Beautifully Broken ❤️

Feels Like Home

Kelly was slouching on his couch, flipping through the channels. Sipping his beer and thinking of Stella, he occasionally glanced at his phone. Battling himself to pick it up and call her, he wanted to go over there, but he felt like he overstayed his welcome. She hasn't reached out to him or come over, so she must not miss him. Or maybe she was waiting on him, but what's the point of saying I'm sorry if she won't discuss what is going on with her? He just wants to help her; she never had trouble talking to him before. He knows eight years is a long time, and of course she has changed, but she's still the same girl he knew deep down; she just has more scars and horrible memories. And all he wants to do is help heal her; that's what you do for people you love. 

He's actually surprised Shay hadn't stopped by or called him. She told him on Monday to talk to Stella to make things right. He had every intention, but he kept thinking that space was what they needed; space was good for them both. Of course Shay's right to; they had eight years of space, so why did he think more space was a good idea? Because he's an idiot, he groans loudly. 

He grabbed his phone and stared at her name and sighed deeply. He then scrolled down to Casey's name. "Hey! If you want to come over and watch a game or two, I'm free. Let me know." He hit the send button. He figured they could be miserable together. 

A few seconds later, "Thanks, man, but I think I'm just going to stay in tonight. But thanks for the offer." 

He stares at Casey's reply. He really wishes he could help him too, but just like Stella, he doesn't want to talk about what's going on either. 

He's avoiding her, and he knows it's childish, but she's avoiding him too, so she's being childish too. Like that made it better. He rubs his head and looks at his phone, and just like the last four nights, he wonders what she's doing and thinks about Ryan. He tossed his head back, wishing he was with them instead of being all alone. The knock on his door has him sighing loudly. He knows it's his pizza he ordered, but he honestly wasn't even hungry now. He tossed the remote on the table, slowly got up, and headed for the door. He swings open the door, and his eyes immediately lock with eyes he has been thinking about the last four days non-stop. His mouth drops, his pulse racing as he takes in the sight of his girls in front of him.

Stella's cheeks flushed as his eyes scanned her body. She takes a deep breath. "Pizza delivery." She says in a low, flirty tone. She batted her eyes at him, giving him a mischief look. 

"If I knew the delivery woman was going to be so incredibly sexy, I would have tipped better." He replied once he found his voice. "Come in." He says as he takes the pizza from her and extends his hands for her to take.

"You invited all the pizza delivery people into your apartment?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just the sexy ones." He smirked before adding. "That I'm in love with." 

She takes his hand, and they walk into the apartment. She shuts the door and he sits the pizza down and turns his attention to her. "I'm sorry." They both said it at the same time. 

They laugh a little uneasy. "Let me go first." Kelly tells her as he pulls her to him. "I'm sorry for acting like a child the last four days and avoiding you instead of being an adult and coming and talking to you. I thought you needed space."

"I need you, not space. I think we had enough space the last eight years, don't you?"

"Yes, we did."

"If we really want to make this work, we're going to have to communicate better. I don't want to be like we were when we were teenagers, when I would get upset with you, or you would get upset with me, and we would go days without talking. I don't want to go back like that; we eventually grew up and our communication skills got better. We were doing pretty well six months before the breakup, which I will always take fault forr." She sighed. "We both need to work on our communication skills. I want to go back to how close we were and how honest we were with each other. I want it all back. Part of me wishes I could erase the last eight years." She tilts her head. "But a small part of me wants to remember them, so I can remember what went wrong and I can never make the mistake of losing you again. I don't think I would survive if I lost you again."