Page 1 of The Air You Breathe

PROLOGUE

DARCY

3 years ago

He looked guilty, sad, and exhausted sitting on my bed in my dorm. Evan was a big guy and made my small dorm room look even smaller. Alarms in my head were ringing. Something was really wrong.

Shit it was his sister.

I grabbed his hand to offer him comfort, I can’t imagine what it must be like to go through what he is going through. I’m an only child. I won’t ever know the pain of losing a sibling.

He ran his hand through his longish hair. He had been letting it grow out and I'd been loving it nearly shoulder length. He looked so exhausted since he had taken that job to help his parents pay for his sister's medication. Grad school, working, helping his parents were taking a toll on him and my heart broke for him.

“Darcy…” His rich timbre of a voice always brought me comfort.

“I’m so…”

“We can’t be together anymore,” he said, interrupting my apology.

His words were like a slap on the face, I wasn’t expecting this.

“Excuse me?” I asked, in shock.

“We can’t be together anymore,” he said, finally looking at me. “I just can’t deal with everything that’s on my plate right now and it's not fair to you.”

“I told you that I would help however I could. I know your sister comes first,” I said hoping to remind him that I was all in.

“I know. I appreciate your help but it’s something I have to do alone,” he said, getting up from the bed.

“What happened to ‘I can’t live without you, Darcy’,” I snapped.

Guilt was written all over his features. He clenched his jaw and pursed his lips like he wanted to cry.

“Things change…” he said, but didn’t finish his sentence.

“Things change?” I wanted to yell but I kept calm. “What’s changed? A few weeks ago, you said I was your everything.”

He looked out my window, quiet for a moment before he turned around, his face completely passive.

“Family comes first and pretty soon you will be fed up with it and leave me. I’m just saving us some time and heartache,” he said with a hint of anger in his tone.

“Heartache? You think this is saving me from heartache?” I stood up.

“I’m sorry, but life happens, I didn’t know my sister's cancer would be so expensive. I mean, that’s what insurance is for, right?” He looked even angrier. “But now my parents are going broke because they can’t keep up with the bills. They have already taken out a second mortgage, and it’s still not enough. I’m trying to do my part so my sister has a fighting chance.”

I wanted to yell at him that putting his happiness on hold wouldn’t change his sister's life. I loved Evan and these past six months together had been the happiest I had ever been but it killed me that he thought he couldn’t have happiness and help his sister too.

“I said I would help you anyway I could. I know this is going to be hard, but I love you and I will be with you every step of the way,” I pleaded. I wasn’t ready to give up on us.

He stared at me for a moment with indecision. “I’m sorry… I can’t, I have to do this alone.”

“Alone?! Why?!” I yelled, in anger. “I love you, Evan.”

“It’s the only way,” he said, looking at me, then walked towards the door. That’s when it clicked.

I gasped when the realization hit me. “Evan, please tell me you weren’t stupid enough to go through with it?”

“Excuse me?” He turned around in shock.

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