After getting away from his cruel father's tyranny, Randall has to learn how to live again, and accept the person he was meant to be - with a little help of a local bartender...
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An empty shell is all what is left of twenty-five-yea...
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-Randall-
Cole stared at me after what I said. That I couldn't keep pretending I didn't have strong feelings for him. I... I wasn't getting the reaction I hoped. I wasn't getting a reaction at all.
And then he turned away from me to speak to his friend. "Thank you so much, Carla. Could you let everyone know they can stop searching now?"
"Sure thing," she said, and peered at me carefully. "I'm glad everything turned out all right," she added tentatively.
"Yeah. Thanks. You can go now. And thank you again," Cole told her.
"Don't worry about it," she said kindly, and grabbed her belongings. "Text me, okay?"
"Sure..."
She left and closed the door quietly, leaving us two in awkward silence.
"Cole... I'm so sorry..." I muttered.
He turned back to me. He stared at me, then shook himself and tried to smile.
"I'm sorry... I'm just... But you're home now. You're safe. You came back. That's all that matters."
"I'm so, so sorry," I said, stepping closer to him. "Please... I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to scare you, I just..."
"I know, I know," he said soothingly, and walked to me. "You just scared the shit out of me... I... But I'm so happy you came back home."
"Of course I came back," I said.
"So... You are feeling better now?" he asked. "You're not..."
"I'm better now. I can't keep running away from... myself. From what I... feel. I'm not in danger anymore, so I have to stop running," I spoke.
He nodded slowly and reached for my hand. He took in a deep breath and when he let it out, his shoulders relaxed a little.
"I'm so glad you're all right," he told me in a whisper.
But he was not all right. It was so very clear he wasn't all right. He didn't even say anything about my little confession.
"I'm so sorry," I said again.
"I'll be all right," he said. "Are you... Are you hungry? You were gone for... for hours."
"Yeah, I could eat something," I said quietly.
He nodded. "Okay. I'll... I'll make us something."
He let go of my hand and went to take his jacket off. I felt like shit. I never meant to hurt him like this... I felt absolutely horrible. But then he glanced at me over his shoulder, and when our eyes met, he smiled a little.
"I'm just so glad you're back home now," he said.
"So am I," I said quietly. "And I promise, I won't do anything like this ever again."
