Hopelessly Devoted #Wattys2014

Hopelessly Devoted - Bonus Chapter

Bentley's POV

I shut the door to my truck and gave a sigh. I shoved my hands into my pockets and looked around. I hadn't been here in years and I didn't exactly have fond memories of the last time I was here. It was probably one of the worst nights of my life.

I could still see her face, the anger, the hurt that I caused her to feel. The betrayal that hung in her eyes as I told her I was ending things. I could still see the tears she tried so hard to keep at bay. I could remember the words she said to me, when I accused her of not caring.

"You know, you could care a little more."

"Oh so now this is my fault? Really? I don't care?" She stopped walking away from me and turned back to face me. The pain that had been there was replaced by anger.

"Well most people would get pretty upset if the person they supposedly loved wanted to end their relationship.." I threw back at her, trying to get her to hate me, she needed to hate me. I wasn't any good for her.

"Oh so I only supposedly loved you? really Bentley!? What do you want me to do? Do you want me to break down in tears? Because if that's what it takes to keep you, then I will bawl my bloody eyes out! But even if I did that, you're still going to leave."

"It doesn't matter Layla because in the end, I know that YOU'RE the one that doesn't really care"

"Oh! So I lost my virginity to you, told you I loved you, put up with a helluva lot in this relationship, all because I didn't care?" She yell through the tears that were pouring down her face. She had given up on trying to stop them. It killed to me to see her in pain, especially since I was the one inflicting it. I loved her and that's exactly why I had to let her go.

Years later, standing in her parents driveway, all I could do was be thankful that everything I said to her that night, didn't make me lose her forever. I was able to win her back, and along with winning her back, I got to meet the my kids that I didn't know existed. I was back at this place, at the home childhood home of Layla to finally make amends with someone, someone who's feelings I didn't take into consideration all those years ago, when I asked her to go with me to Texas, someone who I should have had a little bit more respect for. Her father.

I shivered a little in my coat, the December air wasn't freezing like in most places, but it was still chilly. Another sigh escaped my lips as I made my way up the brick steps to the front door. I gave a knock on the white wooden door, before stuffing my hands back into my pockets. I heard footsteps sounding throughout the house as someone made their way to the door. JJ, Layla's little brother swung the door open and looked immensely surprised to see me standing there.

"What are you doing here?" He demanded.

"I need to speak to your dad."

"He's around back. Come on, I'll take you to him." The young boy motioned for me to follow. He led me through the house to the back door.

"I can find him." I still remembered my way around that place. Chad Parks was always in the same place anyways. He had a shop set up where he spent a great deal of time craving furniture and refurbishing it for others.

I left JJ at the back door and slowly made my way to the tiny white building. It was only a few feet away from the house, so it wasn't long before I arrived at the door to the cramped workspace. I once again knocked.

"Come on inside." So I did. The look of shock that came across Josh Parks face, was one I would have found amusing, if it wasn't such a serious situation. "Bentley, what are you doing here?"

"I figured it was time you and I had a talk." Mr. Josh placed the tool he had in his hands down on the work table, then turned to lean against it.

"I'm listening." He wasn't being rude, but I could tell that he was curious as to why I would show up almost five years after I had left.

"I owe you an apology.." Once again, he looked shocked. He probably thought I was going to place the blame on him.

"Is that right?"

"Yes sir. I never understood why you were so against Layla going with me... then, when I saw Ava, I understood it. Now don't get me wrong, I love my sons too, but when I saw Ava, I understood how you felt. Having a little girl really put things in perspective. I want to do everything in my power to protect her because I don't want to lose her either."

"You know son, I owe you an apology as well. If it hadn't been for me interfering, you would have known about the triplets before."

"I can see why you did it. You didn't want me to take your girl away from you."

"I wasn't ready to lose Layla.. but it almost cost me." He admitted. "She was devastated after you left."

"I never wanted to hurt her." I told him truthfully.

"I think we all made our share of mistakes five years ago. The important thing is, we all learned from them."

"There was another thing I wanted to speak to you about.."

"I know where this is going.." He sighed. I just nodded, before I continued speaking.

"I'd like to ask Layla to marry me. I know we've done things out of order, but I want to do right by her. I would really appreciate it, if you would give your blessing."

"You're not just marrying her because she gave birth to your children, are you?" I shook my head.

"I love Layla, she's always been the one I wanted to marry. And I know it will be good for the kids, but I'm not just doing this for them. I love your daughter more than anything and I want to spend the rest of my life making up for how badly I hurt her." I assured him.

"All I want is for her to be happy. I know you'll take care of her and my grandkids, so if you decide to ask her and she decides that she wants to marry you, then you have my blessing. I won't come between y'all anymore."

"Thank you, Sir." I shook his hand, unable to hide the smile that was on my face. I was going to marry Layla, well as long as she wanted to marry me too.