Ginny Carney has been running since she was 17; running from the small town that stifled her, from her 'wild child' reputation, and from the boy she left behind. Now 25 Ginny finds herself a college dropout with no job, no boyfriend and forced to m...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"It's not your fault you know" he said into the dark some time later. It was late and we were in the guest room where he was living wrapped up in each other and fitted together as if we had never been apart.
"You don't know that" I whispered, "You weren't there. I was 17, I didn't know what I was doing, I must have done something wrong."
"Did you go to all your doctor's appointments? Did you do your best?" I nodded even though he couldn't see me in the dark but he must have felt it against his skin, "It wasn't your fault" he said softly.
"Ok" I whispered but I felt tears creep to my eyes again and I didn't think I would ever fully believe that.
We lay in silence for a while, it wasn't uncomfortable but neither of us said anything. I was listening to his slow breathing and I thought he had fallen asleep until he spoke.
"Erik's going to kill me" he laughed and it was a real genuine laugh, I felt it run through him and make my body shake with his where it was resting against him and I was willing to bet it was the first time he had laughed in a long time.
"What? Why?" I asked turning my head up and resting my chin on his chest trying to make out his features in the dark.
"He made me promise to stay away from you" he chuckled,
"But I'm so nice" I teased and pressed my lips to his bare chest
"You are right now" he half laughed,
"Um, ouch" I joked but there was a hint of truth behind it; I wondered if he would ever be able to fully trust me again or if he would always be waiting for the day that I disappeared again.
"He's been picking up the pieces since you left. I think he thought I'd finally got myself together and if we did this you'd break me again" he paused, "But, I mean, I was already broken so what's the worst that could happen?"
"I'll be very gentle, I'll try my best not to break you" I said sincerely and I wrapped my arms around his waist as if I could hold all his broken pieces together.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When I woke in the morning I was alone in the bed. "Cliff?" I called out hesitantly and started to reach for my clothes. I couldn't help but wonder if he had woken up and in the light of day had decided that he hated me, that this had all been a mistake, that he regretted it.
"Hey" he said walking back into the room wearing a pair of sweatpants slung low on his hips and carrying a mug. "I brought you coffee" he said and I took the hot mug and hugged the blanket around me. I took a sip before I remembered.
"Shit, what time is it?" I put the coffee down on the bedside table and stood up looking around the room for my phone.
"It's not even 8:00" he said, "What's going on?" His face was scrunched up in confusion and his hair was all curly and messy from the events of last night and I allowed myself just one moment to think about how cute he looked before I slipped back into panic.
"I'm never going to make it to work on time, June's going to fire me!" I said grabbing my jeans and bra from yesterday and pulling them on.
"June's not going to fire you" he rolled his eyes and he was probably right but I didn't want to take advantage of her kindness, "It takes like two minutes to drive there, you'll be fine."
"I don't have a car Clifford," I said he really wasn't grasping the severity of the situation, "And I can't go in yesterday's clothes and my shift starts in exactly..." I paused as I picked up my phone from where it had slid under the bed, "...3 minutes."
"Ok Crazy, calm down" He teased but I was in no mood. He turned to his closet, "Here, you can put this on" he said pulling out a flannel shirt, "Now it's a completely different outfit! Now go brush your teeth in the bathroom, I'll put a shirt on and I'll drive you to work." He said calmly and put the shirt around my shoulders and I relaxed.
"You know I think we would save time if you didn't put a shirt on" I teased putting my hands on his bare hips and he rolled his eyes.
"Keep it in your pants Carney you're still late" he said and I laughed and stretched up onto my toes to kiss him lightly,
"Thank you" I said and he winked before shooing me into the bathroom to finish getting ready.
When we pulled up outside The Ladybird I was only one minute late. "Thank you" I sighed again when I saw that June was only just unlocking the front door and I started quickly grabbing my purse and reaching for the car door handle.
"Gin?" Miles said and I paused and turned back to face him, "Thank you" he said with no hint of a smile or a joke in his eyes.
"For what?" I asked genuinely confused,
"For pulling me back, just for a second." For a moment I'd forgotten that he was grieving, that he was broken, that he'd only had one sober day in the last week.
"Don't go to the bar" I said softly but firmly. He smiled just a little,
"I know last night might had been a one-off and we broke up seven years ago and you're not my girlfriend anymore but I'm going to kiss you now." I couldn't help but smile as he leaned in and kissed me.
"I have to go" I sighed when he pulled back slightly to take a breath and he sat back in his seat,
"Alright, get outta here" he smiled and I reluctantly got out of the car and went into the bakery.
"Who was that?" June asked knowingly and I blushed.
"No one" I shrugged as if I had no idea what she was talking about but I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face.
"Sure" June smirked, "New shirt? It's nice. Little big..." she said with a wink and then walked to the back to start baking.
Author's note:
Awww they got to be kind of mostly happy this chapter 🙃 I thought we needed something lighter after the last chapter and before any new drama is introduced.
I hope you like it, let me know what you think! ❤️
