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I can't speak

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I can't speak. I can't breathe. I can't see through the tears that blur my vision.

Every kiss, every smile, every bit of confessed love, comes down to this moment. I can only pray that Nate forgives me. But I understand if he doesn't. I don't think I would if the roles were reversed.

I need to stop being such a coward and come clean to this wonderful, concerned looking, man in front of me. But Nate isn't the only one that has gathered. Trent, Gavin, and of course, Molly, stand by his side like guardsmen. Alyssa and Johnny come up behind Danny and me.

"Tell me what?" Nate repeats when I don't speak right away.

All of the words that I have managed to learn from the age of birth have vanished into thin air.

Danny steps forward and places a hand on my shoulder and I shrink.

"Listen man, there's something I need to confess to," Danny says in a low drawl. His shoulders are squared and his stance is progressive but I can't let him continue.

"Me too," Johnny surprises me by saying, looking over at me fleetly before dropping his gaze to his feet.

My heart climbs to my throat. "Nate, can I speak to you outside? Alone."

Molly tightens her grip on his arm and my breathing hitches in my throat. She is protecting him from me. Her eyes narrow like a cat and at this moment in time, I deserve her antagonism, but I still clench my fist at my sides.

Nate doesn't answer. All the giddiness that radiated from him moments ago is gone, thrown out like the oil of a lamp, as his chest rises up and down. There is no way he hasn't caught onto the thick atmosphere that now surrounds us.

His face slowly morphs into one of a professional poker player, blank and serene. It sets my nerves closer to the edge of destruction.

"Please, Nate," I beg. If it comes down to it, I will gladly fall to my knees in front of him and beg until my heart explodes. I start to move towards him but Danny grabs hold of my elbow.

"Kelly--" Danny starts but I cut him short by shaking him off.

"Let go, Danny."

Like a light switch, Nate's face comes alive and it twists in determination but mostly it portrays anger that I have never seen before. "Get your hands off of her," Nate warns, his voice low. Nate tries to move forward but his friends hold him back.

Danny steps back, a look of confusion painting his fair features. "Alright." He puts his hands up in the air and takes a step to the side. His look reads, it's your funeral.

I can already feel my soul dying.

Nate holds his hand out as a beck and call for mine but Molly steps in front, pushing it back down. "I think you should hear the jock out first, Nathaniel."

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