2-27
Zane
“You sleep at all last night, man?” Needles asks as I place the machine in the cardboard box as carefully as I can.
“No.” I don’t mean to be short. But I’m worried about her, and tired as fuck. I stayed up in the waiting room downstairs.
I just can’t get the image of her tied up and helpless out of my head. I wish they were alive so I could kill them again. I never wanna leave her side ever again.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
I know she left me. I know this shit is my fault. But I couldn’t leave her. I respected her father’s wishes, but I wasn’t going to leave.
The nurse on duty was nice enough to keep me posted. I know she’s awake now. I know she’s alright. I keep checking my phone, thinking she’ll call me. But nothing yet.
I wouldn’t even be here if Nikolai hadn’t told me the shop needed to be cleared out today.
“It’s gonna be alright.” Needles slaps my back and gives me a reassuring look. He has no fucking clue how I feel though.
“As soon as this shit is packed up, I’m going back to her. Her father can’t stay in that room forever.” I don’t know if she’ll want me. But I have to try.
“Even if he does, so what?” Needles says with a scrunched nose. “Fuck him.”
I give him a sad smile. I thought about just being an ass and refusing to leave. But he’s her father, and I know she doesn’t want us fighting.
“It’ll hurt her,” I tell him. I know she didn’t like it when we fought before. Who am I to go in there causing problems when she’s recovering from that shit? The shit I caused her.
I want her though. I need her.
I have to try.
I breathe out deep and get back to loading my shit into cardboard boxes.
I hear the door open behind us and I assume it’s Trisha. She’s got a box in the back that she needs to move to the new place.
But then I hear Katie’s sarcastic mouth. “You better not be leaving town.”
I clench my jaw and try to hold in everything I wanna say. I need to know how my girl is. I wanna tell Katie there’s no fucking way I’m leaving her. Instead I slowly turn around, and I’m speechless.
Maddy’s standing there with a bandage on her leg and a bruise on her face. Her gorgeous green eyes are staring at me with so many emotions shining through.
I drop the shit in my hands and stare back at her, taking her in. I wanna run to her, take her in my arms, and kiss her. I’d drop to my knees and promise to make it up to her. I’d spend the rest of my life doing it.
She looks so uneasy. Like she doesn’t know why she’s here.
Fuck it!
I only have one life to live, and I wanna spend it with her.
I take large strides across the room to take her in my arms. And thank fuck she wraps her arms around me in return. I bury my head in the crook of her neck and kiss every inch available.
“I’m so sorry, Maddy.”
She doesn’t say anything which makes me nervous, but she holds me tighter.
“Is it true?” she asks in a voice that tells me she’s scared to know the answer.
“Is what true?” I pull away and search her eyes. My heart races with panic.
“Are you done with that? All of it?” she asks me. I slowly nod my head as I realize what she’s asking.
“I am. It’s over. I swear to you.”
I hear her sob, and it breaks my heart. I brush her tears away with my thumb and hold her face in my hands.
“I’m sorry, peaches. I’m so fucking sorry.” I take her lips with mine and kiss her with all the passion I have for her. I want her to feel it, and to know it, never doubting me again.
“I’ll make it up to you,” I whisper with my forehead resting against hers. “Every day for the rest of my life.” I kiss her again and she leans into my touch. My hand splays across her back and braces her against me. I don’t want to ever let go.
“I love you, Zane.” She whispers her words and my heart swells in my chest, but I’m still worried. I wait for a “but”. After a moment she pulls back and looks at me, her eyes searching my face and then I see her vulnerability.
She’s just waiting for me to say it back.
“I love you too, peaches. Forever.”