Page 83 of Choosing Forever
“Honestly, you need to just get back together already beforeit’s too late. What if you wait too long and something happens that you can’t move on from? The fighting today was just . . . not you. It’s never been you.”
She’s right. Darren and I are different. But this year, we’ve gone from best friends to strangers in the blink of an eye, and our low-blow attacks and frustrations are making everything worse. Everything’s just been miserable.I’vebeen miserable.
I blink away the burn in my eyes and focus on keeping my vision clear before I smoke a sleepy deer trying to cross the road. There’s a sharp pinch between my ribs as I slow my speed by a few kilometres and let out a tight exhale. There’s no mistaking this feeling for anything but dread.
“Do you remember when you told me you weren’t my friend solely because I was Darren’s girlfriend?” I ask.
“Which time? I’ve told you that plenty of times, Laney. It’s the truth.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s all you’re going to say after asking that?” Poppy snaps.
“I believe you, Pops.”
“Oh, well whoop-de-fucking-do. I definitely won’t worry about a thing, then.”
My laugh is garbled and wet as the tears break free. I hastily wipe them as they fall while making the turn into the parking lot of the only place I could think of to check. Darren’s car sitting in the third stall surprises me less than I was anticipating.
“I love you, Poppy. I’m really glad I got to get to know you,” I declare.
“You’re my sister.”
Pulling into the stall beside Darren, I say, “I found him.”
“Where?”
“He wasn’t far.”
She scoffs, anger replacing her worry. “He’s an asshole.”
“I’d have to agree right now.”
“Just call me after you’re done talking to him, alright? Reamhim out and then make up so I can have someone to talk to at Christmas dinner. You’re the best part of all our holiday dinners. I’d be subject to Great-Aunt Judy’s crochet talk if I was alone.”
I let that go, knowing damn well that anything I say would be a lie.
“Thank you for answering the phone.”
“I love you like family, Laney.”
“I love you too, Pops.”
She hangs up, and I sit in silence for a moment, thinking, breathing. Darren’s not in the car, and I didn’t expect him to be. We were supposed to be a clean break, right? Two years ago, we were supposed to say goodbye and shift our romance into something looser and easier to manage over the next four years that we’d be apart. Instead, we became . . . whatever this is.
A sloppy mess of unclear rules and miserable distance, topped with a sprinkle of insecurity. We should have done everything differently.
I’m yanked from my disastrous thoughts by a light knock on my window. Looking at Darren’s closed-off expression as he stares in at me confirms everything I was expecting.
This will be the last time I visit him here.
27
PRESENT
DARREN
Her hand is stillas small as it was the last time I held it. Maybe even smaller.
