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.
"Hey," he said, opening up the chicken sandwich and fries in front of him. "So I called my Dad earlier."
"How did that go?" she asked. She knew he hadn't talked to his Dad since they stormed out of the restaurant. "Did he apologize?"
"Ha!" Keaton laughed, popping a fry in his mouth. "My Dad's never apologized to me in his life, and I doubt he's going to start now, but we did have a long talk. I told him I wasn't going to put up with him talking to you the way he did."
"Really?" she asked, feeling butterflies in her stomach.
"Yeah. He laughed and started mocking me, but then he realized I wasn't joking around when I hung up on him. He called me back and actually talked to me like a grown up after that."
"Well that's progress," she smiled, stealing one of his fries.
"Yeah. I told him you aren't just some girlfriend and that I love you, and he was surprised as all bloody hell because he's never heard me talk that way before," Keaton laughed with a smile. "I told him if he wants us around, he needs to apologize to you and he said he would."
"Really?" Everly asked with wide eyes. She couldn't even imagine his Dad apologizing to her. He seemed too proud for something like that.
"Yeah. He actually suggested that I bring you home with me to London over holiday so he could do it in person. What do you think about coming home with me for Christmas?"
"To London?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah. It would be great. London goes all out for Christmas and half of the city is lit up. I could show you where I grew up and we could go visit my Mom's grave together. You could meet some of my mates. What do you say?"
She sat there thinking about it with her head spinning. She hadn't expected anything like this. Then reality set in. "I can't," she said with sad eyes, hanging her head and letting out an exhale. "I can't afford a trip to London. I'm on a really tight budget Keaton and I don't want you paying for me. That's too much."
"Hey," he said, turning her face up to look at him. "You don't have to worry about that. I don't mind paying for everything. Just say you'll go with me?" he asked, staring at her with his blue eyes, waiting for an answer.
"I don't know Keaton," she said shaking her head. "I don't want you spending that much money on me. I'll feel bad."
"Everly," he said with a smile. "There's nothing to feel bad about. I've got more than enough money and I can't think of a better way to spend it than taking you home with me for Christmas. I don't want to spend the two week break away from you. Please?" he begged.
She took a deep breath in and let it out, before lifting her head and searching his eyes, slowly giving him a hint of a smile. "It looks like I'm gonna have to get a passport."
"Yes!" he shouted loudly with a big smile, pumping his fists in the air before cupping her face in his hands and giving her the most incredible kiss.
She laughed before looking around and noticing all the faces in the food court staring at them now and then she looked back at him and smiled, with her face blushing. When she looked into his blue eyes she felt all warm and fuzzy and her heart felt like it was aching.
"Hey guys," Brad said, sliding a tray onto the table and sitting across from them. "What were you talking about that got him so excited?" he laughed.
Everly smiled and said, "Keaton invited me to spend Christmas with him in London and I said yes."
Brad's eyes widened and he said, "Wow. Really? That's crazy. So what are you two doing for Thanksgiving?"
"We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England, so I'll be here all week," Keaton said, taking a bite of his sandwich.
"What about you?" Brad asked Everly.
"Well I can't afford to fly home so I'll just be hanging around campus too." She looked over at Keaton and gave him a flirty smirk, saying, "I'm sure we'll find something to get up to."
"You're not going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas?" Brad asked in shock. "But you've never missed the holidays before. Your Mom and Dad'll be so disappointed. Hell, my parents will be too. We always spend the holidays with your family."
Everly took a deep breath in and let it out. "Yeah. It's weird that I won't be seeing my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year," she said sadly as that sunk in.
The three of them sat there in silence for a few seconds before Brad said, "Hey, why don't you tag along with me and come home for Thanksgiving? I can buy your flight with the endorsement deal money from the Yankees."
"Ummmm," she said, looking over at Keaton. The thought of going on a trip alone with Brad didn't sit right with her. Her gut was telling her to say no and this time she decided to listen to it.
"No, I think I'll have to pass. I'm just gonna stay here at the dorms with Keaton. I hope you have a good trip home though. Give Mom and Dad a hug for me."
Brad's smile faded but she looked over at Keaton and he looked relieved. As much as she was dying to see her family, there was no way she was going to go on a trip alone with Brad. She couldn't do that to Keaton.