my salvation (chris evans)

chapter six - whatever it takes

I'm here. I'm in Shrewsbury. I'm in a taxi going to Meg's house. I can't lie, I'm starting to get nervous. What if she doesn't want to see me? What if she doesn't want to be with me after all? Am I too late?

"Hope you don't mind me saying, mate, but you look really tense." The taxi driver states, and I snap my eyes to him. Thankfully he didn't seem to recognise me when I hopped in, so that's something I don't have to deal with.

"Ha... Yeah, I guess I'm feeling pretty nervous."

"Important day?"

"Possibly the most important day of my life."

"Have you got an interview or something?"

"No, no... there's this girl..." I start and he smiles, raising his eyebrows.

"Ahhh, a girl... your girlfriend?"

"Yeah... at least, I hope she still wants to be my girlfriend."

"Are you in the doghouse?" The driver asks with a small chuckle, and I chuckle too.

"We've been doing long distance, you see, and I think it's been really tough on us both. Well, it's been really tough on me at least and I don't want to do it anymore. I want her with me all the time." He smiles and nods.

"I'm sure she'll feel the same way, bud."

"I sure hope so..." Within a couple of minutes, the taxi stops outside a small semi-detached house.

"Six pounds please, mate."

"Right, yeah—" I fish my money out of my pocket and hand him a ten.

"Cheers, mate."

"Hey, um, if you keep the change, could you wait here for a couple of minutes? It's just... her car isn't here..."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks." I slip out of the car, bringing my carry-on with me, and take a deep breath. Shit. I hope this is the right house. I wander down to the front door and then knock. Her dogs immediately start barking and I smile slightly. About a minute later, the door swings open and a petite woman is stood on the other side, in pjs and her hair in messy pig tails. Ah, Meg's mom. Her eyes widen.

"Oh my god, it's you! Hi!" She says in shock and I smile, taking a deep breath.

"Hi there. It's great to finally officially meet you."

"I can't believe you're actually here, in the flesh! Does Meg know? Is she expecting you? She didn't tell me—" I shake my head slowly.

"No— I, um..." I sigh. "The truth is, I've really struggled with this whole long distance stuff. I shouldn't have ever suggested it in the first place. The thing is, miss Pierce,"

"Oh, please, call me Tina."

"The thing is, Tina... well, I've come to realise that I am, in fact, in love with your daughter." I confess, starting to smile, in a daze just thinking about her. "I'm absolutely crazy about her and I want to be with her all the time. She's everything to me. I've never felt like this before; so lost or hopeless when she's not around, so happy and complete when she is. I'm madly in love with her and I need to tell her. I need her to know that I'm not giving up on us because she's the best thing in my life." Her mom smiles too.

"Well, I'm very happy to hear that, Chris. You are a smart man after all." She says with a wink, making me laugh softly.

"I don't know about that. I feel like I've been an oblivious idiot this past month." Now she's the one laughing.