Page 66 of Inherited Holiday

The certainty in his tone broke my heart like he’d already made his decision.

I knew this wouldn’t be easy, saying goodbye never was, but we’d make it through this.

We were best friends.

“Elle.” He pressed his lips against mine, rubbing them back and forth along my soft mouth.

I thought I was going to die.

I felt like I was dying.

He repeated for what felt like the millionth time, “You know I can’t stay here.”

“Why not?”

“I need to do this for me.”

I winced for a second before responding, “That’s not fair.”

“None of this is fair.”

This wasn’t supposed to be this hard. This was on constant repeat in my head for the past few weeks. He’d been different, and he wouldn’t tell me why.

Now I knew…

He was planning on leaving and trying to figure out how to tell me.

Or worse, how do get me to leave with him, which he knew I wouldn’t.

Why is he doing this to me?

Inhaling a quick breath, he lifted his hand to the side of my face like he was trying to memorize it. His green eyes locked with mine, and it was the first time I realized how white they’d get when he was upset.

“Don’t cry, Elle.”

It was only then I realized I was crying.

We were only eighteen years old and had our whole lives ahead of us.

He kissed my lips, desperately hanging on by a very thin thread. “Please, come with me.”

I didn’t know what to expect from this goodbye, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next. It was by far the most devastating moment for me out of all this. I was being pulled in two different directions, and for the life of me, I stood there silently praying I was making the right one.

“What if I ask you not to go?”

His eyes widened, waiting for I don’t know what.

For the first time, my heart wanted one thing, and my mind wanted the other.

I battled a war of what felt right but could also be wrong.

My mind spun on an endless loop of what was I doing…

He must have sensed my hesitation, and I laid my hand over his heart. “What if we started our lives now? Here? Together?”

“Noelle…”

Life was full of choices, and all it took was one decision to change the path of our lives.

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