I sighed. I was tired of bickering back and forth. I knew people fought all the time and I was used to it, but I sure as hell didn't like it. What he said really hit home, but I tried to shrug it off like it didn't matter in the least. There were only so many times I could be broken.

"Whatever you're telling me isn't something I haven't already considered thousands of times before. I've tried, Leo. I've tried so hard, but I don't think it's worth it anymore. If I didn't do anything wrong and if I shouldn't blame myself, why am I the one who has to go back? If they really cared about me, they'd come. I wouldn't have to go running after."

Gran always told me that if I couldn't solve a problem in life, eventually, the solution would come to me in a time when I least expect it. In that moment, I couldn't agree more with her words. There, right before my eyes was the thought that had been troubling me ever since that house had burned to the ground- redemption. All these years I blamed myself for Robin's death, for not being the one to run after her, for not learning the act of forgiveness. But there was my chance to change all of that. 

I had to go running after my family. I had to forgive them. They were the only people left and I couldn't afford to lose them. A small smile made its way onto my lips. "If you could make a hopeless romantic out of a stubborn girl, you could surely make a hopeless romantic no longer a stubborn girl too." 

"I don't see why it's 'hopeless' romantic when you have someone who loves you right beside you," he said, kissing me. He just knew when to put pauses to our arguments. He knew how to stop time for me. He knew how to make me fall for him all over again.  I giggled, resting my head upon his shoulder. "I don't know why you think I have a low self esteem. I mean, I think I'm good enough for you, and you've got pretty high standards."

I giggled some more and then we both took to staring up at the stars, lost in our own thoughts. It was supposed to be a sad moment, but I could tell neither of us wanted to think of it that way. We wanted to make the best of the last moments we had with each other. But eventually, the silence became unbearable and it was I who broke it.

"I don't want to leave you," I whispered. He stirred beside me and sat up with a downcast expression on his face. "I know, Skott, but what about Tyler and your mother?"

I raised my eyebrows in excitement, a new thought registering in my mind. "Well, there's Gran...." An odd look passed over Leo's face. A look I'd seen countless times before and a look I'd finally come to understand the meaning of. 

Involuntarily, I let out a laugh. "She's dead isn't she?" I laughed harder and harder, wrapping my arms around my knees. I knew what was happening. I'd anticipated this moment several times before. This was the time when I'd hit breaking point. This was the part when nothing in the world made sense anymore. This was when I'd truly gone mad. 

Leo looked torn between thoughts of calling an ambulance and thoughts of running away from me. He did none of the two. Instead, he sat and watched me until I finally gained composure. "I need help," I whispered, my blood running cold. I didn't know what was happening to me. "I need help." I repeated the phrase over and over until finally I looked at Leo and said, "Robin chose rebirth, didn't she?"

His silence was enough to answer my question. He'd given up everything to be with her, but she'd left. Heaven knows what her reason was, but I hoped whatever it was, her new life made her happy.

He nodded and pulled me into another warm embrace. "It's time to go home, Skott." I smiled, willing myself not to cry. "I guess this is goodbye," I said. 

I looked up at the stars and wondered where Robin was at that very moment. Whether she had a nice family, whether she had a new best friend or whether she even had a small part of her that resembled my Robin. But above all, the one thing I really wished was that wherever she was, she was happy. 

I took Leo's hand and squeezed it. That had become our little way of showing each other that we were there for one another. He was the boy next door. He was my best friend's brother. He was the one. But our love story was too good to be true. 

Letting go is like jumping off a building. Once you let go, you can't turn back. You can't get back what you lost. 

I looked into those dark, stormy grey eyes that I'd grown to love all in one night, and then my thoughts started to drift towards how one night could make such a difference in my life. I learnt to believe in love. I came to understand how fate aligned itself in order to make everyone have a happy ending- some happier than others, but happy nonetheless. I reflected upon how the only thing that defines who we are is our actions and how even the most straightforward roads have bumps. 

I came to understand that in order to love someone, you have to let go. 

I looked at him one last time, smiled, and walked away.

• • •
A/N Hello, my lovely readers! I'm finally back with the next update! I've been a bit busy the last few weeks and haven't had much time to write, but I'll try my best to update the next chapter as soon as possible.

Hope you liked it!
~Via❤

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