To Girls You've Ever Loved | ✔️

Chapter 25

Dahlia Meadows

We walked together, though he was five paces away from me, like before. We were quiet as we went to the balcony. I gently closed the door, and I saw him leaning in the steel fence as he gripped his hands tightly.
I could see the veins blasting in his skin. "How have you been?"
"I've been well. You?"
He slowly deepened his smile and looked at me. "What do you think?"
"Not very well." I look at his wrists, full of scars. They were scars from cuts, they weren't just any ordinary scars. I grabbed his hand, and caressed the scars. He slid his hand away from my grip. "I'm doing fine. This mall was my first project, and we met here."
I looked at him. "Sorry, I couldn't contact you. It's because-"
He cut me off. "It's okay. Don't bother."
He smiled at me, just like I told him that those smiles he bursts would be just for me. When I looked at his pictures through January's and the school's IG, he barely smiled. I didn't know if he ever smiled, because all of the pictures that were up had been him steadily making a straight face. Now, I'm here, seeing him smile.

"How's your mom?" He curiously asked. I answered his questions, then told the story I couldn't tell five years ago now. I told him that I found out the parents I thought were my biological ones turned out to be my adoptive parents, my mom left me to them because she had a job offer out here in Michigan. I also told him how I left my phone in Detroit Metro Airport, and it was the biggest regret of mine. I also told him what went down when I talked to my adoptive parents, we talked about what truly happened and everything went smoothly.
I could never be so happy, finally telling him the story on why I left him.
"I'm going to the nearest harbor town here in Michigan soon. I'm thinking of going to Ludington." I smiled as I gripped my hands in the steel fence like what he was doing.
"That sounds nice. I'm still thinking of what I should be doing since this mall has already been finished. I want to take a break." He looked at me, and I spouted something. "Have you ever loved any girls yet?" A chuckle rippled out of my throat.
"No. I haven't."
My heart was burning, what if he was waiting for me? It was all my illusions. "Why?"
"Because of you." He stopped leaning, and turned sideways to me. "I've been waiting for you. My letters have been so stacked up in your G-mail." I look at him in distress.
"You shouldn't have waited for me, you know. We're not gonna work out." I told him directly. We're not gonna work out. I didn't mean that, but I had to make him stop following me and follow his heart now.
"I have stopped waiting for you Dahlia." It was a good thing that he moved on, but my heart was stinging tenderly. He was so far, now when I've seen him, it feels so impossible to go back to the past. All I could do was just look at him, thinking what else could I say to him now we met?
"But that doesn't mean I have moved on from you." I stood in agony, as I stared at him. I was close to breaking down, and I couldn't let what I'm feeling to wait longer.
"I'm still desperate for your love Dallas." I looked at him, he grasped my elbows and closed our distance. He held my head, kissing it. "Thank you Dahlia, thank you." I leaned my chest on him, resting it cozily.
This was the warmth I had been longing.

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Dallas

Her eyes looked at me, talking as she rested on my chest. "I have to go, it's getting late." We took the moment to tighten our embrace.
She bid her farewell, but I was glad it wasn't the last farewell now.
It was like all's that ends well. The feeling of heaviness was no longer there.
It was replaced with such a sigh of relief, now my heart's beating properly as I feel it.

I went home and quickly packed most of my clothes. Dahlia didn't tell me where we would be meeting, so I quickly rushed. Dahlia had given me her new phone number, it felt like we had a way of communicating now. My phone buzzed, and vibrated through my pockets.
Dahlia: I'll be waiting for you in Ludington. Chat me when you get there.