delicate

5

Three days since the incident and Stefan has successfully avoided me. He's busied himself everywhere I'm not. I've given up on reaching out to him. But I haven't given up on staying in town. Ryan has convinced me to stay longer. Not verbally, but by showing me that it's possible to stay in a town where not everyone likes me.

"So where did you get the necklace," Caroline asked from next to me on the couch.

"I gave it to her," Ryan said before I could answer.

The grin on Caroline's face made me want to slap her. I grabbed my glass off the table. "I'm getting more water." I stood up and walked into the kitchen before she could say anything else.

I sat my empty glass in the sink and turned. I walked out of the kitchen. I heard the front door shut. Ryan was sitting in the chair, watching the credits of the movie. But the look in his eyes was distant. I walked in and sat on the couch.

He looked over at me. He stared at me for a minute before getting up and walking over to sit next to me. I turned to face him.

"Why didn't you want me to tell her?"

I furrowed my brows. "She didn't need to know."

He looked over my face for a moment. "Right." He looked at the screen.

"What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

I turned my body to face him, pulling my leg onto the couch. "You're mad."

"No." He avoided looking at me. "I'm frustrated.

"Ryan."

He looked at the coffee table. "I love you."

I furrowed my brows. "I love you too."

He looked at me. There was a serious look on his face. "No, Evelyn."

"Oh." I took a breath. "Oh." My stomach dropped.

He turned to face me. "Are you mad?"

I shook my head, "Why would I be mad?"

"Because I'm not supposed to fall in love with you. We're supposed to be friends, not anything else."

I tilted my head, "Ryan-"

He grabbed my hands. "Just hear me out, Evelyn." He paused. There was a moment of reflection I saw in his eyes. "I know I've slept with hundreds of women, and I've never been in a relationship that's been longer than three days. It's all been sex for me. Always. And it's not because I have commitment issues. I don't think I do anyway. But that's not the point here. I was sleeping with all of those women because I needed to distract myself from you and..." He breathed out slowly. "You. You're smart and you're kind. And you're unbelievably beautiful. You're one of the first people I've cared so deeply for that it hurts. You're a part of me that I can't and don't want to get rid of. The moment I met you, I knew that I needed you no matter how I had you or how much of you I had. Now that I understand exactly how I feel about you, Ev, I don't want to keep pretending I don't feel it."

I loosened my hold on his hands. I didn't know how to respond. I stared at his face. His words poured into me, consuming my mind. There was love and desire in his eyes and it didn't seem to waver or fade. He is in love with me. Wholly and absolutely in love with me.

I parted my lips. "I'm... I'm not in love with you."

He tilted his head. "You don't have to be."

I looked down at our hands. "I don't want you to be in love with me." I looked up at his face.

"It's too late for that, Ev."

I tilted my head to the side. "You can't be in love with me."

"Why?"