“Look Hannah, you look so beautiful with a flower crown.” Holly turns the screen of her phone my way so I can see the candid shot she took while I was talking to the doctor. I came back to the surprise of my dad being better. He was going to get discharged soon and then we would all be back together at home. Holly’s so excited that I’m back home, she’s been spending every minute with me and I can’t complain. I’ve missed her terribly. She’s back to being her cheerful self and that distracts me from my depressing thoughts. I haven’t had the heart to talk to Nat about what happened with Tristan yet. I still feel like a fool for falling in love with a guy that didn’t exist.

“That’s nice,” I absentmindedly say.

“Why are you so sad?” Holly asks. “Since you got back, I haven’t seen you smile once.”

“I’m just tired.” I try to fake a smile but fail.

“Do you miss New York?”

“I do. It’s a beautiful place, and I miss Shae too,” I admit, omitting the fact I miss Tristan even more.

“Why don’t you go back?”

“To New York?” Holly’s question takes me by surprise. “Why would I leave you guys again?”

“Why not? Remember when we used to daydream about traveling all over the world? I still want to do that someday.”

“We can do it together. We can find the way for dad, you and I to travel the world. It’ll be like a long vacation.”

“That sounds good, but what about love?”

“What about it?” her question throws me off.

“You’ll never find love if you don’t go out there by yourself and search for it.”

“I have love. I have you and dad and Nat. I don’t need anyone else.”

“Aha. I knew it,” Holly boasts. “Who is he?”

“Who?”

“The guy you’re in love with.”

I can feel myself blushing as I try to deny. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You said: I don’t need anyone else, that tells me there’s a guy and a story you’re holding from me.”

“Since when did you become so smart?” I joke and tickle her, careful not to hurt her.

“Stop it. Now tell me. I want to know all about him.”

“All about who?” Nat interrupts, entering the room with a bag of takeout in her hand.

“The guy Hannah’s in love with.”

“What?” Nat turns to look at me, her shocked expression borderline comical.

“Well, I guess it’s time I tell you guys what happened.” Gesturing to a chair I add, “Nat, you better sit down for this.”

Sighing I start to tell everything to Nat and my sister. Hoping they don’t think less of me for making such poor choices.

* * *

“Don’t kill me but I think you should’ve given this Tristan guy a chance to explain himself,” Nat says.

“I think so too,” Holly agrees.

“Guys, he lied to me. If he lied about who he is I don’t want to think of what else he could’ve lied about.” I try to keep the tears at bay. I promised myself I wouldn’t shed another tear because of Tristan Frost. I’m pissed at myself because I don’t know what hurts me more, the fact he lied or the fact that I’ll never know if he truly loved me. I still play his words on repeat in my head, but what if he only said them so I would forgive him?

“I don’t think I’ll see him again.” The pain I feel thinking about that is too much. When I was waiting for my flight, I kept looking around, waiting for him to show and sweep me away. Which was ridiculous.

“Sometimes you just need to have a little faith.” Nat says.

“I lied to my dad the night of my accident,” Holly suddenly blurts out. “I told him I was going to study with a friend, but that wasn’t true.”

“You went to a party with Chris and his friends,” I add. “We know that and dad wasn’t upset about the lie, he was worried about losing you.”

“No, I didn’t go to a party with Chris,” Holly confesses. “I heard one of Chris’s friends talking about buying and selling some cheap computers and I wanted to buy one. I’ve been saving for a while but I knew if I told dad he would feel bad and would try to buy it for me. When I got there, his friend tried to kiss me, I was trying to get away when Chris came out of nowhere and knocked him out.”

“What? Holly why didn’t you say this to me before,” I scold her for holding this information from me.

“Because I’m supposed to be an adult. Chris saved me and he was taking me home when that truck hit us.”

“Why didn’t he come talk to us? My dad has been livid thinking he was drunk or intoxicated and that caused the accident.”

“I asked him not to come. I’m ashamed and didn’t want to get him in more trouble.”

“You’re not in trouble. And I want to know who tried to force himself on you, we need to report that.”

“I promise as soon as dad gets out of the hospital, I will. But that wasn’t my point. My point is that I lied because I thought I was protecting you guys. After dad had a heart attack I didn’t wanted to risk him getting worse. And I didn’t want you to stay here because of me. I wanted you to go to New York and have some fun.”

I sit at her side and hug her. “You’re the bravest person I know, Holly. You must’ve been so scared and yet you were thinking about us.”

She looks at me, grinning from ear to ear. “I learned from the best.”

* * *

“Oh bed, how much I’ve missed you,” I say as I hug my pillow and stretch along my soft mattress.

Nat offered to take Holly to her session so I could shower and sleep for a few hours in my own bed before going to visit dad to the hospital.

Listening to some nineties heartbreak songs and eating my feelings away before I get some shut eye is going to be the perfect end to a shitty day.

The sound of the doorbell makes me groan. “No, I’m not home. Whoever you are just go away,” I say, my voice muffled by the pillow.

The doorbell rings again and I throw my pillow across the room in frustration. Whoever it is, better have a good reason for interrupting my pity party.

“I’m coming,” I shout annoyed that the person on the other side of the door keeps ringing the bell.

“Geez, what the hell do you…” My voice gets caught at the sight of Tristan standing outside of my house.

“Tristan, what are you doing here?”

“Shit Hannah, did I wake you?” His eyes roam down my body, taking in my oversized t-shirt and yoga pants attire.

A sudden rush of electricity hits me. His eyes might as well be his hands touching, exploring. All over me.

“No,” I reply.

“May I come in?” he asks, his hand rubbing his neck a clear indication he’s nervous.

I move to the side and motion for him to enter. I know I should be mad but Holly’s words play in my head. If he bothered to come all the way to California, the least I can do is listen to what he has to say.

“Why are you here?”

“I have something for you.” He pulls out a small box from his jacket pocket and hands it to me.

“What is this?”

“Open it,” he orders and I comply.

My eyes fill with tears when I see my mother’s ring. I was planning to sell or exchange the aquamarine diamond studs Robert gave me to get it back, but in my haste I forgot them in Shae’s apartment and she was going to send them to me sometime this weekend.

Tristan stands in front of me and takes the box from my hands, removing the ring. “I’m sorry. I’ll never be able to apologize enough for hurting you. I know I betrayed your trust and I understand why you doubt everything that happened between us.”

Taking my right hand in his, he says, “my name is Tristan Frost, I’m thirty five years old, born and raised in New York city. Donahue and Tricia Frost are my parents. I do have three brothers. You’ve already met Alaric, and I’d love for you to meet Alastair and Drake. We own a private cybersecurity company. I work as an Information security analyst which according to Alaric is just a fancy way to say I’m a cyber security guard.”

A half sob half laugh escapes me and he grins.

Sliding the ring on my finger, he continues, “as all Virgos, I’m loyal to a fault and a human lie detector. This is a blessing and a curse altogether and I know it also makes me a hypocrite. There are no words I could possibly say that can justify what I did to you. You’ve been the only woman I’ve been interested in for a long time, but at first I didn’t know if you felt the same way as I did and I was afraid to lose you. I screwed up and I ended up losing you anyway.”

He gazes down, eyes fixed on the kaleidoscope of colors my ring casts.

“I just wanted you to know I meant every word. I wanted you since the first time I saw you and I fell in love with you as I got to know you more. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you to be happy, Hannah. Even if that means letting you go.”

He traces slow circles over my finger with his thumb and adds, “I know how important this ring is to you and I couldn’t allow for you to lose it.”

Raising my hand to his mouth, he kisses the top of my ring, letting his lips linger a moment too long and his deep blue eyes study my teared face. “Whether you find it in your heart to forgive me one day or not, be sure that I’ll always love you, Hannah.”

The lump in my throat prevents me from uttering a word.

“Take care, gorgeous.”

My heart sinks as I watch him walking toward the door. Have a little faith, Hannah.

“Wait.” Tristan stops and turns around but doesn’t move.

“I miss you so much, it hurts to breathe.” I walk, slowly toward him. “I’m pissed because you made me feel things I thought I’d never experience and you also took it away.” I stand in front of him and I cut him off when he attempts to speak. “I love you, too Tristan.”

Our mouths are a breath away as I whisper. “Do you still want to give me anything I want?”

He rests his forehead against mine. “More than anything in the world.”

“There’s only one thing I desperately need.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him down and capture his lips with mine.

We kiss slowly and unhurriedly, letting our mouths communicate what words fail to do.

He breaks the kiss first, his hand tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“What do you want, Hannah?”

I smile, as I answer him.

“You...I only want you.”