One Million Branches

Part Twenty-Two

“What? Dude go away I’m not in the mood.” He yells.

“Tony! Mike and I are in the hall. I’m not in your room.” Vic yells from down the hall.

He rolls over and sits up. He rubs his eyes and then squints at my face. His eyes go wide and tears fall from his eyes.

We just stare at each other crying for a few until I wipe the tears away.

“Do you hate me?” I ask.

“No. I could never hate you.” He says.

He holds his arms out to me and I fall into them. I cry into his chest and he just holds me.

“I never thought I would see you again. You were honestly the last person I’d expect to see.” He says looking at me.

“I’ve been a wreck since the day I left you. I’m sorry I only left you a note.” I mumble.

“I’ve been a wreck since you left and its fine, Liz. Mike and Vic explained to me why you left. I understand why you left but I really wish you didn’t. Worrying about you is my number one job as a boyfriend. It’s terrible not having you by my side when we’re on tour and not being able to talk to you every day or hold you when I want to. I know I was a bad boyfriend for not being affectionate but I was terrified to lose you again. I loved you then and I love you now. I will never get over you Liz. I don’t know whether you want me back or not, but I know that all I want is you.” He says.

I cry harder and hug Tony again.

“I want you too. I love you so much and I realize that I can’t live without you. You were on my mind every single second of every day. I dreamed about you, I thought about you, I wrote about you. I’m so sorry I just left.” I say.

I pull back and look at him.

He stares me in my eyes and leans forward. He kisses me gently and the spark was back. Butterflies fill my stomach and I smile big. I had Tony back. He’s all I ever wanted and more.

“Stay here tonight with me. We’ll go home tomorrow.” He says.

I nod and crawl under the covers with him.

We lay chest to chest and he holds me tight.

If we weren’t staring at each other we were kissing.

It feels like I didn’t even leave in the first place. Things are right back where they left off, except this time it was better.

We lay in silence just staring into each other’s eyes.

“Marry me.” He whispers.

“What?” I ask.

“Marry me, Liz. Let’s go get married tomorrow.” He says.

“A-are you being serious?” I ask searching his eyes for any doubt.

“Yes. You’re all I ever wanted and I just want you to be mine for good.” He says.

“Yes then. Yes.” I say smiling.

He kisses me hard and I lay my head against his pillow.

“This time you can’t run off. You’re in it for good.” He says.

I laugh and kiss him again.

“I won’t. I promise.” I say smiling.

We both drift into sleep.