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The flower field came into view just as my legs started to burn, but I didn’t slow down. Not when I saw the four-wheeler parked haphazardly at the edge of the field. Not when I caught sight of her, sprawled out in the grass, nearly swallowed by the wildflowers.
My chest tightened.
She was crying. No—sobbing. Her body shook with it, shoulders curled in like she was trying to hold herself together, but it wasn’t working. The nearly empty bottle of wine rested beside her, its dark silhouette barely visible against the petals.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
“Rose.”
She didn’t react.
I lowered myself onto my knees beside her, brushing away a few fallen stems to get a better look at her face. The moonlight caught the streaks of tears on her cheeks, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.
“Sunshine,” I tried again, softer this time.
Her eyes flickered open, unfocused at first, then locking onto me. Her lips parted slightly, but no words came out.
I exhaled, relieved she was at least aware of me. I reached for the bottle, slipping it from her loose grip and setting it aside.
“What the hell are you doing out here?” I asked, keeping my voice low, steady. “You scared the shit outta me.”
She sniffled and dragged a hand over her face, as if she could wipe away the evidence of whatever had just wrecked her. But there was no hiding it.
“I needed to get out,” she mumbled.
“And drink yourself into oblivion in the middle of a field?” I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. “Damn it, Rose.”
“Why do you care?” she shot back, her voice cracking.
That hit me straight in the chest.
“Because it’s you,” I said simply.
She let out a choked, bitter laugh, turning her face toward the sky. “That’s not a reason.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
Silence stretched between us, the wind rustling through the flowers, carrying the scent of lavender and something heartbreakingly familiar.
Her fingers twitched, brushing against a petal beside her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she whispered.
I didn’t know what broke inside her tonight, but I sure as hell knew she didn’t deserve to feel like this.
“Nothing’s wrong with you.”
She let out a shaky breath. “Then why do I feel like I’m falling apart?”
I hesitated for only a second before lying down beside her. Close, but not touching. Just enough to let her know she wasn’t alone.
We stared up at the sky, the stars stretching infinitely above us.
“Maybe you’re not falling apart,” I murmured. “Maybe you’re just breaking free.”
Rose let out another shaky breath, her fingers twisting into the grass like she was trying to anchor herself. But she was unraveling right in front of me, and I couldn’t just sit there and watch.
Without thinking, I reached for her.
She stiffened as I slipped an arm beneath her shoulders, pulling her against me. But the second her body pressed into mine, she melted, her face burying into my chest like she belonged there.
