A Long Time Coming (30 page)

Chapter Twenty–Nine

One month later…

“Abigail, I know you’re
sleeping, and I know that you can’t hear me. And I’m really glad you can’t cuz
then I’d feel like a serious pussy for getting all emotional on you here. But
what I have to say has to be said now. I can’t wait any longer.” He swallowed
the tight lump in his throat as he sat on her floor next to her living room
couch.

He had stayed away a little
more than usual the past few days. Mainly because his mom was struggling and
needing him—but also because Abigail hadn’t fought for him to stay when he told
her he had to be gone. She needed space and he broke his promise and gave it to
her. But now was his moment to make up for the time lost.

The fact that she’d made the
decision to come down from her room was something awesome in itself. Sure, his
ego was a little bruised that he hadn’t been here to help, but still, he was
proud of her. Damn proud of the miniscule, but all–too–important decision she
had made.

“I want you to know something.
And I don’t know how to tell you this while you’re awake, so I’m gonna just get
it out now while my balls are still sort of attached.” He scratched the back of
his head. Damn, why was he so freaking nervous? She was sleeping for Christ’s
sake. “Okay, so I’ve tried to tell you in the past, but now, seeing you here
like this…” he settled back against the couch, careful not to jar her with his
movements. His hand drifted towards her leg, holding on to the blanket that
covered it.

“You need to know something
about the night of my accident. You need to know what I had decided to do
before I got in the car to go get my sister.” Ugh, fuck, she was sleeping. Why
was his tongue, not wanting to move? He just needed to spit it out. Her mom
told him she had agreed to take some pain meds to knock her out fully for a
while—another step he had been trying to get her to take since the night she
first came home from the hospital. Leave it to Abigail, though, to take that
step on her own. She was a strong, stubborn girl—always doing things at her own
pace. Even for something as simple as taking medicine.

“Okay, so…yeah, this is
tough.” He groaned, shutting his eyes, resting his head back against the
cushion.

“Mm, don’t stop now Mr. Dream
Man. This sensitive version of my boyfriend is
exactly
what I need. Oh,
and if he adds in a kiss or two, I wouldn’t complain.”

Shit… She was awake? Why in
the hell was she awake? She wasn’t supposed to hear this. She was supposed to
be passed out—in a drug coma—only to wake up after having heard nothing. His
hands shook as he turned to face her. His face went level with hers and as
always, his forehead gravitated towards hers. He lifted a hand, lowering his
fingers onto her cheek, seeing the light had returned to her eyes. Finally,
dammit, finally… Now there’d be no way in hell he could stop talking if he
tried.

“You’re up.”

Grinning wildly, she raised
her hand and covered the back of his. “I am.”

“How are you feeling?”

The tips of his fingers found
her chin with his other hand, and he ran the pad of his thumb back and forth,
right above the spot where the last of her bruises sat. She flinched at the
movement, almost as though she had forgotten what was there, so he stopped.

Determined to keep her
focused, he lowered his mouth, pressing it softly to hers. He smiled against
her lips, happy to grant her the first of the
couple
of kisses she’d
asked for.

“I’m better now,” her
whispered words lingered over his mouth. He sighed at the sensation, shutting
his eyes when her hands found the nape of his neck. The curly tangles sitting
just at the base were fast becoming her play toys again. “Please don’t stop
talking on account of me though.” Her winking eye was the first living proof
that she was coming back to him.

Oh what a difference a month
could make.

It was time to reward her,
tell her his secret then. And he would add to it with a new one.

* * *

Never had she recalled a time
in her life where her heartbeat had thundered so loudly in her ears. But with
David there, his mouth inches from hers, his hands pressed against her face,
she was ready for the heart attack he was about to bring upon her, just as long
as he stayed close to her the whole time.

His mouth opened, a humongous
smile took over his lips. Goosebumps flickered up and down her arms at that
single, perfect sight that was his happiness. “What I was saying, before you so
rudely woke up, is that the night of my accident—before I left my house—I had
decided something…”

Eyes widening, she stared up
at him as he settled back onto the floor next to the couch. Her upper body
throbbed as she moved to get closer to him, but the pain was nothing in
comparison to the anxiety his devilish look was triggering in her head. In
response, too, her dumb heartbeat increased even more, and she pressed her fist
over the top, worried she wouldn’t be able to stop it from combusting inside of
her chest.

“And just what
had
you
decided?”

Seriously here…were throats
supposed to bob up and down as much as his was doing? Jesus, he was just as
nervous as she was. What in the hell was he trying to say here? Reaching for
his face, she made him refocus on hers, needing to see his eyes, the brown eyes
that burned deep into her soul.

“Come on David, just tell me.”

“I was going to ask you out
the next day. I was tired of waiting for
the right
time. I was tired of
other guys fawning over you too. I wanted to kiss you and I wanted you to be
mine.” A light flickered on in her darkened head at his simple, soft–spoken
words. Holy, freaking, hell… no way… “You were supposed to go to the game out of
town that next day with Harley, remember? I had it all lined up with the guys
on the team. They were going to wear these shirts I had made, under their
jerseys. Each one of them had two letters written on the back. And at the end
of the game, they were going to line up and turn around so their backs were to
the crowd—to you in particular—and then you’d see it.”

Breathing was now impossible.
Damn him! All this time she’d waited… Wondered… Loved… And he had this all
planned out? Things had been so close, but still so far away at the same time
back then. Things would have been so different too… But again, would it have
lasted? They were sixteen—so young back then. Granted they were
still
young, but yet they had been through things most thirty–year–olds hadn’t.

Her hands tightened in his
hair and she pulled his head flush with hers again. She needed his touch on
her—his skin—David in general. “And what did the jerseys say, D?”

“They said…
I love you, Abs
.”

One tear, two tears, three…
After that she stopped counting and simply let them fall. They felt freeing.
Awesome… Made the moment that much more real. “And what if I didn’t love you
back?” She grinned, letting the feel of his hair slide through her fingers once
more. There was no way she would have denied him, even back then.

One side of his mouth tipped
up. His cheeks were adorably flushed and his big brown eyes seemed to change to
black the longer he held them with hers. “Then I would have tried again the
next time. It was bound to happen. You knew it… I knew it… Hell, everyone
around us did.”

“Yeah, you were a cocky thing
back then, though, weren’t you,” she teased, feeling the need to take his mouth
and put it right back onto hers again. She missed those lips most of all.

She had pushed him away the
past six weeks—too locked in her own grief—completely six feet under to care
about anything but her own loss. Never once had she thought about how
he
was handling everything. But now, right this very minute, things were going to
change. She could feel the life coming back into her. Feel her heartbeat
steadily in her chest. She would always feel the loss of their baby, but it was
about damn time to pull her body to the surface again, even if it hurt like
hell in the process.

“I wasn’t cocky,” his face
grew redder. “I just knew what I wanted back then. It’s just too bad I never
got the chance to make good on those jerseys. I was really proud of that idea.”

She couldn’t resist, she had
to do something—anything to get him closer. This sweet, endearing, all around
awesome boy did things to her body that she couldn’t control. And the only
remedy at easing those feelings was to bring his face closer to hers. So she
went in for the kill—determined to scratch her itch. But instead of finding his
full, pink lips, she hit the tip of his nose instead.

It just sort of fit the
moment.

“Why David Paul, I do believe
it’s the thought that counts the most, am I right?” Unable to help herself, she
kissed his nose again, the sound echoing throughout the room as she took the
tiny smooch to a full–on smack this time.

“Mmm, well, if I get a kiss on
the nose for
that
idea, then I have to wonder what I’ll get for this
one…”

It wasn’t the moment that
stole her breath away—it was his eyes—the pure joy and hope in them as he
brought the tiny black box from out of his pocket. Then when he fell backwards,
landing on his knee? Hell, that didn’t just steal her breath. That stole her
very soul.

“W–what are you doing?”

“Something that scares the
shit out of me.”

Yeah, her too… But the nervous
smile on his face was no match for the shaking of his hands. And then he popped
open the box, and her trembling erupted worse than his.

“Abigail, I love you—”

“No…”

“No?” Eyes widening in
confusion, he fell back on his butt with a thump. “Shit that hurt!” He cried,
rubbing his tailbone with his fist. His face had whitened, and he lowered his
chin onto his chest. And then he tucked that very box, right back into his
pants.

Christ, that wasn’t a
no–
no,
that was a
is this really happening
no! “David, wait, please!” Gnawing
on her lip, she readied the words on her tongue and reached for his arm.

Crap, she was doing this all
wrong. “I…just…ack, keep going, please?”

Sighing, he lifted the box
from his pocket once more. But this time, he didn’t make a move to open it.
Instead, he just held it there, offering it to her with the tilt of his chin
and the nod of his head. Reaching for it was almost impossible, because
whatever was inside might change her life in more ways than she could have ever
imagined at this point in time.

“Open it…you might be
surprised what you find.” Nodding, she did as he asked, holding her breath as
the hinge squeaked.

Blinking once and then
twice—and maybe even ten more times after that—Abigail gaped down at the silver
object sparkling right there in center of the box. Never expect the
expected—that was destined to be her new motto anymore, because there in that
box sat something she definitely couldn’t have foreseen. The longer she studied
it, the more confused she grew.

“So…?” his voice was so
unsure, so damn cute too.

She slowly smiled up at him,
studying his skin…his eyes, both bright and perfect. And for the longest time,
she couldn’t respond to his one word question. The longer David sat there in
front of her—his brown–black eyes wide—the more Abigail realized that
this
single
moment in time, was the happiest thusfar in her life.

In the past month, she’d gone
through more hell than she could have ever imagined a person could go through
and survive. She’d lost a baby that was a forever kind of link between the man
she loved and herself. But somehow, someway, all the bad crap they’d endured,
led them to this moment. And as much as she’d regret the past, she could never
regret where she’d come to a stop in this bitch of a journey called life.

Her throat cleared of emotion,
she finally spoke. “Sooo…what does this mean exactly?” There would be no
assuming, who knew what this meant to David.

He leaned in closer, the scent
of his bodywash made her stomach twist, but in a way that she’d never get
enough of. An addiction…in the best possible sense. David was the man of her
nineteen–year–old dreams.

“It means, that I was hoping
to, well—”

“Move in together.” She didn’t
mean to sound so blunt, but that’s just how she was—tell it like it is—don’t
avoid the unavoidable.

“Well, uh, no…but the key
actually
does
open something.”

Huh, okay, so now she felt
like a dumbass. She chewed her lip, her heart traitorously jamming in her
throat at her unexpected disappointment. “Then what exactly does it open? Cuz
if you throw me some bull crap line about opening your heart, then I’m gonna
throw it out because your heart is already mine. You know that as much as I
do.”

Seeming completely taken aback
by her outburst, David stuttered his words, scratching at the back of his head.
“Well it is, but—”

“Stop doing that.” She crossed
her arms over her chest, and carefully sat up.