Once Upon A Storm (EDITING)

34 - I'd go back to you.

Vanessa 🌻

I lead Drake upstairs into my bedroom, closing my door for a little privacy. My heart was racing, head spinning with all this new information.

I was, curious, scared and hopeless at this point. I didn't know what to do, what to say, how to react. It was killing me slowly, all the pain and headaches. After Xavier showed up last night, explaining the whole story to me, I felt numb to all feelings except this empty, heavy feeling inside my chest.

It was weighing me down and I just wanted it to stop.

I hear Drake breathe out a long sigh behind me, and I sit down at the edge of my bed, leaning back on both my hands.

"Vanessa, I'm sorry." I'm so sick and tired of hearing apologies.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, everything we've been through together was real. I should've just been a man and said no to my mom when she told me about the arranged married shit." Drake says, "But she told me you were engaged, and like a fucking idiot, I believed her, because the night before, when you were blindfolded and I was driving out to the middle of the lake, I seen that ring on your finger and it just seemed to make sense in my fucked up mind."

I glance down at my grandma's wedding ring on my finger and bite my lip.

"And then when I met you in the park that evening and you told me it belonged to your grandma and it was a gift, I felt like a fucking idiot... but I didn't back out because I was scared of my fucking parents, who may now disown me, but the thing is, I'm not scared anymore." I glance up at him.

"You are so special to me Vanessa, and in the short time we've known each other, I realized that you may just be the best thing that has ever happened to me. I don't know what it is, and how I came to feel this way, but fuck-"

He stops, raking a hand through his hair.

"Vanessa, I love you."

My heart skips a beat, and my jaw drops. I stare back at him, throat dry, my whole world spinning.

"Y- you what?" I manage to ask.

He gulps, his jaw ticking once. "I love you." Drake repeats, voice hoarse. "I fucking love you and I don't care who knows, I just want you to know. I want you back baby."

My heart starts to race, and I feel the part of me that wants him go crazy. I want to reach forward and hug him and kiss him and tell him that I so desperately love him too..

But the cautious side of me was stronger, begging me to be careful.

You're gonna get hurt again.

Stop while you can.

He'll break your heart.

"Vanessa?"

Drake's voice pulls me back into the present. I open my mouth, ready to reply, but my breath hitches and I start struggling to say something.

Anything.

"I-" my voice gets stuck, and I feel oh so lost.

"Are you okay?" He asks, reaching out and grabbing my hand. "Vanilla?"

Tears build up in my eyes, and I look down, taking a deep breath.

"I- I can't do this." I whisper.

"What?"

"You should go." I say more clearly, looking back up at him. Drake's face falls and his eyes fill with hurt.