“I thought I was keeping you safe, I thought I was protecting you from the darkness of war. What you don't know is your letters helped me. I could read them, and they would take me home, they brought me back to you. You were the only light I had, Story.”
“One letter, that was all I needed, just one.” I blink, freeing the tears. Water rushes down my cheeks, and my body begins to tremble with tears I've held in for years.
“I'm sorry, Story, I never meant to hurt you.” Wyatt wraps me in his arms, and holds me against his chest. “But I didn't have the words to give you, I didn't have the strength to let you go.”
He tips my head up, and cups my cheek. His eyes dart between mine, and he licks his lips.
Swallowing hard, I sniffle as I say, “I never let you go, no matter how much I tried. You were always there.”
He smiles, a real, full, heartfelt smile that makes my chest tighten. “I love you, Story, I never stopped loving you. That's why I'm here, that's why I came back. I came back for you.”
Pressing up on the tips of my toes, I kiss him. I kiss him like I've dreamt about kissing him for years. I kiss him with every ounce of my soul.
Wyatt has always owned my heart. And he always will.
Real love doesn't just go away. It can be dulled, numbed, the volume turned down, but it's always there. It sits in your heart, in an unreachable place. It's a knot in your stomach and a heat in your veins.
Love is what makes us human.
And without it, we'd never know what it means to be alive.
I'm alive with Wyatt. He's my air, my food, my everything.
