An Unpredicted "Us"

Tell Whoever

Time sure does fly by when I am not having fun. I somehow managed to start moving on with my life. After telling Ryan that I wasn't sure if we could fix the smallest and first fight we ever had, I took time to reflect on myself and my life. College was done for the summer and Merrick hired some help, so I spent some time at my uncle's house in Florida. I'm home now, but holy shit! A month flew by!

Yep! An entire fucking month!

Merrick only let me take a month off because he knows how valuable I am, and he knows about Ryan and me and he felt bad. And he hired three people in one day.

"Holy shit!" Lacey whips her arms around me faster than hell as I walk through the apartment doors, forcing me to drop my bags. "I've fucking missed you! Do you know how long a month is, Hannah? And damn you look tanned and healthy!"

I smile and kiss her cheek. "I've missed you too!" I say and release her from my grip. "You will have to tell me everything I've missed while being gone!"

"In a month!" She jokes, but the look in her eyes is more serious than her tone. "You've missed a lot!"

I carry my bags into my room, toss them on the bed, and spin around back to her. "Like what?"

"Well, for starters, you heard Macey went to Mexico, right?"

I nod and quickly head toward the kitchen. "Yep. Why do you say it like that?"

"She was robbed!"

"What!" My jaw drops.

Lacey raises her hands, gesturing for me to calm down. "She was fine. They only took her phone, and she got a new one pretty fast. Jeremy and I have been getting a little more serious with each other."

"Yay!" My lips curl into the widest smile and I wrap my arms around her, hugging her again. "I knew he was the one for you!"

She shrugs with a look of uncertainty on her face. "We are more serious, but I wouldn't say 'the one'. I don't fall in love so easily like my..." She pauses, her eyes light up with an 'oh fuck' look. "Sorry."

I set the water bottle on the table. "How is your dad? It's been a while."

She shrugs again with a look of disappointment on her face. "He's okay. He's trying to move on. He talked to a lady at work, and she asked him to dinner."

And just like that!

A ping or zing or jealousy rages through my body like wildfire... so, I guess it wouldn't be a ping or zing. I hold back my comments. I told him it wasn't happening anymore, so he has every right to move on and meet other people.

But this jealousy is so fucking strong!

"Hannah!" Her eyes light up with excitement. "I know I've said this already. I know you've had a month...hell! A month and a half total. And I know most of it was because of me. I originally couldn't allow what you two had. But I did allow it after it was too late. I just want you to understand that for the rest of his life he will never get over you. And I wanted to give this to you because he threw it in the trash." She hands me a keepsake box.

My eyes widen as I open the box. "The ring! He was going to use this...why the fuck did he throw it away? Who does that? Get a refund on it!"

"He didn't want anyone else on this planet to have it but you. He's trying to get over you. But he never will. That man didn't understand what true love was. What my mother did to him all those years and made him so fucking unhappy. The few other people that he did try hooking up with in his, none of them either. You're the one. You always will be the one."