Sydney's POV
He flinched at my voice and I knew at that moment we weren't coming back from this. I knew by the look in his eye that there was a wall between us now. I had hoped and prayed that our love would withstand the loss of his father but standing here in front of him while every promise he ever made about what our life would look like someday was vanishing. It was slipping away so quickly I couldn't even try to grasp onto it.
There was nothing left to hold onto.
Brooks, my Brooks, was only going to see the reflection of his dad's disappointment in my eyes every time he looked at me. It's why he's barely made eye contact with me in days.
His eyes are positioned out over the water as we stand on the dock. I reached for his hand that was shoved in his front pocket and he stepped away at the contact of our hands. The sting of his rejection pushed deep inside my heart and the hot pressure of tears behind my eyes was becoming harder to hold back.
Without making eye contact with me his voice came out as a rough whisper,
" I can't look at you without seeing him. Without feeling the disappointment he felt about this, us."
I nearly choked on the words. "Brooks, your dad knew you loved him. He would want you to be happy even if he didn't know how to show you that." I couldn't stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks, my legs feel like they weigh 1,000 pounds as pain radiates through every muscle. The one in my chest felt like it was on the verge of bursting.
"My dad is dead Sydney and the last thing he said to me was to get out of his house." He took a deep breath, "I killed him. He worked so hard to give me a good life and pass down our family legacy when I practically spit in his face and told him I didn't want it." His cheeks are blood red as the anger seeps out of every pore in his body. I can't tell at that moment who he's mad at, me, his dad, or himself. My vision of him is becoming blurrier by the second as more emotion pushes itself through me, and the tears turn into choked sobs.
"Brooks" I reach for him again and he stands still, immovable by my tears or my touch. "Please look at me." The world around me spins as his eyes don't move from the water.
My heart cracks so loudly that I'm surprised we couldn't hear it. I drop my hands from his arm and wrap them around my quivering body, trying to calm down the shudders of emotion rolling through me. It was as if my body knew what was coming and trying to protect itself, rejecting his words so the pain wouldn't consume me entirely.
"I can't do this Sydney. It's too hard." the words come out of his mouth and they sounded foreign, cold, and distant, nothing like the warmth they used to bring me.
It took everything in me to not collapse to the ground. I knew this wasn't going to be easy for us but after everything that happened this year I had faith in the love Brooks and I shared. Standing here now in this moment I realized, our love was never big enough to overcome something like this.
I gave him a second chance and begged him not to break my heart, yet here I am shattered once again because he is giving up on me, on us. A shiver falls across my skin and with that I swallow the rest of the tears that are trying to push their way through. I straighten my shoulders, wipe the moisture from my cheeks and clear the emotions in my throat.
"We'll never come back from this Brooks. I won't do this again. I understand you are hurting and I'm trying so hard to hang on but if this is truly what you want then fine, you win." I let a big gulp of air fill my lungs, " But just know, once I put the pieces of my heart back together you will never get another chance to destroy it."
"Good luck in North Carolina Sydney, I hope you have a beautiful life."
And with one sentence my heart was pulverized into a million pieces but I did as promised.
I walked away and I never looked back.
My life was moving forward and someday Brooks Dawson was going to be nothing but a memory.
AN: I'm so grateful for every person who took the time to read this story. I've gotten a good start on the second book but I probably won't be posting any chapters for a couple of weeks. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you come back for more!
In a few days I will post some final notes and some insight to the second book so keep a look out!