Knox made a logical argument. But then… something broke in him.” She touches my chin. “I love you like a daughter. But I need to know… what about Knox? You’re agreeing to marry him, and him you. That includes through sickness and health?—”
“I don’t know if I love him, if that’s what you’re asking.” I frown. “I mean, I think I do. I’ve never been in love, but I just get this feeling in my chest when I look at him. And when I think about him. Even when I’m not trying to think about him, like during math class.”
She chuckles. “Yeah?”
“My parents make love seem like… it’s normal, I guess? It’s just a way of life. They do what they have to do, they kiss and stuff, but is that more a reflection on their style of love, or how love actually is for everyone?” I shrug. “And then the movies make it confusing. Butterflies and heart palpitations—isn’t that funny? The thing that sets my teeth on edge is supposed to tell me if I’m in love, too.”
“I see your predicament.” She gazes at me. “And have you told your parents about this plan?”
“I didn’t want them trying to convince your family one way or another.”
“Okay. Well. I’m going to talk to your mother when she gets home, okay?”
My attention drops to my shoes. They’re worn out and dirty, covered in scuff marks. But they’re still the best pair of shoes I own. “Mom’s working late. She should be home by seven.”
“All right. You hungry?”
I look up.
She smiles and hugs me into her side. “Yeah, thought so. Let’s recruit Knox, you two can help me make dinner.”
It’s not that bad cooking with her. And she must text my mother, because she comes down to the Whiteshaws to collect me instead of going straight home. Knox’s mom shoos us off to his room shortly after she arrives, and the two of them disappear into the kitchen.
