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I was glad I wore joggers because I was sweating my ass off as I ran toward our library. It was pitch dark outside, and I didn’t like the idea of her walking here alone this late, even though she did it all the time.
I shoved the doors open, and it was a Saturday night, so there weren’t a lot of people around. Ten people here and there as I checked the first floor. Then the second and third. The familiar panic worked its way up my chest again when I didn’t see her auburn hair. If she wasn’t here, I had no idea where she was.
I had to call Quentin and the campus police. Holy shit. I left her, and something like this happened? I couldn’t breathe.
“Theo?” A small voice penetrated my spiral.
I spun around so fast I almost tripped on my feet. Audrey sat at a table for four, but her books covered the top. She wore yoga pants and a worn crewneck sweatshirt. It was one her dad gave her—she’d told me that. Her hair was piled in a messy bun on top of her head, and a few curls escaped by her face. Her eyes were a little red, but she looked beautiful. Fucking perfect. And safe. And mine.
“You’re safe.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. For about fifteen minutes, I hadn’t been certain. I gripped the back of the empty chair and waited a few beats before meeting her gaze. She frowned at me. The wrinkles on her forehead were adorable.
“I’m okay, yeah.” She chewed her lip and glanced at her papers instead of me. “Why are you here?”
“To find you.” My heart pounded against my ribcage to the point of pain. I hated how she wouldn’t look at me. I hated it so fucking much. “I went to your dorm and texted you, but when you didn’t answer, I worried.”
She swallowed, still not looking at me. “Oh. My phone died a little bit ago. I’m charging it now.”
Her phone sat right in front of me, the charging signal bright and clear. What she said made sense. “Why are you at the library?”
“Studying. It helps me.” She rubbed her thumb and pointer finger together over and over. She flicked her gaze to me for a beat before her face reddened, and she looked down. “Did you need to talk to me?”
“Audrey, you’re killing me right now.” I plopped into the chair across from her and almost smiled at her cute notes. She had amazing handwriting and organized her thoughts in such a cool way. I loved seeing her process and asking her questions, but that wasn’t for now. “Can we talk please?”
She shrugged. “Sure. What did you want to discuss?”
“Baby, why are?—”
She flinched at the use of baby, and my heart fucking broke. She paled and gripped her pen so tight her knuckles were white. She was hurting because of me, and I hated it.
“Auds, I’m sorry.” There, I said it. She had to know how I felt.
“I know. I’m sorry too. For keeping information from you about your family.” She frowned and studied the end of her pen like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was a basic black pen. What was so fucking cool about it?
“I know you were trying to protect me.” I reached over and covered her hand with mine. She stilled, and her eyes widened. Why was she so shocked I was touching her? I didn’t get it. “Why?—”
She pulled her hand back and placed it in her lap.
What the fuck was going on?
“I was wrong. Your dad was seeing a therapist to help him cope with having a wife who was injured. I looked her up, and she’s legit. Your dad is keeping his word and working on himself, which is great.” She glanced at me and offered a small, barely there smile before masking her face to indifference. “I shouldn’t have kept that from you regardless of any reasons. I know why you’re upset.”
This was the ice queen I met months ago. It was starting to piss me off.
“Why are you acting like this?” I barked, not caring we were in a library.
“Like what? I don’t know how I’m supposed to act, Theo! I’ve never broken up with someone before, okay? I don’t know the protocol! I’m just trying not to break down right now, okay!” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her jaw trembling.
She thought we were done, and that was my fault.
“Honey, we’re not broken up.” What we felt for each other was deeper than one argument. It was so much more.
“Yes, we are.”
“No, no we’re fucking not.”
She opened her beautiful green eyes, and a flash of anger was in them. “Theo. I lied to you. That’s… unforgiveable. You left m-me at the game. How… how else should I take that? You didn’t come over like we planned and left me alone. How are we still together?”
She truly believed those words, and it made my stomach twist with legit anxiety. If she thought that, she might not believe how I felt about her. “We had our first fight. All couples do that.”
