𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 828 || 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬

𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 || 𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬. 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

"eden didn't choose this life. she's an innocent victim in all this. cal made his choice, he's gone."

your heart broke as you stood next to cal, listening to the podcast from his phone. you could tell his did too. he didn't express it that way though.

"yknow, he could at least pretend to care about me for the news outlets and press." cal says angrily, slamming his hand against the car steering wheel.

cal pulls back his hand, holding it close to his chest. you heard the impact, slightly flinching at the sudden movement. it looked painful, to say the least.

"i know it's hard cal. he doesn't mean it, i promise. he's just grieving over eden, is all." you say, your best attempt to comfort him.

you grab the hand he slammed and hold in gently in your hand, rubbing a soothing thumb over the back of his palm.

"he means every word of it, y/n. you know it. he's held a silent grudge against me everyday since mom- everyday since then." he couldn't finish his sentence. it was still hard for him to talk about that night, even 2 years later.

you remember that night, much more than you want to. you were trying to help out with the baby and ran out to the store to pick up some food for tommorow night's dinner for grace, and when you came back, her body was being wheeled away.

the entire night fills your memory as a scene of flashing lights, sirens, screams, cries, and arguing. you can see hear the amber alert noise that was sent out for eden ringing through your ears.

when cal walked through the doors of beverly's home, you'd never been happier to see him. while you ran towards him to wrap him in a hug, zeke was holding olive back from strangling him.

ever since that night, you'd been by his side, and you were still sitting next to him today to remind him of that.

"cal, i'm here. i'm not going anywhere. not now, not ever." you said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

he looked over at you and gave you a gentle smile. tears were brimming in his eyes, but he still managed to choke out your three favorite words.

"i love you."