Page 116 of The Moment Promised

We shouldn’t have allowed ourselves to fall in love because this is how it ends. We won’t end up together, Finn.

“You have to go, love. And I have to be happy for you.” He smiles through tears that fall fast down his face.

“You don’t have to be such a good guy all the time.”

“It’s what you deserve.” He pauses for a moment. “Maybe we can do long distance. I mean we can talk on the phone everyday?—”

I sit up and move closer to him, placing my hand on his cheek. “I want every bit of you, Finn. Not a relationship through the speaker of my phone. I want to kiss you every time I tell you how much I love you. I want to sleep in the same bed and see you the moment I open my eyes.”

“Okay. Yeah, you’re right,” he whispers and looks down. “So, this is…over then.”

The pain in my chest is incomparable to anything I’ve ever felt. It’s like my heart shattered and every sharp edge stabs inside my chest. I hold his face in my hands so his eyes meet mine once again. His tears drip into my palms, I want to hold all his pain like he’s held mine for so many years.

He kisses me softly with raw, heartbreaking emotion. I want to kiss him forever, but I know once our lips break apart, this is it. The reality of what’s happening doesn’t stop me, instead it drives me.

It’s the last time we’ll get to be more than best friends living in two different states, so I absorb every millisecond of the moment promised, making sure I won’t forget a thing.

The way his tongue glides past my parted lips makes me want his body to possess mine, our souls intertwined…tethered together until the end of time.

“I love youforever, Adeline,” he whispers against my lips, our tears mixing. “The past, the present, and the future… Wherever you are,” he strains to get the words out, “you have my heart.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

We kiss and make love with everything left of us, making sure to savor every second.

I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life. The end of our story.

I couldn’t see Finn after that.

It would break me to have to say goodbye, so instead we left off on a high note, sayingI’ll see you later.

It’s better this way,I reassure myself as I zip my last suitcase.

I woke up the next morning to a new luggage set and a note from Finn I read for the millionth time.Fill that beautiful mind of yours with memories of the entire world, you deserve to witness it all. I love you in every timeline.

I fold it neatly and put it in my phone case, so I’ll always have his words with me.

My mom lightly taps on my door, eyes puffy with a scrapbook in hand. “Done packing?” she asks with a smile that battles to become a frown.

“Yeah, I’m all set.” It’s going to be hard to leave my mom, but we agreed she needed to finish rehab and figure everything out down here before joining me in Authensville.

She’s been working on packing up our home and finding a realtor to show the house.

Along with the legal issues of filing for a divorce to a man in prison. It turns out we don’t have to worry about him getting out anytime soon since kidnapping me and arranging to have Finn killed weren’t his only offenses. My mom didn’t go into too much detail when she found out from the lawyer, but apparently, he was getting all his money from fraud.

We won the case, which would’ve been enough to ensure me a lifetime of peace a few weeks ago.

As much as things are finally falling into place, like Jason’s life sentence and my mom being in a good enough place for me to finally go my own way, it’s equally falling apart.

I can’t help but feel like all of this had been a waste. Finn and I were planning on going to college together when we were kids, and now that I can finally leave my mom without worrying so much, I’m leaving the state.

Leaving him.

I fell in love for the first time, trusting the only person worthy of it. It was exhilarating while it lasted, but now I’ll spend the rest of my life grieving what we had. What’s now already over.

When I told my mom I was moving, she washappyfor me. Instead of holding me back and asking me to stay, she said,when do we leave?She wants to come with me, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

---