The Way Back | ✓

9.1

note: we're so close to the end! The reactions I got on the previous chapter blew me away. Thank you lovelies for sticking with this story. It means a lot. Enjoy this update xx

Song: Bad by James Bay

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Weeks elapsed before Andrew Cai felt a void in his heart. He had managed to avoid confrontation but with Valentine's Day fast approaching London's absence was all the more noticeable. It was why he sat at the bar in the closest pub, drink in hand, wallowing in his own self-pity.

When he saw her at a table, chatting with some guy, he thought it was the alcohol speaking and that he was hallucinating, finally having gone crazy. Of course, the reasonable thing to do was to head over to said table and question this hallucination. He'd managed to avoid London for weeks. Porte Orlands wasn't a big town but it wasn't so small either. It wasn't difficult but he did take extra measures to not run into her. Life, obviously, decided to have a laugh by making them cross paths on Valentine's Day out of all days.

Fate was cruel.

"London," he chirped, gripping the edge of the table. "Is that really you?"

She looked shocked but things were a blur so he wasn't sure of her expression. She glanced between her date and Andrew, laughing.

"Andrew," she said, "I didn't know you'd be here."

"How would you know? We haven't kept in contact since—"

She threw a fretful glance at her companion before she grabbed Andrew's arm, looking back at that man and saying, "Just one moment. He looks like he's had one too many drinks and I should get him an Uber."

"I could help," the strange man said, beginning to stand from his chair. He was very handsome. Andrew hated his guts already.

"I got this," London smiled, before steering Andrew away.

Before he could even register it, they were standing outside the pub. "London," he whispered, a smile automatically coming to his lips. "You're real."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, her fingers tapping on the screen of her phone.

"You haven't called me," he said, the smile slipping to give way to a disappointed frown.

"And you haven't called me neither," she smoothly shot back at him, hand still on his arm like he couldn't stand properly without her aid.

Annoyed, he pushed her hand away. "That's a lie. I called you," he said fiercely.

"Once," she pointed out, finally meeting his gaze. "I was at work but you already knew that. You know my work times. They haven't changed."

"Well," he said, stumbling slightly before London grabbed his arms to give him support. Stubbornly he pushed her arms away. "You could have called me back."

"I could have but I didn't," she agreed, her gaze steely. Did she not feel anything anymore? It had been mere weeks. Surely what they shared ran deep that a few weeks weren't enough to move on. Or was he the only one invested in their relationship?

No, he corrected himself, she broke it off with him because he wasn't as committed as she was. Surely, she was not over him... right? She still loved him. She had to. He desperately wanted her to still be in love with him, even though he knew he wasn't ready to return it.

"Who is that man?" he asked as they waited for his Uber. He missed her. Goddamnit, he wanted to collect her into his arms and hug her. He wanted to kiss her. She looked beautiful tonight, albeit not as smiley, but still so fucking beautiful.