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IT WAS SILENCE. Nothing else mattered to her except the boy standing in front of her, and the glass-like shatter of her heart breaking into a million pieces. Even so, Cassie James wished he would pick up the pieces and tape up her heart like an art project, something he could fix up in a night's length of time.
"Cas, say something. Please, baby," he said, his head hung low. He made sure to look up every couple of minutes to check her facial expressions. He swore if she cried, he would probably hear the shattering of his heart, too. The only difference was no one would be there to fix it. He was hoping it would be her, and she hoped she would just come out of this alive. Justin Foley stepped closer, and grabbed her delicate hand, placing it over his heart, "I love you, Cas, so much."
She didn't look at him. Although she wanted so desperately to look up at him, she knew she would forgive him as easily as it was for him to break her heart. At least that was what she thought. Although she wished this pain on no one, Justin was already feeling the effects of his actions, of what he had done.
"If you just— if you just give me another chance, I can make it up to you. I promise, Cas, I will never let you down again," he pleaded, as her hand rested against his beating heart. She swore it beat against her hand at two hundred beats per minute.
"Justin—"
"Please, Cas, I love you. I really do."
"I can't do this right now. I need time to think, okay?" She hesitated, but continued reluctantly," Justin, I— I still love you, too, but—"
"Then forgive me, I love you so much," he repeated for the third time.
"Then picture this: two people, a boy and a girl, madly in love. One night, the boy decided to trash everything he has with the girl he 'loves' and cherishes another girl's body. But before the boy can ask for forgiveness, the girl's heart is broken. The boy she thought loved her, someone she confided in with her deepest, darkest thoughts, someone she thought truly knew them better than anybody else. How could that person betray her and ask her to forgive him as if it's something she could easily check off her to-do list?" Cassie explained, her eyes trailing the outline of trees' shadows.
Justin stayed silent after that. He understood where she was coming from. He knew he shouldn't simply ask for forgiveness, but he loves her. The way her dimple came out as she smiled, or the way she looked at him when he didn't notice (even though he's never seen that look, Zach told him all about it in detail and he knew he probably loved her more after that). They had been through thick and thin with Justin's home situation and Cassie's mom barely having time to be with her as she was her only family besides Justin.
Justin finally spoke, "I made a mistake, and I will carry it with me for the rest of my life. And I'll give you time, but I promise I won't stop making it up to you as long as there's a possibility we have a future."
His last words begged a question for Cassie. Did she have enough left of her heart to give back to him? As her hand began to slip away from his chest, he took it in his own hand by instinct. She began stepping a few feet back until both their arms were reached out, hands still interlocked.
"We'll have to see, but I have to go," Cassie said above a whisper.
Within seconds their hands were detaching, and with both of their hearts aching for one another, they separated. Cassie followed the outline of the trees' shadows to find her way home, and Justin sat on one of the swings, head hung low so he wouldn't have to look up and be reminded of the sight of the broken expression left on Cassie's face.
