Just A Job (Lauren/You)

Chapter 48

Lauren's POV

"I love you, Y/N."

I didn't know what those words would do to him. Would it make him remember? Would it make his head ache again? But at this moment, I didn't care anymore. His eyes looked straight into mine and I saw the panic there. I was making him question everything he knew to be real. He looked lost and vulnerable so I held his face tightly and caressed his cheeks with my thumbs. Remember Y/N, please.

Remember me.

However, his soft eyes change to a hardened glare as he yanked my hands away from his face. "Don't do this," he said. "I—I can't." He shook his head as if trying to shake off the thought that we were together. I stepped closer to him, reaching out, but he took a step back like a scared child.

"It's true. I would never lie to you."

"You're lying now, god damn it!"

He ran a hand through his hair and tugged it in exasperation. He moved in circles as he kept mumbling incoherent words. He looked so broken and I wanted nothing but to take back all my words to comfort him. But at the same time I knew that this was my chance to right every wrong and I wasn't going to let it go to waste.

"Y/N," I said as gently as possible and watched his eyes meet mine—his weak, vulnerable eyes. "It's the truth. You know in your heart, it's the god damn truth."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Every day. Every goddamn day, I was with you in the hospital. I know you feel it, it's impossible you don't."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked again, in a much harsher tone this time.

"You might not remember me, but your body does. Whenever we're alone together, I know you feel something. You feel like we're not friends—that maybe we're much more. I see the doubt in your eyes whenever I talk about our past. You can't stand there and tell me otherwise, can you?" I looked him in the eye and watched the realization set in them. "Can you?"

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it abruptly. He then started walking around yelling 'fuck' several times before looking at me again. His eyes began to water and the panic was overwhelming him.

"Stop it, Lauren. Please just stop," he begged. "It's impossible. We can't be—" The words died from his mouth and only a small whimper came out.

"Our kiss," I said and watched his eyes widen.

"No, stop."

"When we kissed—"

"Shut up already!"

"No you shut up! You want to know the truth? Well here it fucking is! I know you felt something when we kissed. That's because you knew somewhere in your mind that it felt right—we felt right. And no matter how you look at it, I was more than a friend. I've always been more than your friend."

But he didn't listen and just continued to shake his head.

"For fuck's sake, Y/N! You and Ariana broke up!"

I watched as the color drained from his face and his hands bunched into fists at his sides. He was visibly shaken by what I just said and it was at this instance that I truly understood how much he loved Ariana. He was head over heels for her and she just threw him and their relationship away. She basically told him he wasn't enough for her. And for a guy who fought his family to be with her, she threw his heart to the ground and stomped on it.

"Enough!" he shouted through the silence of the night. "I have had enough!" He turned around and began to trek back towards the road. He was trying to get away from me but I couldn't let him leave. I took a step forward and ran after him.