Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,38

overheard your conversation with John at the party."

"Oh…oh! No wonder you ran. How much did you hear?"

"Just up to the part where you questioned the future of our relationship. 'Unnecessary,' I think you called it," Aislynn said somberly.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't really mean what I said," he explained.

"People usually mean what they say, Jace, even if it's to some small degree. What I want to know is why you feel that way?" She hated pushing him like this after the sensitive nature of what he had just revealed, but she needed to understand what was going on inside him.

Jace took a deep breath, like he was preparing himself to tell a story. "I was dating Chloe when I was diagnosed. We had been together for a couple of years at that point, and she was the woman I thought I was going to marry." Aislynn's chest tightened when he said that.

Keep it together. Hold it in. You can't go there right now.

"She was obviously taken aback when the biopsy came back positive for cancer. She tried, she really did, but she couldn't handle it. She left after my first round of chemo. She had a hard time seeing me struggle with the effects of the treatment, especially without having a guarantee that I was going to make it. I don’t think she was trying to be mean about it, but she was very clear about her feelings there at the end."

Damn her. I will kill the woman. "How long did it take you to really embrace how much she hurt you?"

Jace was clearly struggling with his emotions at that point. His jaw was clenched, both his hands were balled up into fists, and his breathing was labored. "She broke me, and it hurt more than any chemo treatment ever did. She left me when I needed her most."

Aislynn's heart cracked. She wanted to hold him, care for him, and put him back together.

My Jace.

Aislynn wanted to give him a moment to process things, but she couldn't resist pulling him into her arms. She didn't pity him for the cancer; she didn't pity him for the breakup. She just understood perfectly well the level of pain he must've felt at that time. It was the kind of pain that changed your life forever.

"Do you still love her?" she asked, holding his face in her hands and staring deep into his eyes.

"No," he said with sincerity. "But she abandoned me, and I hate her for it. I hate the fact that, because of her, I freaked out about us. I…Aislynn, I…" He was obviously having a hard time saying what he needed to say.

"It's okay," she whispered and tried to soothe him by running her fingers through his hair again. "Just tell me."

"I want you with me," he said, his eyes closed. "But I don't want to watch you leave if things get difficult. I can't go through that twice. I care about you, Aislynn. I care enough that I know it will fucking hurt if I see you walk away from me."

Her eyes stung, but she somehow managed to will the tears away. He needed her to be strong and capable of containing this for him. She lowered her face to his, their foreheads coming together.

"I won't leave," she said with confidence.

"How do you know that?"

It was the one question Aislynn should've been able to answer openly, but it would've meant telling him her story…her whole story. Jace had taken the first step toward setting his baggage down, but Aislynn wasn't ready to let go of hers yet.

"You're just gonna have to trust that I won't. You ended up fulfilling your own prophecy about me, Nostradamus. You were so afraid I was going to push you away that you ended up doing it yourself instead. You didn't need any help from me."

"I know. I screwed up. It's not easy for me to ask for help. It's not easy for me to admit that I…I need you. I want you with me."

Aislynn brushed the tip of her fingers softly over his lips, and then kissed him. She lost herself in the kiss, wishing, praying, and bargaining with God to keep him healthy.

I need him. Please, God, don't take him away from me, too.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said with telling intensity. "I need you, too. You really have no idea how much or why, but I do."

"What does that mean?" Jace asked with concern in his voice. "What happened to