Teachers Tapestry

Eighty

"Hi." She said stepping to the side so I could walk in.

I did, but I didn't move far because I wasn't sure how this was going to go.

"I made you cupcakes." I said softly holding them out for her.

"Thank you." She took the cupcakes out of my hands and motioned for me to follow her to her kitchen.

She set them down and grabbed two waters for us from her fridge.

"Thank you." I said taking the bottle from her. Silence grew around us for a moment before I spoke. "Val I'm sorry. Really sorry, I always run from the issue, trying to find the worst possible solution to the issue when there is a much easier fix to it and—"

"Collette—"

"Let me finish. Please." I asked her and she nodded.

"I get scared. Very scared. Mainly because I've never loved someone as much as I love you. And this past week without you has torn me apart, I've cried so much that I physically think I ran out of tears at some point." I took a breath and her green eyes softened so much as her gaze fell on me.

"I realise I fucked up by making that suggestion because you walked out I was worried I'd lost you forever. But then on the way over here I remembered how you told me you don't walk away without a fight. So I'm here to fight." I said calmly ready for any answer she could give me.

It could be anything from start shouting herself or to her telling me that she doesn't want to argue and I should leave.

But what I didn't expect was for her to laugh.

She let out a good laugh.

I tilted my head in question as to why she was laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked her, not quite okay or irritated.

"I don't want to fight darling, I want us to talk." She said grabbing my hands in hers. "I have some stuff to apologise for too." She said.

"Why do you have to apologise?" I asked her.

"First of all, I didn't think when acting out. I love you so much, and walking away was a mistake. I should've stayed. We should've argued. And I shouldn't have asked if you would give up everything for me, that was selfish. Very selfish." She said In a sigh.

"It wasn't selfish. It was a valid point." I said to her.

"No it wasn't. First of all, im freshly twenty-six and you just turned nineteen. I'm a whole seven years ahead of you in life with almost everything I need. I've got two job, bills to pay and a dog that counts as an extra mouth to feed. I was asking you give up part of things you haven't even experienced yet for me, me who has experienced it all. It's simply unfair." She said calmly and I kept listening the same way she did to me.

"I shouldn't have even been angry for what happened in target because there was probably nothing else you could've said to her if she saw us. That's not your fault, that isn't anyone's fault. So I'm sorry." She said.

"I still told her the truth instead of lying about it." I said, it's true. I should've just told her that I wasn't holding her hand or said we were here for Zoë and Quinn or something.

Anything other than trusting her with the truth.

"You shouldn't have to lie. You should be able to tell people you're dating someone. And I have to be honest, as careful as we thought we were, we definitely weren't careful. I take the blame, we shouldn't have been out in public together so often. People from school don't just disappear because it's outside of town." She said.