The Final Project

Chapter 53

Ava

We pull into my college parking lot, both drenched, and crashing from our adrenaline high. "Thank you," I say quietly while staring into my lap. "For helping."

And I think he knows I mean it in more ways than one. It's for the old Ava that constantly needed reassurance. It's for the insecurities he loved away. It's for the sad girl he made a whole lot happier. She wants to say thank you.

I'm not sure where Liam, and I stand or if it'll ever go back to how it was, but I'll always cherish the happy moments. I'll always hold him in a special place in my heart.

I look at him now, deep in thought, and quiet. One of his hands stays on the steering wheel, and the other sits by his side. Something in my mind is telling me to wait for him to talk.

And he does.

"Why'd you have to go?" His timid voice pierces my heart, and with it comes a wave of remorse. Remorse of what could've been. I know leaving Liam was the best decision, but it doesn't make it any less painful. It doesn't mean I didn't want to stay.

"I'm sorry," is all I can muster as a response. My eyes divert to the car window, my nails digging into the flesh of my palms. I can already feel the angry red of the action, and perhaps I deserve it.

"It was hard, you know? Being without you," he continues. "I thought you didn't care, and-and I just wanted to be numb. I was numb, and you came back..."

I turn his face toward me, and see furrowed brows, and the corners of his mouth turned slightly downward. "I did care, Liam," I say while stroking the underneath of his eyes. "I still do." I give him a soft peck on the cheek, smiling a little while holding onto the contact with his skin. Even though it's a sad kiss, my heart flutters. Even though it's a sad kiss, his face goes hot underneath my touch.

I slowly pull away, and open the car door. "And for what it's worth, it was hard for me too."