Mine // Sam Wilkinson

Part // XLVIII

Sammy's POV

"Sammy," she spoke with pain; the same pain I could feel throbbing through my entire chest.

I couldn't acknowledge her. I couldn't even look, because if I did, my chest would only throb more; only throb for her to continue loving me.

"Samuel," she spoke again, but this time more demanding for me to look up.

"Claire," my voice cracked, a few tears slipping from my eyes.

She must've saw the pain being hidden through my expression. She gave me the saddest look I've seen; pure sympathy.

"I..." I paused. I felt the lump in my throat swelling.

"What, Sam? Tell me. Tell me what you need," she furrowed her eyebrows a bit.

"You."

"Sammy..."

"No. I need you, Claire. You, and only you."

More tears began to stream as the words were flowing.

"Sammy, I just..." she paused and shook her head, speechless.

"Claire..."

She placed her face in her hands, balancing her elbows on her knees. I scooted closer to the bed by her legs.

"Look at me."

She shook her head. I felt a tear land on my hand that was placed on the side of her thigh.

"Claire Rachel."

She looked up with puffier eyes than I realized from afar, "Don't leave me."

Her sapphire eyes were sparkling with water. She disconnected our gaze, looking back down at her feet.

"Claire... Please don't do this. I promise you that I'll stop. I'll stop it all if that means I still have you," I was whispering now, knowing my building anger and pain would only hurt the situation.

And in that moment, I knew again that I had hurt her worse than I imagined.

This was only the third time I had ever seen her cry in the year I've been with her, but this was the first time I had been the reason.

I stood up from the floor and sat down next to her, pulling her into my chest. The only other times I've seen her cry, she's never cried this hard; her sobs were now turning into soft screams.

"I love you," I whispered into her ear, rubbing small circles in her lower back as she always loved when she was upset. I could feel her start to relax. Her screams had stopped and she had started to calm her breathing.

I kept whispering little 'I love you's' into her ear, kissing her head every once in awhile. I gently pulled her back onto the bed, wrapping her tighter in my arms. She was hesitant as first, but she soon pulled herself tighter into my chest. I adjusted my body to make her more comfortable.

"Sammy?"

"What, Claire?"

"Okay for one, don't call me Claire. It's weird to hear you say that."

I couldn't help but laugh, no matter how scared I was. She looked down and wiped her eyes, "I think I'm gonna head back to Cincinnati tomorrow."

She really was leaving for good.