To The Moon And Back

Chapter 11

Song: Dean Lewis "Be Alright"
I thought of this song when writing this chapter, and I really love this song. Anyways, enjoy!

Evelyn's POV

The door is wide open as I stand there, in shock. In front of me, Braden is standing with a huge bouquet of red roses, my favorite flower.

"Braden? What are you doing here?" I ask, then look behind him quickly to scout out for Shon, who's on his way over. Great. Just great. This is just my luck for him to be here.

He pets his hair back in embarrassment, and holds out the flowers for me, his cheeks light pink. He immediately makes my face heat up. "I got these for you."

I take them, and I believe right now my face is as red as these roses. At least it feels that way.

"Listen, can I talk to you right now?"

I'm staring past his shoulder, still looking out for Shon. "Huh? Now?"

"Yeah, right now. It's important."

I sigh. "Yeah, come on in." Braden follows me into the house, and I shut the door, hoping that Shon will be late.

We make our way over to the couch, and sit down right next to each other. Neither of us say anything, and I awkwardly fiddle with my fingers.

After a moment he finally speaks up. "Ev I'm so sorry about our fight that we had. I was being an asshole and it wasn't right of me. You were hurting and I just caused you more pain. I hate the spot that we're at right now, and I just want us to go back to the way things were. Can we do that?"

I find myself staring into his eyes, looking for every emotion he has. His eyes are filled with such pain and sadness I've ever seen.

"Braden..." I say after a minute. Braden what? Yes Braden, if course I'll go back to the way things were between us, where I was madly in love with you and couldn't say anything because you rejected me. I had to turn my love for you into a joke. I had my heart broken every time you dated a new girl, and couldn't do anything because I was like your little sister.

"Braden... I... I'm sorry, but I can't. I mean, I can forgive you for that fight. I never wanted that to happen."

He interrupts. "I never wanted that to Ev. I'm so sorry and I promise it won't happen again. Just please, let's go back to how things were." He grabs my hand in his, and looks me straight in the eyes. "Please."

I sit there, trapped in his gaze, and I force myself to look away and stand up, lightly pulling my hand away.

"Braden, I Can't. I'm in a really good place right now, even if you're not in it. I'm sorry. I just can't let things go back to the way it was." My voice shakes, as does the rest of my body. I avoid his stare for as much as I can, then finally take a deep breath and meet his eyes with mine.

"Why? What did I do Ev? Do you... Do you hate me?"

"What? No, Braden I don't hate you!" I find myself raising my voice, and stop myself. "Back then... I wasn't happy. Not like the way I am now."

Braden stands up, and grips my shoulders, as if he was using me to hold himself up. "Then please, how can I fix this? How can I make you happy?"

I open my mouth to speak, then hold myself back. How can you make me happy? You can make me happy by just holding me. Tell me that you love me. Be with me. But you don't. You will never love me, let alone have any feelings for me in that way.

I open my mouth to speak once more "I'm already happy Braden. There's nothing you can fix." I look at the time. Shon should be here any moment. "You should go," I say after a minute of standing there, and I look down in guilt, avoiding even glancing at his face.