"But?" I pushed, feeling a pool of dread settle in my stomach as I watched her back away from me.

"I understand why you did it – why you helped cover this up and keep it all a secret from me," she strangled out, eyes puffy and bloodshot. "But that doesn’t mean that I can get over that fact that you did."

"Molly." My heart thudded dangerously fast. "I never meant to hurt you."

"I know. I believe you," she was quick to agree, sniffling. "If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here right now, but I had a right to know the truth about my life. I expect that kind of deceit from my father and all of the other grown ups in my life, but not you." She shook her head sadly. "Not my best friend."

I shrugged helplessly, at a complete fucking loss. "What are you saying here?"

"I'm saying that I'm gonna need some time to work through this." Another sniffle. "Alone."

"Don’t tell me it's over," I begged, feeling my knees grow weak and rattle. "Please, Molls! I can give you time. All the time you want. Just… just don’t break up with me…"

"You should have told me," was all she replied, crying silently. "Before we slept together and definitely before I fell as deep as I have."

"I was scared," I admitted, feeling like the fire in my chest was about to burn me to the ground. "I thought you wouldn’t look twice at me if you knew that I'd kept the truth from you." I threw my hands up aimlessly. "I was scared of you looking at me pretty much the exact same way that you're looking at me now."

"You took that choice away from me," she whispered, moving for the door. "And now we'll never know."

"Wait, Molls, no – don’t leave it like this!" Closing the space between us, I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to my chest. "Don’t end this."

"I'm not," she hiccupped before a huge sob escaped her.

"You're not?"

"I don’t know, D. I don’t know, okay? I just need time," she cried out, twisting out of my hold. "I need time."

"How much time?" I choked out, watching helplessly, as she opened her door and stepped inside. "Molly!"

"Remember how I didn’t push you to confide in me, even though I was desperate to know the secret you were keeping from me?" she strangled out with a hiccupped sob. "Well, now I need you to do that for me."

"I just…" I stood there, not having a damn thing to say to fix this. "Dolly, I love you."

Sniffling, she nodded. "I love you, too."

"What do you want me to say, Molls?" She looked so lost. So broken. "Tell me what to do to fix this."

"I can't," she sobbed, shaking her head. "Because I don’t see a way to fix this."

"I'm holding on, okay?" My voice cracked. "No matter what. So, you can take all the time you need, but I'm still gonna be here, chasing your heels like I've always done."