A Twist of Fate (Complete)

Ch. 32 - Making Holiday Plans

Everly stood there thinking it over before saying, "Your cynical view on love when we first met makes a lot more sense now. You've seen what love did to your Mom and Dad."

Keaton let out an exhale, blowing out a line of smoke and looking down at the city below with his elbows leaning on the ledge. "I didn't want to make their mistakes, falling in love with the wrong people. It destroyed them."

She studied the frustrated expression on his face. "Is that why you didn't want a serious relationship and just slept around for so long?" she asked, trying to understand his point of view.

He looked over at her and shrugged. "That's part of it, but it's not the only reason," he said quietly.

"What are the other reasons?" she asked. 

He turned around to face her again with his back against the ledge, running a hand up through his hair. He lifted his face to look at her and said, "For you to understand I have to go all the way back to the beginning. It all started when I was fifteen. I was on the rugby team at Eaton and I had gotten really good, so good that newspaper articles were being written about me and scouts from the Super League were coming to watch me play. Beautiful girls were waiting for me after the games, throwing themselves at me. I had all these adoring fans and I didn't get attention at home so I thrived on that shit. It made me feel good," he said, looking down and letting out an exhale, saying softly "and for a while I thought they really liked me." 

He flicked his cigarette over the edge of the building and shoved his hands deep in his pockets, looking at the ground before raising his face back up to look at hers. "It didn't take me very long to figure out they liked the superficial shit about me and weren't interested in getting to know who I really was. They were the wrong type of women and after I dated a couple psychos that were obsessed and practically stalked me, I swore off relationships and only did casual hookups. I made it a rule to be really clear right up front that I don't date so they wouldn't get so attached and clingy."

"Attached and clingy?" she repeated loudly, raising an eyebrow and shooting him a judgmental look. 

Keaton took a long breath in and let it out, shoving his hands deep into his pockets and looking up at the night sky, with a tortured expression. "Look, the reason I'm telling you all this is because I want you to know that's not me anymore. I'm not the man I was back then Everly. Not even close," he said quietly, lowering his head to look into her eyes. "Can't you see that I'm nothing like the man I was when you met me? I've made a LOT of stupid fucking mistakes in my lifetime, but I want to be better for you."

He took a few steps towards her until he was so close they were practically touching and then he pulled his hands out of his pockets, laying them on her hips. "And I didn't bring you up here to flaunt my wealth. I just thought you'd enjoy the view. None of this shit my Dad has means anything to me," he said, motioning around him. "Because all I see when I look at it, is everything he chose over me and my Mom," he said softly, cupping Everly's face in his hands and looking down into her eyes. "I'd give up all of this to have had the kind of family you have," he whispered. 

Seeing the deep sadness in his eyes made her feel guilty and she looked up at him and whispered, "I'm sorry for misjudging you Keaton," laying her hands on his shoulders. She leaned in close and whispered, "I love you," before giving him a kiss. 

He pulled her body against his and whispered, "I love you too," against her lips before kissing them softly, letting out an exhale and laying his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. He held her there in his arms for a long time before slipping his hand into hers and leading the way back towards the elevator.  

***** One Week Later *****

"Hey Babe," Everly smiled, leaning over and giving Keaton a kiss after he sat down beside her in the food court for lunch.