The fight I’d carried inside of me for six years, and the anger that once kept me from going after her, vanished. But the pain…the pain over losing her, over the thought of spending my life without her, spread through me, weighing me down, suffocating me. I glanced down to her left hand, realizing that it was no longer simply a thought—it’d become my reality. I would spend the rest of my life without her. I had believed the worst of her, and lost her forever.

And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“I don’t believe you,” I said, keeping my tone deep and even. It was a lie, though. I might not have fully believed her, but she managed to offer enough doubt in my mind that I no longer knew what to think.

She shrugged and then sniffled, taking a step toward me. “You know, you’re not the only one who feels angry and cheated over the whole thing. It took some time, but I was able to forgive you for abandoning me. For promising to get me out of my mom’s house, but instead, leaving me there. I understood enough to put myself in your shoes, to feel the panic you must’ve felt when everyone found out. I managed to let it go and accept that sometimes, shitty things happen. But now…hearing you admit that you turned your back on me because you thought I’d been the one that went to the school about us? I take it all back. You don’t deserve my forgiveness.”

“Then how did they know all that?”

“I found out after you left that Jill was the one who went to the principal about it. She said she was at the dollar store…remember when we stopped to pick up bandages and stuff? Well, you kissed me before you went inside. Apparently, she was in the parking lot and saw it. I never saw her, I didn’t even know she was there. But she’s the one who sparked the investigation.

“They called me into the office. I walked into a room and found the principal, two counselors, a teacher, and my mom. I had no idea what it was about…why I was there. I thought maybe you had called the cops again, or reported to the school what my mom did to me. But then they started asking questions about us. They kept talking to me like I was some kind of victim.” Her voice shook as she spoke, that day obviously just as clear to her as it was to me, even after all this time.

“So you just told them everything?”

“No,” she argued softly. “I didn’t tell them anything until they said someone had seen us. They wouldn’t tell me when or where, so I didn’t know how to explain it. I told them that we were neighbors and would sometimes see each other in the neighborhood. That’s when my mom said something about the trees in the back yard, saying she’d caught me back there a lot and thought I’d been sneaking out to meet a boy. I never told them about that—my mom did.”

The doubt that had crept in before began to build. “What else?”

“They asked if we had any other communication, and before I could say anything, my mom said she could get ahold of your phone records. I was scared, so I told them about the cell phone you gave me. I knew we never sent any texts that would hurt you, so I thought it was okay. I didn’t want to lie and then have my mom find out. That would only make us look guilty. I didn’t want you to look bad.”

“And what did you say was the reason I gave it to you?” I wanted to know that she’d told them about her mom. The one fear that had weighed on me for so long, that eventually sank me to the bottom of a liquor bottle, was over what had happened with her mother after I left. Because it didn’t matter which way I looked at it, I’d allowed my feelings of betrayal to leave her in a house with an abusive mother after swearing I’d protect her.

“I told them about the time I had to walk home in the rain and slept outside, and you wanted me to have a way of getting ahold of someone in the event I was ever locked out of my house again.”

“And…? You told them about your mom, right? About the abuse?”

She shook her head and dropped her gaze. “No. I couldn’t. She quickly excused it as a misunderstanding, saying she was at some work function that night and didn’t know I’d been locked out. And then she went on to say how it was noble of you to look out for me, but that you should’ve gone to her first before buying her minor daughter a cell phone behind her back. So I lied to them to protect you, and I said you were under the impression that my mom knew about it. But I maintained that we were nothing more than friends, and that nothing inappropriate ever took place.”

I closed my eyes as I recalled the events of the following morning. Being called in early for a meeting with the principal under the guise of it regarding my permanent position at the school. I remembered the surprise I got when I learned what the meeting was truly about, and I’d walked into the lion’s den without a moment of preparation.

“I wanted to let you know about it, but my mom wouldn’t leave my side. She made me hand over the phone as soon as we got home, so I couldn’t call you. I tried sneaking out that night, but I found her on the couch. She knew I’d try to get to you, and she prevented every move I made. I didn’t want you to be blindsided by it like I was. I’m sorry, Axel. I’m sorry this happened to us, but it wasn’t my fault. I did everything I could to protect you. But then I went to school the next day, rushing to your classroom to warn you, only to find you leaving with a box of your things in hand. I chased after you…didn’t you hear me?”

“I was being escorted off the premises,” I said in a deep, whispered monotone, the images of that morning fresh in my mind. “It didn’t matter what I said to them. They made it clear that I’d crossed a line. They didn’t have enough to fire me, but they had enough to make me resign.” I glanced up and caught her glistening eyes. “I heard you, but at the time, I was under the impression that you threw me to the wolves. And had I turned around to acknowledge you, I’d lose my defense that our relationship was innocent.”

“I tried going to your house that weekend to explain, but everything was gone,” she cried, letting another lone tear slip down to her chin. Everything about her, from her voice to her shaking hands, screamed weakness, yet she remained strong with a firm hold on her tears. The woman in front of me was not the same girl I’d walked away from. This one could hold her own, and I’d never felt prouder.

“What did you expect, Bree? I was ostracized. I was the teacher—the adult—taking advantage of a minor. It didn’t matter what the truth was. The damage was done. And to add to it, I was under the impression that you were behind my crucifixion.”

“That was your first mistake, Axel. What reason would I have to do that?” she asked, sounding desperate for an answer. The anger that had fueled her fight moments before seemed gone, or at the very least, it had waned.

I couldn’t answer her, because the one good reason I thought she had, no longer seemed valid. But it did cause me to ask her about something she said earlier. “When you said you made one decision for yourself, one you’ve never regretted…what was that?” I had some deep need for that answer. Her words wouldn’t leave me alone until I knew what she’d meant by them.

Bree took another step forward, closing the gap between our bodies. Her stature had become relaxed, softening with every inch she moved. That’s how we always were together, no matter how deep the pain, how blazing the fury, or how profound the sadness, the love we shared always seemed to win out. “Loving you. I’ve never regretted it, nor will I ever. Because that one choice I made, the one thing I’ve ever done for myself…it saved me.”

“I don’t follow.”

She tenderly touched my cheek, grazing her thumb over my unshaven skin. The heat from her palm penetrated me, burning me to the core. The intensity of her touch told me that this would be a defining moment for us. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that in the end, you finally saved me. Something more powerful than either of us intervened, and because of you and my love for you, I made it out the other side a happier, stronger, better person.” Her hand dropped before I could touch it. “But I really do need to get to my car,” she added, her fight now completely gone.