The One That Got Away

by Lexie Miers

  Nathan made a groaning noise. “You two make my head spin. You always have.”

  Cass chuckled. “I think that’s the whole dynamic of our relationship. It’s not like any other relationship I’ve ever been in. We’re confusing, complicated and downright impossible, but our love was real. I just wish... that I could work out a way to tell him that.”

  That’s my cue.

  I took a deep breath before stepping away from the wall and approached the door. I knocked on it softly and heard Nathan say, “Maybe you still can.”

  I peered through the opening and both Nathan and Cassidy glanced directly at me. Cass stood up from the chair beside the bed and stared at me. Her eyes were slightly red but she looked as beautiful as ever.

  “Hey, Liam,” Nathan said with a crooked smile. “What a coincidence. We were just talking about you.”

  “You were?” I asked as I entered the room and shook Nathan’s hand. “Hey, buddy. How are you?”

  “I’m better. I can wiggle my toes without too much effort. The doctor said that I could go home sooner than planned, which is awesome. Then I get to start with physical therapy to learn to walk again. But I’m looking forward to it. I swear I’m never going to sit on my ass again after this.”

  I chuckled and smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re doing better, buddy. That accident was pretty bad.”

  “How do you know about the accident?” Nathan asked.

  “I have my sources,” I shrugged nonchalantly and shot a brief glance at Cass. She glared at me, her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed across her chest. “I had to make sure my favorite little slugger was alive and well.”

  “You’re still calling me that,” Nathan muttered and rolled his eyes. “Some things never change, right Cassie?”

  Cass cleared her throat and turned to Nathan. “Will you excuse us for a second?”

  “Sure, I’ll just wait here,” Nathan joked. “Good to see you again, Liam.”

  “Same here, Nathan,” I said with a grin before Cass grabbed my sleeve and practically dragged me out of the room. We stepped out into the hallway and she walked down to the next door. It was an empty private family waiting room, and we both went inside.

  She closed the door and turned to me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to see Nathan,” I answered. “And I knew you’d be here too.”

  “How did you know I was here?”

  “You told me Nathan was in Sutter Hospital and I remembered you told me the visiting times on a Saturday.”

  “You remembered all that?” she asked.

  “Cass, I haven’t forgotten anything when it comes to you. I remember your fluffy blanket and the way you curled up on the couch every time you were sad. I remember you prefer the left swing on the swing-set because the middle one made you feel unsafe. I remember you always chew the tip of your straw before taking the first sip of your soda.”

  I watched as Cass’s eyes filled with tears as I spoke, recalling all the things that made me love her more.

  The little things.

  The things that mattered.

  “And I remember that purple and red mug you used to have. It was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, but you loved it. You’d take it along to all the football games I forced you to come watch me play.”

  “I wanted to go,” she said in a small voice.

  “You never told me that. I thought you hated football.”

  “I do, but I went because you were playing.”

  “You’ve always made sacrifices for me, Cass. I didn't want to be the reason you didn’t go to college. Who the hell was I to stand in your way?”

  “You were the love of my life, and before last week, you were the one who got away! The one I would always think of whether I was with someone or not. The one I would always compare everyone else to. There was no one who came close to you.”

  I took a step towards her and said, “I wanted you to have an amazing life, Cass.”

  “I had an amazing life with you in it, Liam. Why couldn’t you see that?”

  I did, and I’d loved our lives together. But her mom had been so convincing.

  “You weren’t the only one who didn’t feel deserving,” I sighed.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “I never thought I was good enough for you, Cass. And when your mom came to talk to me and said it would be better if I left, allowing you to be something better, it just made sense. Your mother never liked me for some reason. She told me that I was making a rebel out of you.”

  She smiled softly. “That’s probably because you were a lot like my dad when he was young. Charming, spontaneous. And she was afraid that you would hurt me the same way my dad hurt her.”

  “I’m not your dad,” I said defensively. I would never cheat on Cass. Never.

  “I know. At least you admit your mistakes.”

  “Yes,” I answered and approached her. Her hand was inches away from mine, but as I was about to take it, she took my hand instead.

  “Say what you want to say, Liam. Right now.”

  I took a deep breath and looked her directly in the eyes. “I’m not going to tell you all the things I have done wrong in my life because we’d be here all goddamn day, but I will say that I’m sorry, truly sorry for the pain I caused you. You deserved better. At that stage, I thought I was protecting you from me, but in actual fact, I was depriving you of the one thing you taught me. To love and be accepted.”

  Cass smiled softly, the tears filling up her eyes again, but she pursed her lips to prevent them from spilling over onto her cheeks.

  “My life is complicated and stressful right now, but there is one thing I am absolutely sure of, and that is I love you, Cassidy Moore, and that is something which will never, ever change.”

  She cocked her head and whispered, “I’ve waited so long to hear you say that, and it was worth every single minute of waiting.”

  I pulled her close and our lips met in a moment that was overdue by a decade.

  A moment filled with so much love and understanding that it overwhelmed me.

  Our lips parted slowly and Cass glanced up at me, her eyes shining with happiness. “Why did you have to make me fall so hard for you?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I murmured.

  “I bet you are,” she smiled and pulled a little further away. “About what I said to you, Liam. I didn’t mean most of it. I know you’re not the kind of guy who would sexually harass a woman, and I’m sorry I insulted you like that. I know you’d never lie to me about something like that, either. I’m sure it feels like your integrity is on the line and this trial is going to get harder before it gets any better, we both know that, but I am here for you.”

  I squeezed her hands. “I don’t want to pull you into my complicated life.”

  She laughed. “Our life has been complicated since the day we met, so I’m kind of used to it.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “We’ll get through this together, I promise.”

  I glanced down at her and said, “Thank you. And I’m sorry I pushed you away when I needed you the most.”

  “We all make mistakes, Liam. It’s how we handle the repercussions of those mistakes that matter.”

  My mouth curved into a smile and I brushed a lock of blonde hair off her face. “For years, when people asked me if I had any regrets about my past, I used to just say your name, and that you were the one who got away.”

  “Well, you never have to say that ever again. I’m yours forever, I always have been, and I always will be,” she smiled at me, her blue eyes sparkling with sincerity.

  At that moment, in the private family waiting room at the hospital, with her arms wrapped around my shoulders, her eyes sparkling just like the first day I met her, I was home.

  Right then I realized that home wasn’t a place, it was where my heart felt the safest.

  Mine was with her.

  Always.

  The End

  THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR reading ‘The One That Got Away.’

  If you would like to read more by Lexie Miers, then please check out her amazon page:

  https://www.amazon.com/Lexie-Miers/e/B07QGZ791V