AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She dabs the corner of her eyes with her pinkies. “The pleasure was all mine, my dear. You changed us here—both me and Bryce.”
We sit in silence until Beatrice finishes her last sip of tea, and then we say goodnight.
Edward and I walk along the path to Bryce’s house, but my feet falter when my eyes land on a tent beside the pool. Bryce sits at the edge, dangling his legs into the water, staring down at his hands in his lap. A thick line creases his eyebrows, his shoulders hunched forward, and his perfect lips pull downward. He looks torn up, this strong, beautiful giant seeming so small and broken.
My heart hurts for him at the same time it hurts because of him. Then I realize: He’s in more pain than I am. I’ve been hurt before, but I still let myself live, and love, and hold on to hope that something more is out there for me. Bryce doesn’t let himself do any of those things though. He closes himself off, and he prevents himself from truly feeling anything because he’s afraid of what might go wrong. And what kind of life is he leading without putting his faith in anything, or anyone?
A life filled with emptiness and despair.
Edward pulls against his leash, and I let it slip from my fingers so he can run to Bryce.
Bryce’s head jerks up at the sound of Edward’s collar jingling, and then his eyes are on me.
I gesture to the tent as I approach. “What is this?”
He uses his cane to pull himself up. “I know you’re angry with me, and I know you’ve been avoiding me all week. But you’re leaving tomorrow, and I wanted to do something special for you.” He pauses. “One last time.”
I gaze up into his eyes, searching for the right words that’ll make him change his mind about us. Something that’ll make him feel better. Anything to make him see what he’s doing is only hurting himself.
“Please.” His hand reaches out for mine, and I’m frozen under his touch. “Watch the sunrise with me.”
Edward trots inside the tent, curling up in a ball on the blankets, and I can’t help but smile at him through the welling tears. The happy-go-lucky dog doesn’t know that when the sun comes up tomorrow, I’m leaving him behind.
A lone salty tear slips free, and Bryce catches it with his thumb. He opens his mouth to say something, but I stop him before he can.
“Okay. One last time.”
Bryce and I spend the night wrapped around each other, holding on as if we’ll float away if we loosen our grip even the tiniest bit. I breathe him in, letting his essence fill my lungs and course through me, and I commit every sense to memory—the softness of his skin; his thick hair; his rough beard; the curve of his upper lip; the exact shade of his inky irises.
We don’t speak. There’s nothing left to say, nothing that words could do justice for.
In the morning, after the gradual rise of the bright sun promises a new day, I let my heavy eyelids droop closed, reveling in the warmth of Bryce’s arms for the last time.
But when I open them again, he’s gone.
Bryce
“Well, she’s gone. You can stop hiding.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I’m not hiding. I just ... couldn’t.”
Couldn’t watch her leave.
Couldn’t let her go.
Yet I couldn’t tell her to stay.
Nana lowers herself onto the edge of the bed, and Edward hops up next to her. “You did a wonderful job fixing up this room. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d have found someone else to do the job.”
Nana lifts a hand to her forehead, rubbing the wrinkled creases. “That’s your problem, my boy. You assume everyone would get along fine without you.”
“Wouldn’t they? We all survive without the people we love.”
“Sure, we survive. Our hearts keep beating, and our minds continue going through the motions. But we’re not here to survive. That isn’t the point. Life isn’t about who can last the longest. It’s more than just existing.”
I don’t bother asking what life is about, in part because I don’t care to hear some fantastical theory about the meaning of life, but also because I know my grandmother will tell me regardless.
