Chasing Home (NFL)

Talking It Through

“I don't wanna be left behind
I've been so blind to all that I have broken
Can we put this back together?

No more empty promises, they don't exist
Just me out in the open
I know this will take time

Can we put the past behind us?
Tonight I'm gonna fight for you
Just give me one last chance to make it right
Last chance to make it right”

– “One Last Chance” by Daughtry

Chapter 34: Talking It Through

            I finally got up the nerve to text Aaron when I got back to Foxborough on Monday. He replied soon after and said we should talk the next evening. As it was still my winter break, that gave me a full day to try to figure out what I wanted to say. I knew his side of the story – for the most part. There was one thing I needed to ask him about, but it was a minor detail in face of the larger problem that lay at hand.

            I locked myself in my room to think, for I needed to figure this out on my own. I had tried to give Aaron a chance after the fiasco with Brett happened, but he had rejected me. Now that he realized he was wrong, we should be able to pick everything back up, right?

            No, it was not that easy. Trust had been broken, and it would take at least as long to build it back up as it had been to develop it in the first place. But it had been formed. People made mistakes, and I knew I was not innocent in this situation. Maybe if we started from the bottom, we could slowly get back to where we were. If the relationship was important enough to both of us, we should be satisfied with at least some progress.

            Though I had made up my mind by the next evening, I was not sure exactly how to say what I needed to say; I was not the best with words. I decided not to worry about it, figuring it would be easier once I was actually in the conversation.

            I nearly jumped when my phone vibrated and began to ring in my pocket. Luckily, Freya was out with some friends, so no one was around to notice. My hand shook slightly as I answered the phone and raised it to my ear. “Hello? Aaron?” My phone had displayed his name. Of course it was him.

            “Hi, Lauren,” Aaron’s voice said. “How are you doing?”

            “Good,” I said. My throat felt too tight to say anything more. “You?”

            “I’m good.” There was a pause. “Is everything fine with you and Tom Brady?”

            It took a few seconds for me to realize what he was talking about. “Oh, yes. We’re good now. Don’t worry about it. That wasn’t as much about you as it was about our own relationship. We had some misunderstandings, but everything is good now.”

            “That’s good.”

            I could not read his tone, and I was frustrated that he was not here in person. “Why-” I swallowed. “Why did you kiss me?”

            There was a minute of silence before Aaron responded. “I’m sorry, but I did not know if I would ever see you again. I had to do that at least once if I was going to let you go.”

            “How-how long have you had feelings for me?”

            “Since the beginning of your last year with the Packers. I did not pursue them because you were still in high school, and it would not have looked good.”

            “But I was mature then,” I said in annoyance. “Age doesn’t matter.”

            “I know, but others would judge, and I did not want to put you through that. Besides, you were going to leave Green Bay, and I did not want to compromise that decision.”