Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Ninety-Nine: Love

HAPPY HUMP DAY, HOMIES.

I accidentally wrote this from the birthday boy's perspective. Oops!

***

I pulled into her parents' driveway. It was late – after midnight – but I needed to talk to her. I needed to fix things. I didn't have a grand gesture planned, but maybe if we just talked we'd figure everything out . . .

I knocked on the door, and someone answered more quickly than I was expecting. It was Sarah, Annie's youngest sibling.

"Hey, Christian. Annie's asleep," she informed me calmly and matter-of-factly. 

"Is she actually asleep, or did she tell you to tell me that if I came over?"

Sarah's face turned bright red. "She told me to tell you that, but I have to respect her wishes." She shrugged. "She's my sister."

"I'll give you a hundred bucks if you let me in the house."

"Two hundred, and then it's a deal." Teenagers were so easy to bribe.

"You got it." I grabbed my wallet out of my back pocket and pulled out two crisp one hundred dollar bills before placing them in her hand.

"Thanks," she said with a big smile before pulling the door open for me. "I need new headphones."

"Is she in her room?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's upstairs."

I made my way up the steps and knocked on Annie's door. When she didn't respond, I opened it slowly. I didn't want to scare her if she was asleep.

"Hey," she said softly when she saw me. She was lying on her bed watching something on her laptop. "I guess Sarah failed at her one job," she added.

It took me a moment to get up the courage to speak. "Can we sit and talk?"

"Yeah, sure." She closed her laptop before standing up and placing it on her desk on the other side of the room. She returned to her bed and sat down on the edge. I took a seat next to her.

"I read your letter, obviously . . . That's why I'm here."

"I sort of assumed that," she said quietly. "I'm sorry we couldn't make us work. I wanted us to work, but I think I just sort of drained you emotionally."

"You didn't – you don't – drain me. You make me feel good. I made a mistake in taking my mood out on you. You and Eloise have absolutely nothing to do with my slump."

"Christian, you're not even slumping. You're just letting journalists get in your head."

I just shrugged.

"I think the pressure of this relationship is too much for us, and I don't want to bring Eloise into this sort of situation. Maybe we're just happier people apart."

"I love you," I countered.

Annie sighed. "Do you? Or do you love having sex with me, and you don't know the difference between that and actually loving someone?"

"I know the difference," I whispered. "We haven't even had sex in a couple of months. Still love you."

"I made so many mistakes with you, Christian, and I've tried to make up for them. I withheld information, and I didn't want to leave my home, even though I had the flexibility to do so. I ran away when you needed me. But I don't blame you for my problems or my personality defects."

"Annie, I know that I mistreated you, but I think you should give this one last shot. For her. Please." I took her hand and moved it to my lips.

"We've had too many last shots," she said sadly before shaking my hand away. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this. Being with you is irrational at this point."

"What does that even mean?" I was defeated.

"That I'm not listening to my brain if I stay with you," she answered.

"Maybe you shouldn't listen to your brain when it comes to love. That's sort of the point."

"What do you know about love?"

"I know that I love you."

"But what does that mean to you?"

I considered her question for a moment before answering. "It means that I'd fight for us, even against the odds. I'm not going to give up on you, even if you want to quit right now. I'm not ending this."

"Love means that you'd let me go if it's what I really wanted."

"That's bullshit, Annie."

She didn't say anything, but her hand suddenly moved to my knee while her expression changed from sad to concerned. "Christian, I think my water just broke . . ."