Page 73 of Firefly
No. No, no.
The Mercedes rolls to a stop near the woods outside Brimstone overlooking the clearing.
Our clearing.
Mine and Hayden’s.
My pulse spikes while panic claws up my throat.
“Brayden…”
“What?” He smiles climbing out. “It’s beautiful out here,” he says while I stay still, trying to breathe because those trees know me.
That clearing holds pieces of Hayden and me buried beneath every memory carved into the dirt. And worst of all… the tree is still there.
The one with our initials carved into the bark inside a crooked heart.
H+O Forever.
The carving practically screams at me through the darkness while shame burns beneath my skin.
I should leave. I should tell Brayden no.
Instead, I follow him numbly because I’m exhausted. Too exhausted to keep fighting every second of my life.
He sits on the hood of his Mercedes beneath the stars, patting the spot beside him.
I climb up slowly.
The night air feels cold here somehow.
Haunted.
“This place…” Brayden looks around. “Feels peaceful,” he says.
It used to be. Back before the world ruined us.
His shoulder brushes mine gently. “I know I haven’t been the best to you,” he says, and I freeze. “But I’m trying. You have to know that.”
Guilt twists hard in my stomach because he sounds so sincere, and maybe he means it. “I love you, Ophelia,” he says, cupping my cheek.
The words hit me like stones sinking underwater. I stare at him, unable to answer immediately.
Because another boy once whispered those same words beneath the same stars. And I loved him so fiercely it nearly killed me.
Still do and always will.
He carefully pulls me closer to him, and my heart jumps in my chest. “I know you don’t trust me completely yet,” he whispers, “But I’ll spend the rest of my life proving myself if that’s what it takes,” he says, then kisses my lips gently.
Tears sting unexpectedly behind my eyes.
Because I want to feel something for him.
Ineedto.
Hayden is Chaos, pain, and violence. There is no future there. Only heartbreak, fire, and destruction.
So maybe if I try hard enough… maybe I can learn to love Brayden instead.
