It’s been a week. A whole fucking week since I confessed my love to her. And I haven’t heard from her since. I’ve tried to be patient and wait. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep. I’m stuck in a limbo, just staring at my phone each moment, hoping she calls to tell me what I want to hear or to rip it all away.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore. I have to do something. It’s obvious that she doesn’t feel the same way. If she did, she’d be here right now, resting her head against my chest with her arms wrapped around me, whispering how much she loves me in my ear with her sweet breath blowing against my cheek. I can still smell her; lavender and vanilla, a sweet mixture that is all her own. I can still feel her heat sinking into me, like I’m holding her against my body once again. But it’s all lies. A trick that my mind is playing on me because I know deep down that I’ll never have her again.

I guess, in a way, I can’t really blame her for not taking me seriously. I do have a bit of a reputation. But all that is in the past. I was just a kid that had too much time and money, not to mention a lack of responsibility. I just wish I could’ve met her back then. I know I would’ve straightened up my shit for her. She’s all I want. And yet, she wants nothing to do with me.

My bags are packed and waiting for me by the door, but something inside of me doesn’t want to leave. It’s like if I just wait five more minutes, she’ll be pulling up any minute. It’s stupid of me to think that way, I know, but I can’t shake it. There’s this feeling in my gut that’s begging me to stay, just five more minutes. But I can’t wait. Five minutes turns into thirty. And thirty turns into hours. Hours to a week. And here I am. Still empty.

I pick up the stack of pictures off the dresser and look over them.

Tyler sticks his head in the room. “Sir, we better leave if you want to make it to your flight.”

I nod. “Be right there.” I bend down in front of the fireplace and slowly throw the pictures in, one by one. When I get to the last one, I see it.

It’s a picture I took off the security camera in the barn, so it’s blurry, but it’s still there. Clearly written across her face. Love.

I have her up on the workbench while I’m between her parted jean-covered knees. Her arms are around my neck, and she pulled away to look at me. There’s a small smile on her face and her eyes are lit up. She loves me.

I tuck the picture into my jacket pocket. “Tyler, change of plans,” I yell, rushing out the door and down the stairs.

“What’s going on?” he asks, sliding into his coat.

“I’m not going to California. I’m going to find Ves. Can you drive?” I ask, pointing at him as I ignore the bag on the floor and rush out the door to the truck.

The night is cold, and it slices through me like a sharp knife, but the truck is warm and toasty from Tyler starting it ten minutes ago.

He climbs behind the wheel. “Are you sure about this?”

“No, but I’m doing it anyway,” I say, full of determination. I know that there is a chance that I will get to her place and she will still turn me down. Or, she might not let me in, to begin with. But I can’t walk away from this and not know. In all my life, I’ve never felt like this for anyone the way I feel for her. That’s something. That’s everything. And it’s all I need.

Tyler drives slowly, with all the ice and snow on the road, he has to. It makes the thirty-minute drive last twice as long. But when we get to county line road, he slows the truck when we see what looks to be a crash. Two cars are overturned on the side of the road.

“Damn,” Tyler says, pulling to the side of the road and turning on the hazard lights.

“Call 9-1-1,” I tell him, jumping from the truck and running toward the cars.

I fall into the snow and look through the window. An old man is behind the wheel, held in place by his seatbelt. His eyes are closed, and he has a bleeding gash on his head, but I see his chest moving up and down. If anything, he probably just has a few bumps and bruises.

I try to open the door, but it won’t budge. I ram my elbow into the window, but it doesn’t break.

“Liam!” Tyler yells from across the field.

“I can’t get in the car!” I yell back as I stand to see him next to the other crashed vehicle.

“Liam, it’s Ves!”

Everything stops. All I hear is a loud ringing sound. I’m frozen in fear, but the next thing I know, I’m running across the field. I fall to my knees and peek in through the window. Sure enough, it’s Ves. Her strawberry-blonde hair is falling around her face. Her eyes are closed, and there is blood dripping from her nose, her lip, and a gash on her forehead.

I bang on the window over and over, yelling and screaming something I don’t even understand. Tyler grabs hold of me, pulling me back and holding me against his chest as I fight him, needing to get to her.

“There’s nothing you can do. Just wait for the ambulance,” Tyler screams. But to me, it may as well be a whisper.

I sit back and watch as the minutes tick by, each one feeling longer than the last. Red and blue lights light up the night around us, reflecting off the crisp, white snow. Vesper’s car is so smashed, they end up busting the window and cutting her seatbelt to get her out. The second they pull her limp body from the wreckage, my heart beats again and I feel like I can breathe.

I jump into the truck, and Tyler follows the ambulance to the hospital where more waiting takes place.

As I’m pacing the waiting room floor, Amy runs in to the counter. “Vesper Lawrence. Is she here?”

“Amy,” I say, taking a step closer.

She spins around. “Liam, where is she?”

“She’s back in surgery. She broke her arm.”

“Is she okay?” She asks, panic written across her face.

“She has a concussion, a broken arm, several bumps, cuts, and bruises but they haven’t found any internal bleeding. She should be fine after recovery.”

She lets out a long sigh of relief. “Thank God.” She holds her hand over her heart. “Did you talk to her? She was coming to see you.”

“No, I had no idea. I was going to see her.” I guess that gut feeling I had was right.

“You found her?”

“Tyler and I pulled up on the crash.”

It’s not long before Vesper’s parents are rushing in. Since I’ve never met them, I only know it’s her parents when Amy tells me.

I hold out my hand to her father. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh, you must be Liam,” her mother cuts in. “Ves has told us so much about you too.” Her cheeks flush to a light shade of pink.

“It’s good to meet both of you. I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances though.”

“Ves is strong. She will be okay. Don’t you worry about that,” her father says.

I nod. “I agree. You raised a very strong, beautiful daughter.”

He smiles proudly. Just as he opens his mouth to say something, the doctor walks into the room.

“Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence?”

“Yes,” her mother cries as they both rush up to him.

I stand back, praying everything is okay.

“Vesper is out of surgery. She has fractured her arm in seven places. We have managed to pin it back together. She’s stable but she will require months of rehab for that arm.”

“When can we see her?” her mom asks, worry dripping from her words.

“She’s in recovery now. When she wakes up, she will be moved into a regular room then, and somebody will come and get you. Okay?”

They both nod as the doctor walks away.

I let myself fall back into the chair, finally able to breathe now that she’s out of surgery and will be okay. Now, I just have to wait to see if she will see me. I have to admit my mind has been reeling since Amy said she was coming to see me. Hope fills my chest. Was she coming to tell me she wants to be together? Or was it to break it off, once and for all?

My leg shivers as I wait. I can’t sit still. I go from bouncing around in my seat, to pacing, and back many times before her parents come back to the waiting room.

“Liam, Ves would like to see you, honey,” her mom says, patting my hand as they walk by.

I take a deep breath and look at Tyler.

He nods once. “Go get her.”

“How do you feel about this? I know you went on a date with her once. Are we okay?”

He waves his hand through the air with a smile on his face. “That was nothing. I liked her, yeah. But I’m not in love with her. You are. I see it every time you look at her. And she loves you. I know it, despite how much she tries to deny it.” He pats me on the shoulder. “Go get her.”

A short laugh escapes from my lips as I push myself up and down the hall to her room, my heart pounding uncontrollably in my chest.

When I walk into her room, she’s lying in bed with her eyes closed. She has a square bandage on her forehead, small cuts and scrapes litter her face, arms, and hands. Her left arm is covered in a thick, white, cast. The fingers of that hand are swollen and purple.

I walk further into the room and sit at the empty chair by her side. She must have sensed me, because her eyes pop open and her head turns to face me. When her eyes land on mine, the corners of her mouth pull up into a sleepy smile.

“Hey,” she whispers.

“How are you feeling?” I reach up, taking her one good hand in mine.

She shrugs, causing her to wince. “A little sore. But I’m still doped up enough from surgery to not care.”

A silent laugh escapes my lips. “What were you doing out there, Ves? You had to know that those country roads hadn’t been plowed.”

“Amy told me you were leaving. I wanted to catch you.” She tears her eyes away from mine, looking down at my hand holding hers. “I’m sorry, Liam. I… I was being stupid. I just thought that if I had you, I couldn’t have my dream. But now I know that I can have both. I can work toward my dreams with you by my side.”

I press my lips together, overwhelmingly happy to hear her say those words.

“That is, if you still want me,” she adds on.

I lean forward, pressing my lips to the soft skin of her hand. “Of course, I do. I love you, Ves.”

She smiles. “I love you too, Liam.”

I lean over, softly pressing my lips to hers. Her right hand wraps around my neck, fingers tangling into my hair and pulling me closer as she deepens the kiss.

I pull apart. “This means you’ll call me your boyfriend now, right?”

She laughs. “Yes.”

I laugh as I close the distance between us again.