I managed to wait the whole night before I decided I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to see her, to apologize, explain, and beg for forgiveness.

“I’ll take all the daisies you have,” I told Mary, who was working the counter at Laurel’s flower shop.

She eyed me warily, as if trying to gauge my sincerity, then rang up the order and went to get the flowers.

Once I had two fists full of the white and yellow buds, I went up to Laurel’s door and knocked. Then I waited for what seemed like an eternity. My palms began to get clammy, and my heart began to race. I’d never been this nervous about anything before in my life.

That’s because nothing has been this important, I reminded myself.

I knocked again, then heard a loud bang and a muffled voice through the door.

I held my breath, then let it out in a whoosh when I was greeted by my sister’s tangled mop. She pushed the mass of hair off of her face and squinted at me, then looked at the flowers and woke up with a huge smile.

“Oh good, you didn’t dawdle,” she said, stepping back to let me in.

“I didn’t expect to see you here, but I’m glad you are. Is she okay?”

“She wasn’t. We drank wine, make cookies, and binge watched Sex & the City until she fell asleep. I haven’t seen her yet this morning, want me to go get her?” Jasmine asked.

“No, I’ll take it from here,” I said, my eyes on Laurel’s closed bedroom door.

“Can I watch the groveling?”

“No, get out.”

Jasmine pouted and said, “You’re no fun,” then grabbed her stuff and walked out the door, whispering, “Good luck, bro,” before shutting the door.

I was about to cross to her room and open the door when it opened, and Laurel walked out. Her hair was wet from a shower, and she was wearing workout shorts and a tank top, her head tilted down as she looked at her phone.

“Hey,” I said, and she stopped and looked up, startled.

Laurel looked around her apartment and asked, “Where’s Jasmine?”

“She left.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, and I searched her face, trying to gauge her current state of mind, but she revealed nothing.

“I needed to see you. To talk … to explain,” I said, taking a step forward. I held out the flowers and added, “These are for you.”

She glanced down, her expression softening slightly as she accepted the flowers.

“Daisies are my favorite,” Laurel said as she brought the large bouquet to her nose, closed her eyes, and sniffed.

“I know.”

Her eyes opened and she looked at me with surprise.

“You do?” she asked.

“Of course I do,” I assured her with a smile. “We have that spot of land behind the house where they grow wild every year, and I remember you always running out there and laying amongst the daisies. You always asked my mom if you could take some home, to keep in a vase by your bed.”

Laurel smiled and said, “I can’t believe you remember that.”

“Then there was the time you put daisies in all of my drawers, my closet, and my backpack, so when I went to get my books out at school, flowers went everywhere.”

She covered her mouth to hide a grin, and I smiled back at her.

“I remember everything,” I told her. “I remember you always asking me to kill spiders in Jasmine’s room. The way you’d hold your own with me, Gabe, and Reardon. It didn’t matter if we were climbing a tree, swimming at the springs, or playing ball, you and Jazzy were always right there with us. I remember the way you listened on that bench when everything in our lives was changing, and I remember the way you looked at me when you found out I was taking Terri to prom.”

Laurel watched me, eyes big and starting to fill.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out what you always knew,” I said, stepping closer, careful not to crush her flowers. “I love the fact that we grew up together, and you’re as much a part of my memories as my closest family members. You’ve always been there. Sure, sometimes you were driving me crazy,” I said with a chuckle, “but I always knew I could count on you … I wish you could say the same about me.”

Laurel started to respond, but I wanted to get everything out, so I kept talking.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there for you in Houston, and that I spent the better part of our lives angry at you and trying to push you away. All I can say is, thank you, for never giving up on me, and I promise from here on out I’ll have your back, the way you’ve always had mine.”

I took the flowers from her hand, set them on the counter, and came back to hold her hands in mine.

“I swear to you, I never intended to lie, or conceal the fact that I knew about Houston. Jasmine telling me to treat you like a princess in Chicago allowed me to take off the blinders I’ve worn where you are concerned and see you as the person you are, and I’ll be forever grateful to her for that. And, when you told me about Travis, I was honored that you trusted me enough … I wasn’t thinking about what Jasmine had already told me, I was hearing it from you, and wanted to comfort you in that moment. I didn’t set out to lie, or hide what I already knew, it just sort of happened that way.”

She nodded, and I knew she was dying to respond, but I still wasn’t finished.

I brought her hands up to my lips, kissed each one gently, then held them to my chest and looked down into her deep blue eyes.

“Laurel, I love you,” I said, watching as her eyes filled to brimming and she smiled broadly. “I love how strong you are, how focused on getting what you want. I love our history together and the fact that you’re my sister’s best friend. I love the fact that you’re already part of my family, and that you love them as much as they love you. I know it’s early yet, and that we still have a relationship to build, but I want you to know that I want to raise our kids in the home that we grew up in … I want you to one day be my wife.”

Laurel gasped, then threw her arms around me and pulled me down for a kiss. A long, wet, heated, emotional kiss.

“Does that mean you’ll forgive me?” I asked, once we came up for air.

“Yes!”