Page 28 of Say You'll Stay
And there, as if summoned by the depth of my despair, is June.
I freeze, a statue carved from regret and longing. He looks up, our eyes meeting in a collision of past and present. I should walk away, should prove that I am more than the ruins he left behind.
But I am weak, and my treacherous feet carry me to him, drawn like a moth to the flame.
“June,” I start, steeling myself against the tremors in my voice. “I need you to know… there was never anyone else.”
A strangled laugh escapes me, a release of pent-up emotion. “I’ve tried to move on. God knows I’ve tried. But they’re not you. They could never be you.”
June’s eyes soften, a kaleidoscope of hope and sorrow. “Cara,” he breathes, my name a prayer on his lips. “It’s always been you. Only you.”
The confession hangs between us, a fragile bridge spanning the chasm of our mistakes. “I was a fool,” he continues, his voice raw. “I was scared of how much I felt for you, of how much I still feel.”
Tears prick at my eyes, hot and stinging. I step closer, drawn into his orbit. “We’ve both been hurt,” I whisper. “We’ve both made mistakes. But this thing between us, it’s still here. Isn’t it?”
He reaches for me, tentative, as if I might shatter at his touch. I meet him halfway, our fingers tangling, a declaration of the bond we couldn’t sever.
“It’s here,” he agrees, his voice gaining strength. “And it’s worth fighting for.”
I nod, a silent vow. Despite the pain, despite the scars, I am ready to leap into the unknown, to see if we can build something new from the ashes of our past.
And so, on this bench, in this park, we begin again. We talk, really talk, baring our souls and our scars in the quiet of the night. We make no grand promises, no declarations of forever. Only a commitment to try, to take each day as it comes.
When we finally stand to leave, June’s arm around me feels like coming home, a piece of myself sliding back into place. I sink into his warmth, allowing myself this moment of peace amidst the uncertainty.
Walking away, hand in hand, I feel the first stirrings of hope, delicate and tentative. It’s a fragile thing, this new beginning, but for the first time in longer than I can remember, I dare to believe.
In the days that follow, we relearn each other through texts and calls, each interaction a tiny step forward. June’s “good morning” messages become a lifeline, a daily reminder that he’s still here, still fighting for us.
Slowly, painfully, we begin to tear down the walls we’ve built, to confront the hurts we’ve inflicted and endured. It’s a process that leaves us both raw and exposed, but with each confession, each moment of vulnerability, I feel the chasm between us closing.
When June suggests meeting for coffee, a flutter of nervous anticipation takes root in my stomach. This is a test, a trial by fire, to see if the fragile trust we’ve rebuilt can withstand the weight of proximity.
But as I step into the café and see him waiting, a calm settles over me, a bone-deep certainty that this is right, that he is right. We talk, tentative at first, feeling out the edges of our new dynamic. But slowly, like the blooming of a flower, we begin to open up, to laugh and share and simply be.
As we part ways, a promise of more hanging sweet in the air, I am suffused with warmth, a joy that I’d almost forgotten. It’s a feeling of rightness, of two mismatched pieces finally fitting together.
The road ahead is long and winding, filled with untold challenges and setbacks. But we walk it together, hand in hand, hearts beating in sync. Because this, this love that refused to die, that endured through the darkest of nights, is worth every struggle, every tear, every painful step.
Chapter twelve
The silence of my apartment is shattered by the insistent pounding on my door, each blow reverberating through my skull. I wrench it open, a snarl already curling my lips, only to find Alex’s fury blazing hotter than my own.
“What the actual fuck, June?” Alex storms past me, their rage a living, breathing thing. “Threatening Dale? Have you completely lost your goddamn mind?”
My jaw clenches, a mix of shame and defiance war within me, a twisted dance of conflicting emotions. “I did what was necessary, Alex. He was encroaching on what’s mine.”
Alex whirls on me, their eyes twin flames of disbelief and disgust. “Yours? Cara isn’t a fucking possession, June! She’s a person with her own agency, her own desires. You can’t just piss on her like some feral dog marking its territory!”
“She belongs with me!” The words tear from my throat, raw and bleeding. “Not with some two-bit artist who doesn’t know the first thing about her!”
“Listen to yourself!” Alex’s voice rises to a fever pitch. “This isn’t love, it’s obsession. It’s sick, and it’s going to destroy you both.”
I stalk forward, my hands curling into fists, itching to lash out. “I don’t need a lecture on love from you, Alex. What I need is for you to stay the hell out of my way.”
For a moment, Alex stares at me as if I’m a stranger wearing the skin of their friend. “If you keep down this path, June, you’ll lose her. You’ll lose everything. Is that what you want? To be left with nothing but the ashes of your own fucked up delusions?”
Their words slice through me, the truth a serrated blade. But I can’t back down, can’t relinquish the obsessive need that consumes me.