it was pointless. He wouldn' t be

him a small,

lanning anyt

e registrar' s office. I could feel his e

aid over my shoulder. I gave a polite

g in the air

A flicker of something unreadable crossed his face-confusion, maybe even a hi

rah let out

pered. "I think I twisted i

down, his expression full of concern. The concern he

e damsel in distress. It was a scene I had witnessed a thousand t

st made me

submitting my form and officially ending a part

mory of my unrequited love for Liam. The living room where I' d wait up for him, only for him to stumble in drunk and smelling of another woman' s pe

kicked off my shoes and sank onto the plush sofa, my body ach

ghtly while rushing out of the c

my eyes when a sh

up. It

out a word, he knelt in front of the sofa, his movements surp

arefully cradling my ankle. I flinche

, his voice a low rumble.

the skin with an expert touch. It was a gesture of such

rs. He had found me, and without a word, he carried me to the sofa and did this ex

ay that I had clung to, that had fueled my desperate hope for years. It was in those small, rare moments of gen

ken in by my father. He was my brother. I was

s, the decade of longing-

d vanished. All that remained was a hollow ache,

I whispered, m

but his grip tightened sligh

it?" he asked, not lo

I said, finding my stren

rasp. I tucked my legs up underneath me on t

and spoke the truth that had taken me

u is gone, Liam. The obse