Time Will Tell | ✔

Chapter 24 - Where Do Broken Hearts Go?

time will tell

"Never thought we'd ever have to go without
Take you over anybody else, hands down
We're the type of melody that don't fade out
Don't fade out, can't fade out..."

- Didn't I, Onerepublic

[I highly recommend to listen to the song above after reading the chapter!]

—

I pushed the heavy doors open with my shaking arms and tried to escape from whatever was going on inside this huge arena. Was my mind playing games with me? Was this real? Could it be? How? I honestly felt as if I had just seen a ghost and was in desperate need for answers. This could not be a coincidence. Was this planned all along? Or did my mind mistake another girl for Rose because she looked similar to her? My lungs were running out of oxygen, so I placed my right hand on top of my torso, closed my eyes for a brief moment and inhaled and exhaled slowly.

I shook my head and rubbed my face with both of my hands. Calm down, Miles. I assumed that Wake Me Up When September Ends was the last song of the set because some people were already leaving the venue and I decided to text Andrew that I was waiting outside already. Once I put my phone back inside my pocket, my eyes connected with her again. There was no single doubt about it. This girl was indeed Rose. I felt it once her eyes pierced right through my wounded soul.

I turned around and remained at my spot for a few seconds before my inner-self told me to run away from this. But I couldn't. I felt paralyzed. My legs didn't want to move. It felt as if she had put a spell on me and now I had no other choice than to face her, but I was far from being ready for this. And when my name left her lips, I bit onto my inner cheeks and felt a tear escape from my right eye. "Miles?"

Her voice was so soft and pure, so angelic and calm. There was a small hint of maturity in it, but other than that, she sounded just like her teenage-self. I could recognize her voice anywhere in the world and this was the confirmation I needed to be one-hundred percent sure that it was Rose.

She walked up to me until I could feel her presence right behind me. My lips were trembling because I was trying my best not to cry and I knew that once I looked at her, the tears would be streaming down my face. Neither of us moved. I had no idea what was going through her head, but I knew for sure that this must be just as hard for her as it was for me. She was probably gathering all her strength to make the first move, although I was the one who had to apologize. I was weak. A lot weaker than her. She was strong. A lot stronger than she thought she was.

I exhaled a long breath, wiped my tears away and turned around to finally look at her. My eyes remained closed at first because I was anxious. I was scared to look at the greatest thing that ever happened to me, to look at the greatest thing I had ever known and lost. I blinked my eyes open very slowly and when I finally managed to open them completely, she was looking at me with tears in her eyes as well. I was tongue-tied. I wanted to speak so badly, but I couldn't. My brain was trying to form a coherent sentence, but nothing came out.

I was wondering what was going through her head. I wanted to know what she was thinking about, or how she felt looking directly at me. I wanted her to say something to me. I really wanted to hear her voice again. I wanted to speak with her, wanted to tell her about how bad I was doing without her. I wanted to tell her that Karma was indeed a bitch. I wanted to tell her that I should've cherished her. She was the love of my life and I let her go so easily.

And then the most unexpected thing happened. I opened my arms and pulled her straight to my chest gently with every ounce of courage and strength I managed to gather within the past five minutes. In this very moment I felt more alive than I had ever been. My stomach fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against mine. She didn't push me away, no, instead she wrapped her arms around me very tightly and let her body sink deeper into me. To have her so close to me again after nearly five years apart vanished all of my worries and I felt safe. Her body felt so familiar to me — the way it fit perfectly to mine, the way it moved, the way she smelled, the sound of her heart beating rapidly...just everything felt right.