Reed exhaled a long breath. I could tell that he was emotionally spent. The fact that he trusted me enough to open up meant more than I could ever say. I had to admit that I was curious as to who the other part of "we" was, but I didn't want to pry.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know that this has been hard for you so far."

He lifted his gaze to mine and held it for a long time. He leaned his head into mine and placed a gentle kiss on my lips.

"Thank you. Thank you for listening to me and not judging me. I want to tell you. It's just not something I talk about, ever."

"I understand, you can tell me later or you can decide to never tell me. I'll  respect your decision. Just please know I'm here for you if you need me."

"I'm scared to tell you. I don't want you to look at me differently after I tell you the rest. At the same time same time I just feel a connection to you. I feel like I can tell you anything."

"I can't promise what my reaction will be because I don't know what you’re going to tell me. What I can promise is to have an open mind and try to understand."

"Ok, I can live with that," Reed nodded his head.

"I have a sister. Her name is Abigail. She was born fourteen months after me. We were really close as kids. We did everything together because we were so close in age. When our parents died we both went to live with our uncle."

Reed paused and rubbed his hands over his face. I put my arm around his shoulder and pulled him to my side trying to give him strength.

"Abigail took things really hard. Her and our mother had a really great relationship, so when our parents died it was like she lost a mother and her friend. After our aunt passed, Uncle Dwight never remarried or had any girlfriends that I know of. Abby never had a constant female role model after that."

My stomach was in knots. I didn't know where he was going, but I had a feeling that it was yet another tragedy in his already upside down world.

"Abigail really struggled with the loss of our parents. I tried to be there for her and do the things she liked even more than before. I knew I couldn't replace our parents. I just wanted my baby sister to be happy."

His voice got raspy and I could tell that he was trying to keep his emotions at bay. My heart hurt for him.

"She started to grow very distant. By the time we got to high school she'd  stopped trying. She was failing all of her classes except for art. That was the one thing she did seem to care about. It made sense because she was an amazing artist. She went against everything my uncle said. She wouldn't even listen to me anymore. She started to hang out with the wrong crowd. Then got involved in some drug usage."

He turned his head away from me and wiped the back of his hand across his eyes.

"It got to the point that she would come home late at night drunk and high. My sweet sister was gone. A shell of her former self took her place.. The only thing that mattered was getting her next fix. One day she came home and said she was moving in with her boyfriend. She packed her bag and I haven't seen her since. I don't even know if she’s alive. That may be the hardest thing of all is simply not knowing if she’s ok."

"Reed, that’s awful. I can't believe all the things you’ve been through. Yet, here you are surviving and thriving. Your strength is awe-inspiring."

"I don't know about that. It took me awhile to get to a place where I could say I was okay."

"It doesn't matter how long it took. The fact that you can say that after everything is a big deal. People go through less and don't cope as well as you have. I have no idea why you were scared to tell me or thought I would judge you."

"I couldn't save my sister. I failed her."

"You didn't fail her. You were only a kid yourself. You tried to be the best brother you could. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do. You can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved, Reed."

He placed his elbows on his knees and let his head drop into his hands. This beautiful man both inside and out lived with the guilt of something that he had no control over. I wanted to take his pain away.

"I want to believe that. Deep down maybe I do, but it doesn't change the fact that I lost my sister. Maybe not in the same way I lost my parents, but in every way that counts."

"What does your uncle say about it all?"

"He feels guilty too. He tells me it wasn't my fault that he was the adult. He thinks he let me and my sister down. I try to tell him that he didn't. He did the best he could. Some people wouldn't even take in their sibling's kids in his situation. He saved us."

I wanted to try to steer the conversation back to lighter ground. I felt like he’d had enough of the emotional stuff for one day.

"Tell me about your uncle."

Reed went on to tell me about stories of his uncle. He told me about cooking mishaps, fishing trips, their first talk about the birds and the bees. He spoke fondly of his uncle. I could tell that he loved his uncle very much. When he was done with the last story, I felt like I knew the man himself.

"He sounds like a great man. I hope I get the chance to meet him one day."

I wasn't sure how Reed felt about us, but I was pretty sure it was more than friends. The more time I spent with him the more invested I became.

"You will. I've told him a little about you and he's looking forward to meeting you soon."

I smiled at him like a fool. He returned mine with one of his own. He had talked to his uncle about me. I couldn't help, but to feel a little giddy.

We walked back to my place hand in hand. When we reached my front door, he turned to face me taking both of my hands in his.

"Penny, I know I dropped a lot of information on you today. I just feel so connected to you. You make me feel like it is okay to open up. It feels so right opening up to you. I don't trust a lot of people."

"I'm honored that you trust me enough to open up to me Reed. I'm here for you whenever you need."

"I appreciate that more than you know Penelope." He squeezed my hands and continued on.

"Penelope, I'd like for you to be my girl."

My eyebrows shot up and my mouth opened. I was temporarily at a loss for words. I liked Reed, a lot, but I hadn't been looking for a relationship. I didn't know who I thought I was kidding beside myself. I knew the day that our eyes first locked that I was a lost cause when it came to this man.

"I'm scared, but I want to try," I said in a whisper.

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes, Reed. That's a yes."

He wrapped his muscular arms around my waist and lifted me in the air. His lips captured mine in a slow and sweet kiss. When he put me down we just smiled at each other like two goofballs.