Midnight Falls

Chapter Sixty

"Anna, listen to me carefully," she grabs my hand and I look at her. "Luke is not leaving. You might think he is because he is going to a whole other continent, but he is not leaving. A person does not leave unless they choose to leave. You might think Anastasia left or dad left or Riley left but they did not choose to leave. They did not decide to leave you. Your memories of them with you did not choose to leave you. Fiona might have had that choice, but you don't realize you have made the wrong choice until it's too late.

"Stop thinking that everybody chose to leave you. Not everyone thinks of you as a choice. Some will consider you a priority and some will see you as nothing but a temporary part in their life. And that's okay, because these people are a temporary part of your life too. You have to stop thinking that you're not enough for anybody. You're more than enough. You are just enough. And a human does not get to decide that. They are not above you in any way. In the end, we're all the same. We're all humans," my mum says.

"A human choosing you does not define you, honey. You define you," she continues softly, giving my hand a squeeze. "And I don't know about you, but I am one hundred percent sure that Luke will choose you everyday over and over again and know that he's not choosing to leave you. At all. He's choosing to grow with you."

He's choosing to grow with me.

God I might be so stupidly in love with him that I didn't even notice that.

"I think I might actually be in love with him, Mum," I admit in a low voice.

"I know you are and so is he. I'm in love too, honey. I know what's it like," she smiles at me and I smile back, then I grab her in a hug and she wraps her arms around me.

"Thank you so much. For everything," I bury my face in her shoulder.

"It's my job as a mother, sweetheart. You shouldn't be thanking me in any way," she gives my body a squeeze, then I pull away from her as she does too.

"How come you're not as protective as grandma was?" I question, tilting my head.

"My dear, if I treated you like my mother used to treat me, you would have wanted nothing but to have absolutely no relation with me," she shakes her head and I laugh.

"How about I give you a ride to the airport? I think Luke will really appreciate you being there for him," she offers and I nod, then I turn on my phone to check the time.

Oh, my God. He's leaving in freaking thirty minutes.

"Crap, we have to go now. His flight is at seven," I shoot up.

"I'll go get the car keys," Mum says and I nod at her in response, then I hurry to put my shoes on as mum rushes outside to start the car.

I'm about to walk out of the house to follow her, but I suddenly remember something and I take off Ana's bracelet, then I toss it in the cardboard box before I head outside.

As soon as I get in the car, mum steps on the gas pedal and drives forward only for her to crash into the trash cans.

"Mum!" I place my hands on the dashboard to keep me from flying out of the windshield as if I'm a totally great driver without freaking out.

"I'm sorry! Put your seatbelt on," she orders me as she steers the wheel to the right and presses on the gas pedal again, driving down the street.