I step off the private jet alone. The flight attendant, pilot and copilot stand behind me at the top of the steps, waiting for me to get to the tarmac. Bethany wasn’t ready to come back with me. She left for a reason. The media scarred her and the love of her life, and she hasn’t come to terms or forgiven them yet. I can relate, but only a little.

Our situations are different, though. I have this baby inside of me. My parents are here, and Knox. If only he understood how deep our connection is, how much his heart and mine are sewn together.

Maybe this time.

Foster’s gesture to bring me back here feels like kismet.

I leave the plane behind, heading to the terminal, and the air in this city feels different. Lighter. Less resistant to dreams becoming a reality. It’s all in my head, I know, but my gut says there’s something to it.

I place my hand on the glass double doors to enter the terminal and as I look up, I see him. He stands there, holding a single red rose, his eyes full of softness. There’s a hint of remorse there too, in his eyes. It’s as though my beast has been tamed, if only for the moment.

“Hi Knox,” I say to him when we’re face to face.

“Belle. I’m so sorry, gorgeous.” He takes my hand and places a thorn-free section of the rose’s stem onto my palm. “I have a lot to make up for. But let’s get you to my car so we can talk.”

Taking my hand luggage from me in one hand, he clasps his other one onto mine, guiding me through the terminal. We’re inside his sports car soon enough, and although he starts the engine and turns up the air conditioning to a comfortable temperature, he doesn’t drive away.

“Before you say anything, let me get this off my chest. Is that okay?”

I nod. There’s not much that I have to say, to be honest. I’m still so numb. This meeting is his.

“I can start in so many places, but I realize something that I need to say out loud. You’re my best friend, but more importantly, you’re my family. You always have been, and no matter how our lives play out from today and beyond, you’ll always be that to me.”

He stares out his front window, seeming to look for the right words. “I know that you’re pregnant. That’s my baby…our baby…you do want to keep him or her, right?”

I nod again because this time, even if I had something to say, I wouldn’t be able to speak through all the tears threatening to fall from my eyes.

“I’m glad. I’m not going to let our baby come into this world or grow up without me,” he says, and covers my hand with his. “I don’t want this conversation to be about the past, but I do need to share this with you, not as an excuse, but an explanation. When my parents died, it fucked me up, twisted me up inside. I was too young, you know? The shock… losing them both at the same time, not getting to see them even once before their remains were put into the ground… Pops spent the next seven years trying to help me get my mind right. I was down in a dark hole, black and deep and ominous. I couldn’t pull myself out. But Pops stuck it out… tried everything, and when none of it worked, he tried it all over again. The man never gave up on me.”

He squeezes my hand a little. “That’s how you were too. I had you and Foster, and I’ll tell you the God’s honest truth. I never would’ve made it without you. Then I went to college. I wanted to keep up what we had. I really tried, but all that darkness sucked me down so deep. You were so close to me… a huge part of who I was, and that scared the fuck out of me. Losing my parents threw me into this loop where I was bracing for another tragedy. I got to the point where I was more afraid of finding out something bad happened to you than losing our friendship. I know it sounds fucked up. What I did to you was unforgivable. Then I did it to you again a few days ago.”

He sees the tears flowing down my face, my body heaving with whimpers that wrack my chest, and gently brushes the tears away with the back of one index finger. “You have every right to leave me in your rearview mirror and never let me close again. I don’t deserve your forgiveness. That’s why I won’t ask for it. I’ll do something different instead…I’m going to earn it. Day by day until you trust me again. Can you let me do that for you and our baby?”

I reach over and drop my head hard on his shoulder, and wrap my arms around him as best as I can in this car. “Yes, I can.”

He runs his shoulder down my arm, pulling me close. “And one more thing. We don’t have to put a label on us. We don’t, unless you want to. But just know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re mine.”

I don’t respond to his last statement. But I know it’s true.

“I’m not sure if Foster mentioned it, but Pops is in the hospital.”

Guilt creeps up my back. I feel horrible for not asking a thing about his grandfather. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. Is it serious?”

“Before you panic, no, it’s not serious. He had a spill and will be there overnight. I may need to go to him later on. While I was waiting for your plane to land, he told Foster to let us all know that he needs eight hours of sleep… without all of us looking over his shoulder.” Knox smiles a little for the first time since I got off the plane. “You know how he can get.”

“Yes, I’ll go with you if that’s okay.”

“Of course. For now, I’ll take you home. To my place.” He kisses me, so soft yet his touch is heavy with longing. “I hope it’s okay with you, but I’m not letting you or the baby out of my sight.”

For now, that’s exactly what I need.