I can see it all piecing together for Flynn now, that the trust I placed in him was like giving him my world. This time it was me leaning on him, not the other way around.

We both stood, and this time it was me who hugged him as tight as I could without hurting myself, trying to show him what he means to me.

Once I was finally alone, showered, and crawling into my bed, I buried my head into my pillow. I can still faintly smell Harper’s perfume, and it finally feels like home.

Now I just need to work out how to get her body back here too so I’m not just here never washing my bedsheets again so I can sleep with her scent around me.

I know I should be waiting for Harper to come to me, but I can’t wait that long. She deserves to know what happened, and I need to be the one to tell her, before she hears it from someone else.

Tomorrow is the day whether she is ready or not, and I’m going to need every bit of strength to get through it. But it will be worth it.

I hope.

HARPER

When I woke this morning, I felt exhausted.

Last night was a lot!

Cherie had me delving back into my abandonment issues with my father. I’ve never admitted to anyone how angry I was at him for not fighting for us. Love is fighting for those that mean the most to you in this world, and by running away, I didn’t feel like he did that. It had my brain twisted around that I was not worthy of his love, and that’s what I’ve carried for so long. It has distorted my whole opinion of relationships. I didn’t want to feel that kind of hurt again, and in my mind, if I let a man get close to me, then he too would discover I was not worth loving and leave as well.

It was a lot to unpack, and I spent two hours with her after work just moving through the pain and emotions. I know how that impacted the way I acted in my life, never getting attached to anyone, and how I pushed poor Forrest away so he couldn’t hurt me. The truth is it was me who hurt him, and I feel guilty for that. So, by the time I got home, I just wanted to go to bed, and luckily, Flynn wasn’t home, and Felisha was still working in her home office. I just showered and fell into bed without eating dinner, knowing I would be in trouble, and the thought of Forrest finding out actually made me feel bad, which then made me smile. He would be ecstatic knowing that he has buried himself in my subconscious about eating regularly.