Run to Me

Chapter 4

Dave

"Her pain is so deep, I don't know how to reach her anymore," I told Nate and Allan.

"Have you told her everything?" Nate asked.

I nodded.

Nate, his wife Lia, and Allan, as well as Chief, are the only ones who know about my past. I've never told anyone about my past and the things I did. Chief Cain took me in and treated me like his own kid. He was my mentor. I owe everything I am now, to him, and my best friends.

"You mean everything, everything?" Allan asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Everything. You guys were right. If I want her in my life I'm gonna have to let her in."

They nodded.

"Just give her time. Don't give up. Keep showing her that you're here to stay."

"But..."

"No. No buts. If you give up, then you're just proving to her that she was right to turn you down. If she pushes you, you've got to push back. Harder," Allan said.

"That's how Isabella won you," Nate said, chuckling.

I chuckled.

Allan just grinned. "I pushed back, just as hard."

"I pushed harder," a familiar voice sounded.

We all turned to see Isabella walking... well more like waddling towards us.

"Hey babe, you're supposed to be resting," Allan said, as he quickly got up, walked over to his wife and helped her.

"I've rested enough," Belle said with a wave of hand. "So my baby sis giving you a hard time?" She asked.

"I deserve it," I said.

"Yeah. You probably do," she agreed.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"You men are stupid and stubborn and are just meant to hurt us innocent, unassuming beautiful souls," she said with humour.

"Hey!" Nate and Allan protested.

"Look, let me tell you something my mom once told me when I was unsure whether I should give Allan a second chance or not. She told me that people make mistakes. We shouldn't be judged or defined by the way we screw up. We should be judged by the way we make amends. That's the true measure of who we are," she said. "Now my question is, do you want to be the guy who could have been? Or do you want to be the guy, who is?"

"I want to be the guy, who is," I said.

"Then you don't give up. You keep fighting for her. No matter how hard she resists and how many times she rejects you, you don't give up."

"What if she never forgives me?" I asked.

"Does it matter?" She asked, making me blink twice.

Wait. What? Of course it does.

"Dave, whether she forgives you or not, that feeling inside you, the regret, that will never go away. And the regret you will feel for giving up just because of the possibility that she won't forgive you, will be far greater than the regret you feel now, and it will haunt you for the rest of your life," she said. "I can see that you love my sister, and looking at you and the way you look at her tells me, this isn't the kind of love that fizzles away with time. It's the kind of love that grows with time. Whether you're with her or not, doesn't matter. You love her all the same and even more as time passes. That love never goes away. It never dies. So no, it doesn't matter if she forgives you or not. Because even if you have to spend the rest of your life, watching her happy with someone else. You'll still love her. The difference is, you didn't give her up and stop fighting. If you lose her without putting up a fight, you'll never be able to forgive yourself. It will eat away at your soul," she said, before standing up. "If it was me, I'd rather live a life without the one I love knowing that I fought for him everyday of my life, than live my life knowing that I walked away and surrendered because of the possibility that I would lose."