Close As Strangers

He's Back

"I really hurt you, didn't I?"
    "Yeah," I said quietly, looking down. He grabbed my hands and stroked where my engagement ring would've been.
    "You don't have to listen to me, if you don't want to. From all that, you've reserved the right to want to listen or not. Regardless of if you listen or not, I love you. I've always loved you. I was stupid and I guess that doesn't even begin to describe it," he said. I looked up at him and he had tears running down his face. "I can't fix what I did and I can't fix the months we spent apart, but I want to make it up to you. I really do," he said crying harder. "Mali thinks I'm an idiot and my mom is mad. Luke always tells me that you were up again at night or having nightmares. Ashton told me that he was trying to make you feel loved, but you wanted me. Michael tells me what Crystal has told him, about you wanting to kill yourself. Sierra won't even talk to me and Mali barely wants to be around me. At first it didn't hit me, but the past two months have been absolute hell." I wanted to think he was lying, but for some reason, I knew he wasn't.

    "Come here, you big baby," I said standing up and sitting next to him. I wrapped my arms around him and he just cried into my chest, telling me how sorry he was and how much he loved me. After a while, he started to calm down. "Calum, I love you. I always have. Even when I told myself I hated you, which was often. I couldn't look at pictures of us and I blocked you on pretty much every social media site." He pulled me into his chest and that's when it all hit me. I had my boy back and everything was going to be okay. I started bawling for what felt like ever. When I felt better, I saw Luke and Sierra walking towards us.
    "Are we okay now," Luke asked, "It's been torture watching you two tear yourselves up and knowing that I had to let you guys do this on your own."