Blue Ribbon

Chapter 27 - Kind of Shakespearean

"Closure is just as delusive - it is the false hope that we can deaden our living grief."

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Lilly's POV

My chest felt heavy, my heart beating so fast and I didn't understand if it was breaking or finally healing after all those years. My gaze on the warm sand, feeling it wrap over my feet and between my toes with every step I took forward, limping still due to my twisted ankle.

The ache had disappeared from there, the inner chaos enough to blunt any outside physical pain. I pressed my hand over my chest, asking my heart to calm down, to beat one at a time, I forced him to understand and comprehend the words that were exchanged just minutes ago. I allowed him to come in terms with that old wound, to wrap it up and leave it to heal on its own.

It was no longer a half-told story anymore. It ended, it had to somehow. It's...what I needed, what I was waiting for since five years, to hear him say it out loud, that he really loved me, that he wished he fought more, that we both messed it up, which is the main reason we really don't fit together anymore. Because when one of us gives up, the second doesn't even try. We were bound to fail since day one.

And as painful as it feels to let go of that significant part of my life, it helped me relax a bit, it made it certain, forcing me to finally accept it. To close that page and just never open it again.

"So, I leave you alone for a minute only and you end up breaking yourself," The words and the familiar voice had me lifting my head up, my gaze falling on Noah, a few meters away from me, he was looking at my bandaged ankle before his eyes fell on my face.

"Noah," I mumbled lowly, blinking my eyes in shock, not expecting to see him here.

He smiled, his head tilting to the side and I broke into a big smile before I jogged forward, limping before I threw my arms around him, "I missed you," I mumbled, and he chuckled lowly at how I jumped on him before he wrapped his arms around me, hugging me back, just as tight and I asked, "What are you doing here?"

I edged backward and he explained, "I heard about Christian escaping and they were doubling security," His eyebrow raised, "So I offered to come and watch over my favorite girl," He said smiling and I nodded, my heart still in the process of calming down due to what happened, "I am glad you did," I said, my voice low before I leaned back into his embrace, my temple pressing over his chest as I mumbled, "You have no idea how badly I need a friend."

He ran his hand over my back, soothingly, "Well, that's what I am here for."

I nodded, my eyelids gliding down, that melancholic feeling never once leaving me be. Since the moment Christian exposed everything and turned my life upside down, I haven't had a moment where I felt...happy. It's been a whirlwind of guilt, pain and heartbreak. The worst part is that the pain has faded away by now, leaving me hangover with its aftermath, the numbness, the sadness, and they're just a hundred times worse.

"Hey, you okay?" Noah asked, pulling away to look at my face, somehow sensing all the negative energy vibrating off me.

A small smile lifted my lips and I nodded, "Yeah, I am," At least my parents and brother are healthy and safe...for now. I shouldn't ask for more.

His gaze flickered to my ankle, his eyebrow raising and I shook my head, dismissing the topic, "You know me, I need supervision all the time or I will trip, fall, and end up hurting myself," I said, my words holding a double meaning, a one he understood.