Only For Him {COLLINS #2} 🔞✓

LVIII

"I'm not asking for much. Just trust me once, only for a couple of minutes, and then if you feel that it's all bullshit, I would never bring it up, I promise." I held his hand. All I wanted was to let him know that the person whom he had loved for so long was right in front of him. I wanted to let him know how much I honored him.

He looked at me hesitantly but finally nodded with a sigh. "Fine, whatever you say." A ray of hope was born inside me as soon as he said that. He went to his closet, I followed.

Nostalgia hit me when I saw some old dresses of mine in his closet. I was overwhelmed with emotions that were hard to keep at bay. Everything that happened between us surfaced. Our story was so ill-starred to have such an end but not anymore. I wanted to make everything alright. I wanted him to make everything alright.

"You remembered the first time we met?" I asked him.

"Depends on who's asking." He replied buttoning up his shirt. A small smile crept up my lips when I looked at his handsome face again. Oh! How on Earth did I ever think that I couldn't love him more? My boundaries of love for him didn't exist anymore. It felt so deep suddenly. I felt so much myself. It felt like I had found who I was. I was truly enlightened, just as the priest had said.

"I can tell you my side of the story. We never discussed that right? Maybe you think that we met for the first time in the hospital when Eric was born. But that's not the case." By then he was done clasping his pants. He now stood fully dressed in front of me and smiled.

"So, where did we meet for the first time?" He looked chilled all of a sudden and it felt like he was being sweet to me all of a sudden. I tried to ignore that and continued.

"In San Francisco, you were on vacation with your family. You were at a yearly dance competition held in the city. You remember the girl you gave three chocolate bars to." I smiled at him. He frowned but then smiled.

"Go ahead." He nodded.

"That was me." I said.

He chuckled and shook his head, "That was approximately thirty-five years ago. You are nineteen."

He still didn't believe me. Maybe he already knew about it through Natalia. I licked my lips and turned around to find something to wear first.

"Ursula!" He sighed. He came behind me as I dropped the towel to wear a pretty red dress which Hazel had selected for me when we went shopping.

He helped me pull the dress down my head and stood behind me as I smoothened it over my belly. His breath sounded so uneven when he said, "I went to see your therapist."

"I lost her. I can't lose you now." He said in a small voice.

"You are not losing anyone." I gulped down a lump stuck at my throat. It hurt me that he wasn't even willing to give me few minutes of trust. I inhaled deeply and with a smile on my lips turned around.

"Would you help me dry my hair?" I asked him instead.

He looked into my eyes wanting to earn my reaction but I didn't blame him. If I were at his place, I would have done the same.

"Sure" He said after a while.

I walked in front of the dresser and waited for him to come and dry my hair. Once he was done with it, I looked at him in the mirror and smiled.

"You know how to French braid?"

A small smile touched his lips as he brushed my hair. "I want two French braids." I told him. He smiled, shaking his head, and followed my commands.