BackWash (Editing & Completed)

Chapter 24: The Comeback

Chapter 24: The Comeback

I stare up at Chase, patiently waiting for an answer. It never comes. Instead, I'm met by excuses.

"I don't remember," he lies to my face, pretending to not recall any of it.

I urge him to open up, "Yes, you do."

This is the last time I'm trying with him. After this, it's over.

"It wasn't important," he tells me.

"Then why do you still remember it?" I ask, putting him in a corner.

"It doesn't matter," he confesses, "not anymore."

I swallow the hurt and nod, "Yeah, I thought so."

At least, I got an answer...

He frowns, having caught on, "Gabby-"

"I've seen enough to know that this..." I motion in between us, "isn't going anywhere."  

 "Just-"

"I need you to stay away from me, Chase." I cut him off, not wanting to hear any more.

"I don't think I can do that," he confesses sheepishly, embarrassed.

"Well then find a way because I can't do any of this anymore," I breathe out coldly. I'm done with him. Caleb's right. I won't be held back by him anymore. I'm done waiting on him to make up his mind. It's over.

I don't know why I didn't cut him off sooner. There's no room for him in my life. He doesn't help me, he drags me down with him. It's a toxic relationship. 

I avert my eyes from him, my thoughts dwelling back to all that he has said to me since coming back:  

'Stay out of my way as much as possible and I'll stay out of yours.'

'Your words mean nothing to me now, Gabriela.'

'So much for having faith in you. Should've known that it would get me nowhere. Never has.' 

'I don't need you. I never did.'  

Chase lifts my chin up with his thumb ever so carefully - cautiously - so that he can have my undivided attention. My gaze meets his yet again, by his own doing, only to find so much desperation filled in those bottomless pools of blue, up until the point where I feel I'm drowning and can't quite surface for a breath of fresh air.  

"I know you've given me so many chances as is - but please, just give me one last chance. Don't shut me out. I won't screw it up this time, I'll try to do better. I promise." He pleads with me, trying to reason me out of my set decision. His persuasions skills are weak. "Please," he repeats, his tone laced with raw emotion. 

It's difficult not to fall apart at the seams by just staring into his weary eyes. He's hurting and he's just as hopelessly lost as me. Caleb is his friend too and I know he's going through the same motions as me, the same turmoil. I know that, but I'm done trying to fix him. I have my own life to think about, my own to live.

"You don't need me, Chase." I remind him of the words he'd once used on me, "You never did."

"I do." He nods as if admitting something. "I do need you, Gabby," he confesses in his state of weakness, making me wonder what happened, where his confidence went. He's in shambles because himself is not ready to say goodbye to Caleb either. 

His soft side has been sparked. It hurts me to see Chase hurt. I absolutely hate seeing him like this - hopeless, lost, without direction, without purpose, without a cause. He has no drive left. He might as well be a zombie.