an abridged version of the story. “No, he didn’t. He thought I did something bad, and I tried to explain it was an accident. But then I ignored his texts when he tried to talk to me, and . . . I think I might’ve been kind of an asshole.”
Don sighs. “Well, listen, kid . . . we all mess up. All the people you love are gonna let you down at some point. But until it’s game over, you can always fix your mistakes.”
I stand up straight, thinking about Uncle Don’s words. About love being worth the risk, about taking chances, about knowing that heartbreak awaits most of us around every corner but about walking around that corner anyway.
“You’re right,” I say, my voice full of confidence. “I need to go talk to Chloe.”
We walk into the living room, where Chloe is talking animatedly to Tyler. “And then I said, Nick, you’re wrong, the Doobie Brothers are one of the greatest rock groups of all time and—”
She breaks off when she sees me and makes a face when she sees my smile. But all I’m thinking about is how great it’s going to be when she figures out she totally has a thing for Nick.
“What are you smiling about?” she asks, and I motion for her to join me upstairs.
“Listen,” I say when we’re sitting on my bed. “I think I might’ve screwed things up with Drew.”
She shakes her head. “He’ll come around and apologize. You’ll see.”
“The thing is, he might’ve been trying to apologize already. Or not. I don’t know. He texted me.”
She tilts her head. “And what did you say?”
I study my cuticles. “I might not have responded.”
Chloe grabs my shoulders and shakes me. “Were you out of your mind, woman?”
“I got scared after reading Mom’s letters! Like, who am I to say that this isn’t going to end in heartbreak?”
Chloe sighs with her whole body. “No offense, but duh. Any relationship could end in heartbreak, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying.”
I nod. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what Uncle Don told me.”
“Don said that?”
“Well, he was talking about D&D, but I think it was supposed to be a metaphor.”
Chloe sits up straight, pushing a pillow out of her way. “So where is Drew right now?”
I check the time on my bedside alarm clock. “He said he has a flight late tonight because he’s doing a morning show tomorrow in New York to promote Christmas Zombies. I mean, Winter of the Undead. So . . . probably at his hotel?”
Chloe shrugs. “So go see him.”
“What, I’m just supposed to . . . show up? At his hotel? And be like, ‘Hi, I fucked everything up, but love is a crapshoot, so we might as well give this thing a shot’?”
“I mean, you’re the writer, so I’m sure you can come up with a better speech than that, and you might wanna tone down the language if you want a PG-13 rating, but yeah. That’s basically it.”
We sit in silence for a moment, then Chloe says, “Listen. You know I love you, right?”
“Uh-oh,” I say.
“So please take it in the spirit of love when I say that you need to get your head out of your own ass right now.”
“Um, okay. Go on.”
Chloe grabs my hands. “You have a chance right now to do something truly amazing. To go get a guy who’s hot and good in bed and totally into you—”
“Maybe still into me,” I correct her.
She snorts. “Okay, sure. But here’s what I’m saying: I don’t want this to be another chance you don’t take. You’re worried that things with Drew are a big risk, but guess what? Life is a risk, and you can’t protect yourself from heartbreak by refusing to go after what you want. You think Meg Ryan wasn’t taking a risk when she went all the way to Seattle to stare at Tom Hanks?”
“I don’t really know if stalking is the risk I want to take here.”
“Whatever. I don’t want you to spend five more years moping around this house because you’re waiting for life to happen to you. You aren’t stuck here, Annie. Some of us have obligations and people we need to take care of, but not you. Look at Uncle Don—he scored a hot purple-haired girlfriend. He doesn’t need you to look after him.”
“Fair point.”
“You’re in love with Drew, so go tell him that,” Chloe says, looking at me like she’s simply telling me to order a pizza.
I