I let out a ragged breath, pressing my palms against my thighs. How do I stop running? It’s all I’ve ever known.
But I know this too—I ran from him, and I still ended up here, aching for him.
So maybe running isn’t the answer.
Maybe it never was.
Dr. Martha shifts slightly, her chair creaking. “You said something earlier, Madison. You said you left him because you thought it would protect you.”
I nod slowly, my throat too tight to speak. Now? Now, I don’t know if I can ever fix it.
Tears slip down my cheeks before I can stop them, hot and unforgiving.
Dr. Martha hands me a tissue, her expression patient.
I take it with shaking fingers, dabbing at my face. “I don’tknow how to fix it,” I admit, my voice raw. “I don’t know how to stop ruining everything good in my life.”
She tilts her head slightly, her expression thoughtful. “Let me ask you something, Madison. When you walked away from Jaxon, did it make you feel safe?”
The question punches straight through me, and I shake my head, my fingers curling around the tissue. “No,” I whisper. “It made me feel empty.”
Dr. Martha leans forward just slightly, her tone soft but firm. “Then maybe it’s time to try something new.”
A sharp breath shudders through me.
Something new.
Something terrifying.
Something like staying.
Something like fighting.
I wipe at my face, sniffling softly. “What if I already ruined it?”
“What if you didn’t?” she counters. “What if he’s waiting for you to figure it out?”
My chest tightens—I don’t know.
But maybe…
Maybe, I owe it to myself to find out.
47
JAXON
The sun is low in the sky as I walk across campus, casting long shadows over the familiar paths I’ve spent the last year traveling. The air is crisp, spring fighting to push through the last remnants of winter, and, for the first time in a long time, I feel it.
Not just the cold, the pressure of what’s coming—Pro Day, the draft, the entire next chapter of my life.
I feel the weight of it all.
Because this isn’t just a campus.
It’s ours.
Every step I take is laced with memories, carved into the pavement like ghosts of the past, refusing to let me go.
