Reject You to Break You (To Reach You Book 2)

Chapter Twelve: Mine

Song: I Still Wait For you by XYLO

North-

Hearing Tate's squeal, I grinned myself, still balancing Levi on my lap. I was on one of the plastic chairs, feeding Levi, and the rest of the boys were out too, I'd made a point to completely ignore Ridge's existence. 

Tate's redhead soon appeared and I smirked, watching her saucer-wide eyes as she spun around, taking in everything Jack had done for her. She squealed again, hugging Jack to death. 

"It's not my birthday," she says, still looking at everything. 

"No, it isn't," he agrees, following her. 

"And it's a while till Easter," she says, grinning as she grabbed an ice cream cone. 

"Yes, it is," he said still grinning. 

"Then what on Earth--" she gasped when she turned around to see Jack again. I couldn't help my widening grin. 

Jack on one knee. The tiny box in his hands in dark red velvet and the ring inside is a smooth silver band with two stones, a yellow Peridot for Tate's birthday in August and a red Garnet for Jack's January birthday. Everyone falls silent, all eyes falling on them. 

Jack wears his crooked grin, but I detect nervousness behind it. 

"I was a jackass," he starts. "I was a complete idiot, I was blind to you, the whole time before I never saw you, I didn't see how beautiful, how smart, how alive, how so very perfect you were. And god...now that I think about it how could I have ever lived without you? How could I have spent the rest of my life living with the pain of never having you as mine?

"You were the first person to make me feel again after what happened with Cara. At the time, it was anger...or maybe frustration...but it was real. You made me feel something and that drove me crazy. The numbness was easier, I couldn't love again. It would be too hard, too impossible to live with that. At the time, I was such a motherfucking moron it wasn't even funny. You hated me...and at the time I thought you were impossible too. I could never imagine you as anything valuable to me. But I was wrong. So wrong."

He didn't prepare this. It was all him. This right now, this is him pouring his heart out. 

"You are everything, Tate, you and that smile and that darned ball you're obsessed with and I love your sass and your smart mouth and that attitude and our son, our perfect son that is all ours and I'm so in love with you Tate, so fucking whipped, so in love with you that I probably will never see straight again, and that's why I am asking you right now...will you be mine for--"

"YES!" Tate screeches, tears streaming down her face as she jumps on him, crushing her lips to his. They hold their foreheads close. "God, Yes, forever yes," she says, a soft smile on her face. Jack grins, setting her down. 

"Jeez, don't want to seem too eager," he says, beaming, as the crowds burst into applause. Levi laughs. "Mommy," he starts nagging and I smile, lifting him up and carrying him towards Tate who is still jumping up and down, eyes not moving from the ring on her finger. Levi giggles again. "Shiny," he coos. 

Tate's tears don't stop as she hugs me, ending all circulation and breaking the vital bones. "You knew about this, didn't you?" she grins. I nod, handing her Levi, who won't stop reaching for her. 

Tate's parents come on the other side of the future Mr. and Mrs. hugging Tate and Jack. Next are Jack's parents and million different others, all wanting to congratulate them. 

For a minute, I let my heart ache. Jack loves Tate so much, and she deserves him, hell I don't know of a more worthy person for Jack's love. But it still hurts. 

Because I could never have that. No one could ever want me that way. Someone taps on my shoulder and I turn around frowning. My face brightens instantly as I hug Caste, who's grinning down at me. Drew, Layth, Kat, even Eaton, who's an editor in a publishing company and rarely ever leaves his room. They're all here, Kay behind them. 

"What are you all doing here?" I say, turning around. Jack grins sheepishly. 

"I invited them," he says and I know he did it for me. I think he still thinks he owes me for setting his head straight when he was upset with Tate. I smile. "Thanks, Jack,"

He nods in response. 

Kay and I are slightly close friends now, after his defending me in front of Laurie three weeks ago, we've gotten close. Half of that was because I was touched, because no one had done that for me before, and the other half was that I was shocked, also because no one had done that for me before. So having him around here isn't even half-bad. 

Lila and Ezra Monroe join us, Lila not stopping her gushing about how Jack had been planning this. 

"You should've seen him, North, he was so nervous, couldn't sleep straight at all, thought she wouldn't want it or would think too soon,"

Friday, August 7, that date would forever be marked as their special day. 

"He actually planned it for two weeks before, but after Ridge's accident he had to postpone it,"

My head shoots up. "Accident? What accident?" I had no idea there was an accident, since when did Ridge Monroe get into accidents. 

Lila looks confused. "You...didn't know? Ridge got into a car accident three weeks ago," Lila sighs. "It wiped out his entire memory temporarily,"

What the fuck? So him being a jerk today wasn't him being a jerk? He really didn't remember rejecting me? And three weeks ago...

That was the day he rejected me. Wow. Just...wow. 

"Hey," a voice comes up behind me. "Dance with me?"