AUGUST | NH |

TWENTY SEVEN

Archer

I'm going crazy.

Maybe I'm the one that needs to get their eyes checked.

Looking down at my feet as I lean against the wall outside of Stephen's apartment, I do my best to convince myself that I'm imagining things.

Because there's no way Niall's car would have been in the parking lot of my building.

No fucking way.

For the last two months nothing has haunted me more than the idea of the person who used to hold me every night, the blue eyes that held every single one of my dreams. Every dream, every night.

He's always there.

You would think that the memories would fade and my heart wouldn't ache as much, but it does. It doesn't matter who I'm with or what I'm doing because the only person I want is the exact same person who let me go.

Every day is the same.

The same heartache, the same tears.

I still loved him, that hadn't changed. I longed to kiss him — to talk to him.

I think I'll always love him.

Getting over a love like his wasn't something that could happen overnight. If I'm being honest, I don't really want to get over it at all. There isn't a doubt in my mind that someone could make me feel the way Niall did, not a fucking chance.

Looking back, I would still give up the job in Chicago.

Giving up the job in Chicago meant that when
the clinic a few towns away from Cape Charlotte called me, offering me a job, if I wanted to say yes I could. I remember seeing it the day we went shopping for a dress for me to wear to the wedding. From the moment I walked inside it felt like home.

Owned by an older doctor who was looking to retire, for whatever reason he sat down and talked with me that day. Telling me about his late wife and how he was excited to spend time with his grandchildren in his retirement.

Getting that job was a long shot so I kept it to myself, tucking it down into my pocket as far as I could just in case it didn't work out in my favor.

Finding out that I was the only person they wanted to take over the position was incredible. As much as I wanted to celebrate, I couldn't. It didn't feel the same not being able to tell Niall that I could stay close and have the job of my dreams.

I still haven't even told Ellis.

The sound of Stephen's door opening draws my attention back to him as he leans against the doorframe, holding the navy shirt out for me.

"Thanks for letting me borrow that, Archer." His brown eyes are soft as he smiles at me. "I still can't believe I spilled an entire cup of coffee down my shirt before that presentation."

I laugh as I take the shirt, clutching it tightly. "Listen, I think it happens to the best of us."

"You saved my ass." Running his hand through his hair, he points at the name on the front pocket of the shirt. "I still haven't figured out why you have a guy's shirt in your bag though."

A small smile pulls at the corner of my lips as my thumbs run across the worn, soft fabric. "I guess you could say it's kind of like my good luck charm."

Stephen eyes me with a raised brow. "I've known you the entirety of our time here and you've never had a good luck charm before."

"Sometimes things change." I say with a shrug.