Torn Apart

Chapter 10

It was a shock to hear his voice through the little speakers in her phone. It wasn't as if she expected him to never try to contact her, but she had hoped it would be later rather than now.

"Vanessa's here." She stated matter-of-factly, as if that solved everything.

"So you decided to jump up and run away to Winnipeg? I never pegged you to be so daring, Lilly. What's gotten into you? I know we didn't exactly see eye to eye last time we spoke—"

"You said I was on a 'suicidal rampage,'" her tone was icy.

"I was scared. " His voice grew soft with emotion. "When I found out you had done something so dangerous, I was slammed with the reality that I could've lost you. I couldn't even bear the thought. Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?"

She stayed silent for a moment, trying to find the words to say exactly how she felt.

"You there?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"There were a lot of words I said that I didn't mean. I'm sorry for hurting you. I love you." His words buried themselves in her heart, making her smile from ear to ear.

"I should've told you what I was doing. I guess I was still too hurt to hear your voice again. I said some things I would like to forget about as well."

"Well then it's settled, we will put it all behind us. Let's forget it ever happened, deal?"

"Deal," she hugged the phone to her ear. Why was it that every time they talked she got butterflies? No matter how much they disagreed, she still loved him. He truly was a special guy, a one of a kind. Jamie cleared his throat loudly, signaling that he was going to wait in the car. Lilly nodded, okay.

"I just wish I could hug you right now," he sighed. "When you come back, there's a huge hug waiting for you, okay?"

"How huge is huge?" She asked teasingly.

"Massive, Colossal, Vast, the life will probably be squeezed out of you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Stick a needle in my eye." She could picture him with that handsome grin plastered on his face while he crossed his heart with his fingers.

"Good. Love you Emmett. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sounds good, I'm glad you're okay. Talk to you later then."

"Bye," she said, flipping her phone closed and ending the call. There was never any cause to worry; everything was going to be okay between them. Still recovering from the shock of hearing his voice again, she stumbled over to the car.

He really did care about her; there was no doubt that there was nothing shallow about his affection. If he did seem aggressive at times, it was because he didn't know how to deal with what he was feeling. Guilt tore at Lilly's insides, making her cross her arms tightly to her chest. She wished she at least had had Mackenzie tell Emmett what was going on instead of leaving him without a clue; but that didn't matter now. It was impossible to change the past, the most she could do now was keep her head up, and make better decisions than she had before.

"Everything alright?" Jamie asked when she climbed into the passenger seat if her car.

"Yes," she smiled wearily, gazing out her window. "Everything's going to be just fine."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The dingy hotel stank of people and dust, as if it hadn't been cleaned in weeks. It wasn't their first choice, but money was tight and they couldn't afford much better. Jamie sat on the bed, a little hurricane of dust exploded from the sheets at his weight.