Page 37 of Meet Me in the Vines
“I just don’t want our family to drift further apart. Please, Donovan. Make it right? Talk to Dad?”
How can I make it right when he has everything to do with the last ten years of pain and heartache? I glimpse at Audrey, trailing her with my eyes as she slips out the side door.
“Excuse me,” I grumble curtly as I push past my dad, clipping his shoulder. I place my empty wineglass on a table nearby and make a beeline toward the door. My hand freezes as I grip the knob, taking a deep breath before I turn it.
Audrey stands with her back to me, her long black dress draped perfectly on her body, shifting in the wind. Her head turns to the side when she hears me approaching, her eyes quickly retreating toward the rolling green hills that show off in front of us.
I stop a few feet behind her to give her space. Her arms cross over her chest as she looks into the distance. I’ve never heard silence this loud. The energy between us is deafening, begging to be disturbed and shaken. Every ounce of control I have threatens to leave me as my body is screaming to reach out for her. She looks to the side again, hiding her face from me.
“What do you want, Donovan?” she asks. Her voice is small. Hurt. I take a hesitant step and fill the space next to her. Her eyes shift back toward the valley, glimmering in the sun. She’s been crying—I wonder if any of those tears fell today because of me.
I pause, my gaze locked on her beautiful face. “I want to explain what happened between us, Audrey. I want to apologize,” I say in a hushed tone.
Please look at me?
Audrey sighs, closing her eyes before turning to face me. I swear the air leaves my lungs the second her eyes meet mine. God, I can’t fuck this up again.
“It was a long time ago, Donovan. Look,” she says, keeping her arms over her chest. “I’m sorry for what I said last night. I was very drunk, and it was a mistake. I shouldn’t have asked you to kiss me. I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” I reply gently. “I’m not sorry that I kissed you. But I am sorry for the last ten years. I?—”
“Donovan, please,” she interrupts, putting her hand up to keep me from talking. She averts her gaze, tears welling up in her eyes. I want to reach out to brush them away, but I don’t. “I don’t need your apology, okay? We were just kids. It didn’t mean anything.”
“Audrey, it meant everything to me. Let me just?—”
“Donovan, no.” She cuts me off, a tear slipping down her cheek. “I just lost my gran,” she chokes. “There’s nothing anyone can do to change the past. So please, can we stop trying?” Her eyes are full of sorrow. The grief of Violet, the grief ofus.Guilt coils in my chest, knowing I’m causing her more heartache than she deserves. Today of all days. She takes a deep inhale, uncrossing her arms to wipe the tears that I so desperately want to wipe for her.
“It’s fine, Donovan. Okay? We can move on.”
“Well, what if I don’t want to move on?” I interject. The words rush out before I can contain them.
Damn it, Donovan. She told you to stop.
She scoffs, her fingers threading through her hair.
“You can’t tell me that there still isn’t something between us. The second we saw each other, you knew it wasn’t over.” Her lip quivers as she puts her hands by her side. I’m stupid enough to reach out and grab her hand, lacing her fingers through mine, placing it over my heart. I’ll take the risk. She chokes out a cry as I take a step closer, squeezing her hand tightly against my chest.
“Tell me, Audrey. Are you happy in New York? Are you happy with him?” I ask breathlessly. “Because I see you. I see it in your eyes. They’re so beautiful, but broken.” I swallow the hard lump in my throat.
She clenches her jaw, failing to stifle the soft sobs that escape her. I cup my hands around her face, swiping the tears with my thumbs. Her hands rest on my chest, my heart beating beneath her palms.
“Stay. Please stay with me. Don’t go back,” I whisper, resting my forehead on hers. My insides flutter at the thought of Audrey staying. We’d have another chance, another go at this. A real shot. I look into her eyes and witness a battle in them. They flit back and forth between mine, her brows knitted with worry and doubt.
Please say yes. Stay with me.
“I can’t,” she murmurs, closing her eyes as thick droplets cascade down her cheekbone. “I have to go back. I need to go back.” She gently grips my wrists, pulling them away from her face. She takes a step back and turns around, her hand covering her forehead. I crave her warmth, my body turning frigid the second she walks away.
She turns to face me with distance between us now, her hands on her waist. “It’s too late, Donovan. I have to go back.”
“You really want to go back to him? After last night, you really?—”
“Yes, Donovan! I’m going back to him!” she cries, raising her voice which booms through my chest. My heart drops into mystomach, feeling the distance between us stretch for miles and miles—I can no longer reach her.
“I’m not doing this with you again. I already told you, last night was a mistake. I need to go,” she sobs, turning on her heel, leaving me standing alone in the backyard. I watch her disappear inside, tears streaking down her face. I clutch my chest, pacing the backyard as I try to catch my breath. I’m hit with a violent storm of grief, bringing me to my knees.
Flashes of me sitting in my dad’s office the morning after graduation play in my mind. The betrayal, the hurt, the anger I felt. His words haunt me, taunting me, slow and torturous.
“Donovan, you must end it. If you don’t, your future will be ruined.”
