In truth, I forgave him the day after I found out. Because I don’t know what Jack has been through, and I never will. He lost two loving and supportive parents and everything he thought his life was going to be, and I’ll never be able to fathom the depth of that loss, especially at a young age. I don’t love that he kept secrets from me, but I understand why he did it.

And even just in the few sessions I’ve had with my therapist, I’ve realized my tendency to run when things get hard, to push people away rather than deal with the slightest of conflicts. Jack presented me with a chance to escape before he could leave me, and I tried to take it.

His eyes widen. “You forgive me?”

“Of course I do.” I pull my shoulders back, working up my nerve. “But I have to ask, Jack: why did you stay away for so long?” I force myself to ask the question, even though it’d be so much easier to just accept his apology and move on. But I deserve an answer. He bailed when things got shitty, which honestly felt worse than his original offense. And I don’t know if I can handle his leaving again.

“I put my parents’ house on the market.”

My breath catches and I automatically scoot closer to him. “Jack. Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve come out to be with you.”

He picks up my hand and laces our fingers together. “I know you would’ve. And honestly, it would’ve been nice to have you there. It wasn’t easy. But this was something I needed to do all on my own.”

“Are you sure?” I can only imagine what it must feel like to cut this final tie. Sever the last tangible link to his parents, his family, his childhood. The last link to Jackson Bennett and the person he was before.

He kisses my hand and nods. “It was time. I want to focus on the future, and there’s no reason to hold on to an empty house when I have a full one right here.”

My heart melts into a puddle of goo. “I love you. And I know I have no experience where all this relationship stuff is concerned, but I imagine we’re going to fuck it up from time to time.” I pause. “It’ll be me most of the time, I’m sure. Like probably all the time. Assuming you can forgive me for the heinous thing I said to you. Which is a big assumption. But if you can, I’d love nothing more than to be a part of that future you mentioned.”

“I forgive you.”

“You do?”