Page 51 of Unfinished

“We aren’t done!” I grabbed her and turned her back to me holding both of her arms. Fear gripped my chest at the thought of losing Hannah.

“Yes we are!”

“You can’t break up with me because a girl I have no interest in threw herself at me. You can’t let this bother you, it happens,” I said.

“So I need to get used to girls flirting with you, touching you, kissing you to be a part of your life?”

“No, that’s not what I meant, it’s just … fuck! Hannah, I can’t control what other people do.”

“We both know I will never be accepted in your world. Every single crack in our relationship would be exploited by women like Melissa. Your own mom will do everything in her power to separate us and make our lives hell.”

“My mom’s a bitch.”

“She called me trash and in your world that’s all I am. I don’t want to be a part of your world. This is over!” Hannah pulled out of my grip, running for her Jeep and I ran after her.

“Hannah!”

She ignored me and climbed into her Jeep and started it. I stood in front of it so she couldn’t leave without running me over and I was hoping she wouldn’t do that.

“I’m not letting you walk away from this. I love you and I’ll give it all up to be with you. You are all that matters to me, all I want, all I will ever need. We were always meant to be and I’m not letting you go, ever.”

“Liam, I can’t do this.” She backed up and pulled out of the spot and took off down the street. I took off towards my Jeep but Archer stopped me.

“You’ve been drinking. Give me the keys now! I’ll drive you,” Archer said, and I threw him the keys and we climbed into my Jeep. Archer took off after Hannah and I saw the crowd that gathered in front of Rion and Bas’ house. Derek was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and watching us as we drove past.

On top of everything that I was going through with Hannah, he was there watching it all as it went down. Hannah couldn’t leave me. I couldn’t lose her. There was a lump in my throat and I couldn’t take a full breath. My heart was beating hard and breaking apart. I couldn’t lose the one thing I had chosen for myself. For the first time in my life I had someone who saw me and not my family, but it was my family taking that away from me.

I picked up my phone and texted Bas and Rion telling them to grab Derek. I’d deal with him once I fixed this with Hannah. I had to deal with the person who was trying to sabotage my life. I dialed my mother. The phone rang and I didn’t even have a plan for what I was going to say to her.

“Hello, Liam,” my mother greeted me.

“What did you say to Hannah in the kitchen last Saturday?”

“I didn’t say anything to her.” She was lying, she always lied and pretended to be innocent.

“Well, if I can’t convince Hannah to stay with me, you’re dead to me, and I promise you I will ruin your entire social existence.” After the threat, I hung up the phone.

Archer pulled into Hannah’s driveway right after she pulled in. I jumped out of my Jeep before Archer fully stopped and ran around to catch her before she got to the front door.

“My mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” I said.

“No, but she still proves that I don’t belong and will never belong in your world.”

“Let me prove you wrong. I have plenty of people who will love you and won’t give a damn about who your parents are.” I went to grab her and she recoiled away from me and I felt my chest cracking wide open. I looked in her eyes and saw tears starting to gather.

“How many more Melissa’s are there who will find ways to put you in this same position? I can’t deal with the girls who will do what Melissa did, while studying and working every moment I can, six hours away from you. I can’t afford the distraction.”

I ran my fingers through my hair and turned. I noticed the For Sale sign in her yard and I looked back at her. She closed her eyes for a second, then looked up at me.

“What is going on?” I asked.

“My dad is moving to Pittsburgh with me.”

“But his job?”

“He got let go, along with twenty other people.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

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