Begin Again

| Chapter Twenty-Three |

Posting the next chapter today because I love you guys and I loved seeing all of your comments in the last chapter! I couldn't leave y'all hanging like that! Enjoy my loves❤️

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Oklahoma 2019 (Past)

Continued . . .

What the hell were they doing here?

Raffo cautiously watched as the familiar slender girl walked right up to where he stood next to his truck, leaving her mother behind in the car behind her to scroll on her phone. His eyebrows furrowed, and he shifted on his feet, annoyed.

He was running late and now the girl who he had never been a big fan of was holding him up. Didn't she have to be at the airport too? Why the hell was she at his house? She hadn't come by there since they were kids after coming to one of the birthday parties his mother tried to throw for him before he swore off parties altogether. He didn't like any of the other kids aside from his group of friends, and Roger was always a raging lunatic, so there was no point in trying anymore.

Emily flipped her dark hair over her shoulder, a determined look in her eyes as she came to a stop a few feet away from him. The silence stretching between them was awkward and deafening, and he didn't know what to do or say. He wanted to be rude, but Ruth obviously cared for the clingy girl and, seeing as how they were going to be roommates, he had to play nice.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here and not at the airport," Emily began, crossing her arms uncomfortably.

No shit, he thought to himself, mentally rolling his eyes.

"But I had to come. I needed to talk to you before you left," she admitted, taking a deep breath.

He shifted on his feet. "Talk to me about what?" he sighed, stuffing his truck keys in his pocket. He really didn't have time to talk, but the girl wasn't going anywhere unless he humored her and listened to whatever the hell she had to say.

Emily cleared her throat, and an unreadable cloud drifted over her expression, blanketing anything that could coincide with what she had to tell him. "Raffo . . . you need to let Ruth go."

Raffo sucked in a sharp breath and took a quick step back like she'd burned him. He hadn't expected that one so soon, so to say he was completely taken off guard was an understatement. "What the fuck?"

"Just hear me out, okay?" she begged. "I know I have no right to ask this of you. But just—just listen. I don't have much time to explain."

He didn't want to listen to anything else she had to say. He even moved to go to the driver's side of his truck but she blocked him before he could move an inch.

"Move," he demanded, calmly.

"No! Just listen to me," she practically shouted. "Ruth deserves more than the life you're willing to give her, Raffo. You know that as well as I do, and you know being in a long distance relationship is going to hold her back from making decisions on the dreams she'll want for herself. You're always going to hold her back, and Ruth knows that. But she loves you too much to let you go."

Raffo's breath shuddered, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. She thought . . . Ruth thought . . . that he held her back? But—but wasn't he always supportive? Didn't he encourage her to chase her dreams even if they'd be separated in two different places? He'd told her he didn't want to hold her back, and she promised she wouldn't. Right?

Raffo stood there motionlessly now, frozen in place like a statue. "Did she tell you that?" he whispered, strained.

Emily nodded grimly, her voice apologetic and eyes filled with pity. "Yes, but she would never hurt you intentionally, Raffo. That's why she can't tell you this herself. She confided in me, and I didn't think it would be fair to either of you if I didn't say something before we left."