Page 30 of Beautifully Shattered
This is pure heartbreak.
My own sob works its way up my throat, but I hold it in, totally crushed to see… to hear the strongest man I know, completely falling apart.
Did I do that to him?
Did I break his heart?
“C-Cam?” I breathe, but he must hear, his panicked, tear-soaked eyes snap up, locking to mine just a few metres away.
“Angel?” he chokes out, and the sob I was holding in rips from me as I launch forward just as he stands.
He catches me, like he always does, wrapping me up as I throw myself into his arms.
“I’m so sorry.” I cry into his neck, clinging to him like I’m drowning. “I didn’t mean to be such a bitch.”
My legs wrap around his middle as he lifts me, holding me like he’ll never let go.
“I’m sorry I’m sodamaged. Please don’t hate me. Please don’t give up on me.”
“Fuck,Angel,” he rasps into my hair. “I love you. I’ll never hate you. I’ll never give up on you.”
I pull back, stunned by his declaration.
“You… you really love me?” I ask, not sure if I heard him right, because surely he doesn’t.
Not after everything I’ve put him through.
He holds me tight, one arm locked around me, the other hand cradling my face like I’m precious.
“I really fucking love you, Abbey. I know it doesn’t make sense. The short time, the age difference… fucking everything that’s happened. But fuck, why does it have to make sense? It feels more right than anything I’ve ever felt.”
Tears pour down my cheeks as I stare into his eyes, or what I can see of them in the faint light coming from the jetty.
“I love you, too,” I whisper. “I think I have for a while now, but I was too scared to tell you. I thought you’d just see me as young and dumb.”
“Fucking never,” he rasps, shaking his head. “There’snothingdumb about you. You’re fuckingeverything.”
Another sob lurches from my lips, right before he claims them.
It’s a wet, salty kiss, laced with grief and suffering, but also, a thread of something else too.
Something like hope. Like maybe we aren’t too far gone.
Our tongues clash, hungry and desperate, like they’re fighting for more.
More of what? I don’t know, but I just know I need him.
I need to crawl under his skin, wrap myself around his soul, andstay there. Forever.
When Ringo pulls back, I whimper, and his thumbs brush over my cheeks, wiping away the mess of tears like he wants to erase my pain.
“Can I come to bed, Angel?” His voice breaks as he speaks, his emotions still raw. “Can I hold you in my arms tonight?”
I nod frantically. “Please.”
“Fuck,” he breathes, pressing his forehead to mine. “I thought I’d fucking lost you. I didn’t know how to get you back.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m still here. Kind of.”
