“Caiden?”

I blink once, and then twice, because I’m sure I can’t be seeing this correctly.

Sitting in his wheelchair at my front door, looking a little sheepish, and a whole lot nervous, is Caiden. As far as I know, he only leaves his house if he absolutely has to go see a doctor and one can’t come to him, otherwise he hasn’t gone out of those front doors since the accident. He’s alone, which means he got here on his own.

I’m proud of him for that. It couldn’t have been easy.

“Can I come in?”

I glance behind him, and then say, “You’re alone.”

“Yeah, I got a cab here, it wasn’t easy,” he murmurs, a small smile on his lips.

He did that? On his own. Wow.

Wow. Seriously.

“Come in, of course.”

I help push him inside my apartment and I close the door, leading him into the living room and turning to him, “Do you want a drink, or...?”

“No, can we just talk, for a minute?”

I nod, and take a seat. He places his hands on his knees, looking a little uncomfortable, but I can’t say I blame him. I’m busy packing my apartment up to move in with Malakai. He refuses to allow me to have my own residence, saying that he wants me with him every single minute and if I don’t like it, too bad, he’s making it happen anyway. Stubborn ass bikers. Caiden glances around the apartment, then looks back to me. “You’re serious about him then?”

I nod. “I love him.”

“I’m happy for you, Amalie. That’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I wanted to apologise. The way I treated you after the accident was unfair and cruel. We both played our part in it, both of us causing that car to go off that road. Me mostly. It was never fair for it to be put entirely on you, and for that I’m sorry. I can’t take back what I did, but I can tell you that I appreciated you visiting me, and not giving up.”

My heart explodes and I smile at him, fighting the tears. “Consider yourself forgiven.”

He exhales. “And, there’s something else. I know your boyfriend probably won’t like it, but I would like if you still came to say hello every now and then. You’re important to me, and I miss your presence.”

“Of course,” I tell him. “I’d love to keep visiting.”

“I’m looking at getting back into the work force,” he tells me.

“That’s incredible, Caiden. I’m proud of you.”

“Yeah, you were right, I can’t live in that house forever. Eventually, I have to move on with my life, as I am now. I’m never going to be what I was before, but neither are you, and you’ve managed to get on with your life. I’ll walk again, they’re confident of that, and my looks could be worse, it’s time to stop wallowing.”

“That’s a big thing, and it takes a lot to get to that point. So well done, you should be proud.”

He smiles. “My mother isn’t too happy. I think she enjoyed all the drama that came with me.”

I laugh. “You’re probably right about that.”

“Anyway,” he tells me. “I wasn’t going to stay long, I just wanted to tell you I was sorry.”

“Let’s put it behind us. I wish you well, Caiden, truly I do.”

I could have made it harder for him, that’s the honest truth. After the way he and his family treated me for the last year, I could have thrown down and told him I wanted nothing to do with him. But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind after the accident, either. I did things I wasn’t proud of. I know his mind wasn’t where it should have been, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He said sorry, and that’s the biggest thing anyone can do.

It’s all that matters to me.

“Your mom called me, and told me she was sorry,” he mentions.

Yes.

My mom called me and said the same thing. Since then, she’s been calling daily. I don’t want to hold too much hope, but it’s nice. It’s nice to feel like she’s trying, and I think she truly is trying. Maybe one day, we’ll have what could be considered a normal relationship.

One day.

“I’m really glad, she didn’t help...”

He nods. “She told me your hearing has improved?”

I nod. “It has, it’s still not the best, but I can hear a lot more so that’s something. I have to wear this sexy little device though.”

I pull my hair back and show him my hearing device.

He laughs.

And I feel good.

Good because all the darkness is slowly lifting from my life, being replaced by sunshine.

Maybe soon, the sun will stay out for good.

Just maybe.

~*~*~*~