The Co-Star's Epilogue

Chapter 21

"Please," I whispered, my chest aching.  "Tell me what's wrong.  W-what could be so bad that he would leave like that?  He knows how I feel about him."

Ashley awkwardly patted my knee, looking so very genuinely sorry for me.  "He loves you, he does.  He's just... afraid.  And an idiot."

"Ashley, please, just tell me.  Please."  I literally could not raise my voice.  I hadn't thought I could be more scared, but here I was, numb with pain but still paralyzed with fear.  What could be so bad?

Ashley sighed.  Scooted forward, and in her honest simplicity, told me of the secret that had led to yet another heartbreak. 

"The reason Oliver asked to be friends with you was because David Gold asked him to.  They've been meeting for about three months now." 

***

I didn't tell my mom that I was taking the car, and I didn't take Ashley.  I wasn't going to risk her safety when I could hardly see with tear-blurred eyes.  And she didn't try to stop me.  Not that I gave her much of a chance, I was on my feet and running as soon as I could register what was happening. 

That was all she said:  The reason Oliver asked to be friends with you was because David Gold asked him to.  They've been meeting for about three months now.  The moment those words hit home I was suddenly completely clear headed.  Oh, the ache was there, but I was done.  And while I didn't want to believe the words spoken, it made a bizarre kind of sense, and ultimately, what Ashley said this time, it didn't matter.  What was important was what Oliver was going to say.  I was going to go see him.  And I didn't care what anyone thought. 

My hand trembled only a little when I pressed the doorbell to his house, a few seconds, and then he was there, pale, devastated, and shocked. 

"Mel-"

"Stop."  I was not unkind, but the firmness in my voice made me flinch. 

He looked down, tears in his eyes.  "Okay."

I reached out and tilted his chin upward, needing to fully extend my arm.  But his gaze was still aimed downward.  "Oliver, I need you to look at me, please."

"I-I can't."

I rested my other hand on his shoulder, wishing I hadn't started it like I had.  "Why not?  Oliver, I'm not mad."

His eyes snapped up.  "What?"  And just like that, my calm evaporated.  I laughed, shaking my head, as my eyes stung with tears, and biting my lip. 

"No!  I-if anything, this made me love you even more." 

His mouth drifted open, but I didn't wait for a response before I pulled him closer and kissed him.  Gripping his shoulders until he melted, wrapping his arms around my waist.  His lips were salty from tears, and his or mine, I couldn't tell, and I didn't care.  Because this was right, and because I loved him. I love him.  Until the moment he opened that door, I hadn't fully realized that I was no longer just falling, and was actually there.  We stayed there for so long, just holding each other, breathing when we needed to, but otherwise just erasing the pain that we had been feeling, telling each other that it was okay.  Now we were here, and whatever happened next, we would face it together.  I needed him.  He needed me.  And that was something worth fighting for. 

When the kiss was broken with a large inhale, we were both smiling, and both with tears all down our faces.  But Oliver pulled away even further, a frown starting take hold again.  "I left you, and it was just because I was scared," he murmured.  "How can you forgive that?"

I grasped his elbows, pulling him closer.  "Because," I said. "When you feel the way that I feel about you, then you fight for it.  Oliver, if you're serious about us, then we're both going to make mistakes.  The important thing is that we forgive each other, and we fight."