I scoffed through my tears. “The crazy thing is I don’t even think she’s mad at me. She probably understands, because that’s just how Kacey is. She’s the most understanding person in the world. But I confirmed all of her fears from college. I made it seem like her family and her past caused me pain. Like it was somehow her fault. What if she decides it’s too much? What if she walks away again because she’s trying to protect me? I can’t do it, Mom. I barely got through it the first time. Losing her. God, losing Bailey. No.” My tears turned into sobs and I put my head on her shoulder, leaving it there for what felt like hours.
My mom eventually stood when Bo came back out, switching spots with him as she went back to have her time with Kylie. “I told your sister I loved her,” Bo said as he sat down beside me. When I looked at him, he gave me a shy smile. “I know it’s probably too soon to say it, but I figured if I felt it, there’s no reason to hold it in. I could have lost her and she never would have known how I felt. I didn’t want to waste another minute.”
I reached out and took his hand in mine. “That’s sweet, Bo. What did she say?”
His smile grew bigger than I had ever seen it in all of our years of friendship. “She said she loves me too.”
I bumped my shoulder against his. “That’s awesome, dude. I’m really happy for both of you.” I hoped he didn’t notice the way my smile faltered, but I could tell by the way he was looking at me that he did.
“Things will be okay with Kacey. I’ve shipped you guys from the beginning. I know you won’t let me down now.”
I removed my hand from his so I could run both of mine up my arms, the chilly hospital air becoming too much for me. Bo motioned toward my coat that was sitting on the chair next to me. “You look freezing. You should put that back on.”
I grabbed the coat and put it on, quickly shoving my hands in the pockets, surprised when my hand hit a small object. I pulled it out and realized it was the gift from Kacey. I swallowed hard and looked over at Bo. “This was from Kacey. I never got the chance to open it.”
He put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently, then stood up. “I’m going to go talk to your dad so you can have some privacy to open that.”
My hands shook as I removed the wrapping paper and opened the small box. My vision blurred once again as I stared down at the beautiful gold bracelet that had K2 Forever engraved on the front. When I turned it over, I read the back which was inscribed with the words, I never have and never will stop loving you.
I took out my phone and called Kacey, groaning when her voicemail picked up once again. “I’m sorry,” I cried into the phone. “Please don’t pull away from me, Kacey. Living without you isn’t living at all. Please. I’m begging you. I can’t lose you again.”
A few hours and countless calls and texts later, I had yet to get through to Kacey. My dad sat down beside me and gave me a tired smile. “You and Bo need to go home for the night. You both look exhausted and could use some sleep.”
I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll stay here.”
My dad chuckled lightly. “That wasn’t a question. It was a demand. You guys look awful, and honestly, you don’t smell very good either. I can’t have the hospital staff thinking I raised a dirty daughter.” He winked at me and pushed his shoulder against mine playfully.
Bo and I listened to him and the two of us drove home from the hospital mostly in silence. The only reason I was looking forward to getting home was so I could talk to Kacey, so I was disappointed when I pulled into the driveway and realized her car wasn’t there. I walked Duke so he could go to the bathroom, surprised by how calm he was for going so long without being taken out. I took a long hot shower, which I had to admit felt really good, then called Kacey one more time before falling into bed.
I was shocked when I woke up in the early hours of the morning and realized I had slept for over ten hours. I quickly got dressed, then left the house to head to the hospital, once again disappointed to find that Kacey’s car was still missing. I did the walk through the hospital on autopilot and only looked up when the elevator doors opened, expecting to see my parents sitting in the waiting room. Only, it wasn’t them. It was someone else entirely.
“You came back,” I whispered before running into Kacey’s arms.
She held me tightly for a few minutes before pulling back to look into my eyes. “Of course I came. I love you, Kari. I love you so much.” She placed a kiss on my forehead, then stared into my eyes once again. “I’m sorry I missed all of your calls and texts. My phone died and I didn’t have a chance to charge it. After my phone died, I went to your parents’ house and stayed there so I didn’t have to wake Bailey. Then, in the morning, I went to the police station to report Ariana, and they told me that the drunk driver had turned himself in. The one officer mentioned how he was lucky that the victim was okay so he couldn’t be charged with vehicular manslaughter. Anyway, after hearing that, I decided to go back to your parents’ and clean up a bit, so they wouldn’t have to worry about doing that before bringing Kylie home.”
“You cleaned my parents’ house?” I asked, completely swooning over the perfect woman standing in front of me.
Kacey shrugged. “I just made the beds and did the dishes. Stuff like that. Bailey drew Kylie a few pictures that she hung on her wall. Then Bailey and I used your spare key to get into your house so we could take Duke out. After that, I finally charged my phone and was shocked to see all of the calls and texts from you. Instead of calling you back, we hopped into my car and headed right to the hospital and when we got here, your mom told us we had just missed you. Your parents looked exhausted so I offered to stick around the hospital, so they could go home and get some sleep. I didn’t call or text you because I knew you would come right back, and I wanted you to get sleep as well.”
I pulled Kacey close to me again, completely breathing her in. “I don’t deserve you. I was terrible to you and you still did all of that for me.”
Kacey gave me a quick kiss on the lips then brought her hand to my jaw to force me to look at her. “You were scared. I get it. So was I. You have nothing to feel bad about.”
“I was so worried when I didn’t hear back from you. I thought maybe history was going to repeat itself and you would decide pulling away was what was best for me.”
Kacey pushed out a deep sigh. “I’m not going to lie. I thought about it. Because you were right—that easily could have been my sister. And she might be gone for now, but who knows if she’ll show up again.” She stared into my eyes, silently reiterating all of our promises to each other. “But that’s not my choice to make. It’s yours. I made the mistake of choosing for you once and I wasn’t going to do that again.”
I took her hand in mine and held it tightly. “I choose you, Kacey. I meant it when I told you that I want every single part of you. I want your past, present, and future. I want every single piece that makes you you, because frankly, I’ve never met a better person than you. Your past—the life you left behind—I hate that you went through that, but I’m also so damn proud of you. You beat the odds. Life gave you lemons and you told life where to stick ‘em. I’m just in awe that someone like you sees something in me. I have been since the day I met you. If your sister shows up again, we’ll face it together, because that’s all I want. To experience every part of life, the good and the bad, with you by my side.”