I sit beside her, leaning my crutches against the wall.
"I know you said everything you wanted to say last night, and I'm not here to try and convince you to change your mind or anything like that. I respect your decision and if you think we're not right for each other and should stop building this connection between us, then that's fine."
Her brows furrow, and she rubs her chest as if my words are physically hurting her.
"I think you're an amazing, stunning, kind-hearted woman, and I love everything about you. Every minute that I spent with you is engrained in my mind, and it always will be. It pains me to know that I'm not going to see, or speak to you every day, but I'll learn to live with that. I just want you to know, I'll always be here for you if you need me."
I hand her the piece of paper that's been curled in my hand, and when she looks at it seeing that it's my number, her brows raise in surprise.
"You call me if you ever need anything, okay?"
She pulls her trembling lower lip into her mouth and nods as she tucks the paper into her bag.
"I mean it. Any time, and any day. I know that there's something going on, and there's something you're not telling me, but I'll wait until you're ready to explain. You need me for anything, you call me."
"I will," she whispers, nodding again.
I stand up and offer her my hand to pull her up too, then I pull her into a hug, squeezing her against me as I rest my head atop of hers, breathing her in, one last time.
"Please, be safe," she mutters, wrapping her arms around me.
She pulls away from me too soon, leaving me feeling empty, lost, and heartbroken as I watch her hesitantly walk away from me.
When she glances over her shoulder, I force myself to shoot her a smile even though I'm slowly dying inside.
"I know you're feeling sorry for yourself right now, but can you please put on a smile and pretend to be okay?" Dominic asks as we pull through the gates that lead to Jericho's house. "Sophia has been a raving bitch towards everyone to try and make this little party as perfect as it can be, and if she thinks you hate it, I'm convinced she'll actually kill us all for somehow doing something wrong."
I grumble in response, hardly paying attention to him as I watch the house come in to view outside the window.
My mind is still on Aurora, and I've already checked my phone an obscene amount of times in the hopes that she'd have messaged me, but she hasn't.
"I'm serious, Jay," he snaps, putting the car in to park at the bottom of the steps that lead to the house.
"I know!" I bite back, turning to glare at him. "I can act just fine, so get off my back."
He holds his hands up in a placating manner before shaking his head and getting out of the car.
Heaving a sigh, I follow his lead, accepting the crutches he hands me once he rounds the car.
After hobbling up the steps with no help from my cousin, I paint my usual wide, charming smile on my face and push open the front door, swinging myself over the threshold with my crutches.
"Honey, I'm home!" I call out in a joyful tone, spotting Kaleb at the bottom of the stairs to the left of the grand foyer in front of me.
He grumbles something under his breath, but I don't hear it because Sophia shouts my name and comes rushing through the foyer from the door under both staircases, screaming in excitement as she flings herself towards me.
"Woah, you only saw me yesterday, woman. There's no need to make a fuss," I say, hugging her, and trying to not drop my crutches at the same time.
Kaleb walks down the last couple steps and lightly tugs Sophia out of my arms as they both exchange a couple harsh whispers before she turns back to me with a smile.
"I know it was only yesterday, but it was still in the hospital. Now you're out, and you're walking around! I'm so glad you're out of there."
My fake, joyous smile falls slightly as her words pierce my heart, knowing what I left behind at the hospital, but I quickly recover and nod.
"Yeah, me too."
My sister bounds down the stairs next, wrapping her arms around me and almost knocking me off my feet while Dominic shoves past us and moves towards the door Sophia came out of that leads towards the kitchen.
"Jay, come on. Myra has made an amazing spread of food for you!" Jess says, walking ahead of me and dragging Sophia along with her as they follow after Dominic.
