I rub at my temples. That had to be the longest hour of my life. Usually, I enjoy tutoring, but not when it comes to Hannah Thomas. She barely pays attention when I’m trying to tutor her. And when I can get her to pay attention, she completely forgets what I taught her less than two minutes later. Agreeing to tutor her was the biggest mistake of my life.

The wind bites at my face and I pull at my scarf up. I shiver as a gust of wind finds its way down my back. I need to get back to my dorm before I freeze to death. I open my stride and practically run when I hear a bark behind me.

I turn around and see a white dog rushing towards me from across the quad. I look around for its owner, but there’s no one out here in this cold. I start to get worried when the dog barks and comes into focus.

“Casper?” I say to myself just as the dog jumps into the air and tackles me to the ground. We both fall to the ground and I wrap my arms around his fluffy neck. A smile spreads on my face as Casper starts to lick at my cheeks, pushing away the scarf and hat that I have on. “Casper, what are you doing here?” I laugh and squeeze him extra tight. Its been so long since I saw him.

Casper is my childhood dog. Correction, was my childhood dog, before I had to give him up because of my mother’s allergies. I haven’t seen him since last summer. Last time, I did see him was when I was forced to give him away to some family friends that lived across the state.

Casper jumps out of my arms and runs around me. He barks at me and gets low to the ground, the big, pink tongue of his hanging out to the side. I grab a stick off the ground and throw it. Dirt flies into the air as Casper zooms after it, picks it up, and hustles back to me to place it at my feet.

This doesn’t make any sense. How is Casper here? He couldn’t have possibly known I was here. And even if he did, I doubt he would walk the hundreds of miles to get here.

I kneel to pick up the stick and scratch the back of his ear. “How did you get here, Casper?” As if he understands my question, Casper turns his head and looks to the side of the quad. David pokes his head from behind a tree and walks forward.

Instinctively, I bite down on the side of my lip. He has his quarterback sweater on and his hands are in his pockets. He’s not wearing anything special, but I can’t help but take him in. It’s only been a couple days since the last time I saw him, but the overwhelming feeling of missing him takes over me. Until I remember how we left things off.

How much he hurt me. How his words stung and made me cry. Casper leans into my palm and licks the side of my face, making me smile.

“Hi there,” David says as I stand. David looks at the ground and kicks at it with the tip of his boots. “Casey, can we talk?” He holds his gaze for a moment before it falls down my body. He takes me in and smiles to himself, hunger building in his eyes.

I’m about to say no when Casper nudges his head against my hand. I throw the stick across the quad and he runs after it, buying David some time. “Sure,” I answer.

Just seeing him is bringing back the memories of that night. The look of disgust on his face. How horrible he made me feel about myself.

“I deserve that.” He walks a little closer until his body touches mine. He leans toward me and pushes his shoulder into me playfully. I look away from him, trying to stop the smile that’s coming to my lips. David lowers himself until I’m forced to look at him. “I want to apologize for everything I said.” He grabs my hand and plays with my knuckles. “I was mad and confused, but that still doesn’t excuse me for what I said. I know that, but I’ll do anything to make it right.” David pulls at my hand and brings it to his lips, giving me a small kiss. “Will you ever forgive me, Casey?” David gets a little closer and places his forehead on top of mine.

I want to shout at him. To beat my hands against his chest and tell him that he hurt me. That he broke me down into little pieces with his words. That nobody who cares about me would talk like that to me.

I want to tell him off until Casper pokes his head between our legs. He drops the stick at our feet and wags his white fluffy tail. His head tilts to the side and he barks at us.

I need to forgive David. He’s not the only one to blame. I went out of my way to keep the truth from him. It would have just been better if I’d just told David about Dwayne, instead of coming up with excuses.

Both of us made mistakes. Both of us need to learn from those mistakes and move on.

Besides, I can’t stay mad at someone who traveled across the state to get my dog. He clearly wants to make it right. And is willing to do whatever it takes. That much is clear.

“I accept your apology.” I look up into those green globes of his and the heat rushes to my cheeks. “Can you forgive me?” I press my forehead against his chest and feel the warmth of his body surrounding me as he places his arms around me.

David kisses the top of my forehead. “Of course I will.” His hand lifts my chin and our lips meet. A shiver rolls down my body and the cold evaporates when he pulls away.

“I can’t be mad at you,” I mumble, “not after you went and got me Casper.” I kneel and grabs Casper’s leash. “How did you manage to get him, anyway?”

David walks with me, his hand on my shoulder holding me close. “Dwayne told me about him. After that, I called your parents.”

“You called my parents?” I laugh. “How did that go?” I can’t imagine the idea of calling David’s parents when I barely know him. I don’t even know their names. It must have taken a lot of balls to just cold call my parents. I’m sure they were plenty surprised to hear from him.

“I had to. I wanted to make it right between you and me.” He smiles down at me before he continues. “They were confused at first, but when they found out that I wanted to get Casper for you, they practically offered to drive the dog up here. You have some really good parents who clearly care about you.”

I nod. “You have no idea.”

My parents were always there for me. They never left my side during the darkest hours of my life when everyone abandoned me at school. When no one would talk to me or want anything to do with me. All because of a condition that I had no control over.

Casper’s tail bobs side to side as he walks out in front of us. This dog got me through some of the hardest times in my life. Like my parents, he was always there for me. Always there to cheer me up and make me feel wanted. It’ll be sad that he has to go again.

“When do you have to take him back?”

“Never,” David replies.

I stop in my tracks while David walks past me. Casper and David stop to stare at me. “What do you mean never?”

“I’m keeping him. Your family friends were about to move and couldn’t take Casper with them, so I took him off their hands.” David kneels and scratches Casper’s ear. “I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Crazy how things work out like that sometimes.” David laughs before I tackle him to the ground. Casper starts to bark, runs around us, and pulls at my scarf.

I grab hold of David’s cheeks and plant a firm kiss on those sweet lips of his. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” I seal every word with a kiss and David throws his hands around me, laughing the whole time.