𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑒𝑟

26 | Healing

By the time we got to Eastons place, I was exhausted, but I was going to get through it because he deserves an explanation.

I sit on the couch and play with my hands while Easton takes off his suit jacket and he is left in a white shirt and his nice pants.

The last time I was here I wore his clothes, and we told each other everything, and we held each other.

He takes a seat on the couch a little ways from me but not enough to where I think that he wants to stay away from me.

"Why did you stop calling me?" He sounds like a broken record. It shatters my heart.

"I- I don't have a good reason, my only excuse is that I couldn't hear your voice or see your face without breaking down because I was away from you. If I saw you, I would have gotten on a plane and I needed that vacation that me and Daisy had planned for months and I think it didn't want to let her down but I ended up letting you down... and I'm sorry."

He leans his forearms on his thighs. "I was so upset, angry, I thought maybe you found someone better and you ghosted me because you thought it was best."

"No- I was just a wimp, scared because I was falling in love with you." I whisper almost too low. I assume he doesn't hear it.

"I was falling in love with you too- I am still, there was never a time in those months I didn't, yeah I was upset but I was always thinking of you and wanting to hold you."

I let out a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry Easton. I understand if its different and you found someone, I get it and you deserve to be happy." I was trying my best not to son in front of him. I already had a rough night and this isn't helping.

"That's the problem. There is no one else, and I don't think there will ever be any because when you left I fell into a dark hole and then when I lost you I fell deeper and didn't come out of my home for days."

Instant guilt fills me. If I knew what he was like before we became close, could I even imagine what he was like when I stopped talking to him?

"Why were you nice to me tonight?" I look to where he is seated. "Was it for a show so there wasn't a scene?"

"No Gracie that was- that was me. I saw you and I ended up leaving Jess behind because I saw you were in distress, but mostly because I was deprived from you that if I didn't touch you soon, I would have bursted."

So many questions fill my head.

"Who is Jess?" The way she approached us and her tone was as if they were a thing, yet, Easton had said there was no other woman.

"She is a friend of my moms... she came to see me and told me that my mother had passed away due to sickness."

I gasp, putting my hands over my mouth. "Easton..."

"I'm okay now, I called her husband and talked with him for hours. He told me about her life when they met their child Rosa. I wasn't sad because my mother died, but she was treated right, nothing like my father. She had a loving family and even though she started over.." His mouth closes as if he is trying to hold back a sob.

"He said she talked about me and Blake everyday... how handsome we are, how much she missed us, how she had watched my movies ten times each and would gush to people how proud she was of me."

My hand reaches out to rub his back, but I pull him, not knowing if he wants my comfort right now.

"He told me that one day she wanted to see us, to apologize for leaving and for not seeing how our father treated us."

Tears stream down both of our faces and I start to feel a crack in my heart because I can't imagine how hard it was for him to go through this alone.

I was the only one who knew about his family with the exception of Blake.

"I'm so sorry for your lost Easton, I would do anything to go back and be there for you."

He nods his head, "I know, that's what I can't be mad at you. You had your reasons to be scared and feel the way you did."

Silence takes over us, and I know this conversation is over.

I reach into my bag and pull out a tiny gift bag. "I got this made in Italy. This woman made them and even though I had doubts about us, I still got them." I place the bag in his hands, pulling on the chain around my neck and lifting the cursive 'M' on the end of the chain.

He hesitates to open his, only to see a matching 'T'. He runs a finger around the jewel. "It's beautiful."

"You don't have to wear it, or keep it but... I just want you to know I will always be your Thea, I'll risk my life to come back to you." I stand up from his couch and make my way to the door, he doesn't follow, but I said what I needed to say, now it's his decision.

♡︎♡︎♡︎

I get to my apartment and toss my heels to the nearest corner, I already started taking pins out of my hair in the hallway when I catch Daisy on the couch curled up in a blanket.

She spots me and nods, I go to my room and change out of my dress, and pull on a shirt and shorts before making my way back to Daisy.

I pull the blanket up and scoot close to her, laying my head on her shoulder as she wraps an arm around me.

"How did it go?" Her question makes me break into sobs, making her hold me closer.

"I love him so much Daisy, I don't want to live without him but I don't think he wants me. And he deserves so much better."

She smooths my hair. "Was it a mistake?"

"What?"

"Was it a mistake to ghost him for 4 months?"

"Yes, the biggest mistake of my life."

"Then I think your heart is in the right place. You told him you still want him, now you wait and knowing Easton, it won't take him long.

I sniffle. "I hope so." My hand clutches onto the chain around my neck. Easton is the most important person in my life. Losing him would be like losing a part of me.

I yawn, before I know it I fall asleep with him on my mind, like I have since the beginning.