Lover of Mine ~Chase Elliott

stay | 7

J A D E W R I G H T

"Are you sure you're okay? Tomorrow is going to mark four years since the accident." Natalie commented, ruining my entire mood, I dropped my pen from grading student's papers and shot her a disapproving glance before taking a sip of wine. "Sorry, but I just wanna make sure you're okay for tomorrow and in the right mindset to teach."

"If you're worried about my attitude with the kids, I'll be fine. I know how to handle my emotions, thank you very much." I said with more sass than I'd intended to express. "I don't need to be reminded Nat, I just don't," I said baffled. "I go through this every year, it's not like it gets any worse or any better. I have a daily reminder of it, this will be just like any other day."

"Uh, were you expecting someone?" Natalie questions walking towards the door after hearing a loud knock.

"No," I replied getting back to grading. "Natalie, who is it?" I called out, with no response back. I push myself up to see what was taking Natalie so long. I shouldn't have been surprised who was at the door but it caught apart of me off guard. My stomach dropped, my heart started to beat out of my chest. "Um, hey Chase. What are you doing here?" I asked nervously rocking on my heels.

"I think we need to talk." He stood there staring me down, his eyes roaming up and down my body. Natalie looked between Chase and I sensing the tension between the two of us. I couldn't form any words to respond, it'd been two days since our kiss, something that had been consuming my mind.

"I'll go and give you guys some privacy," Natalie said breaking the awkward silence. "I'll see you tomorrow Jade." She grabbed her purse. "It was nice seeing you again Chase." Natalie pats Chase on his arm before taking her leave.

"You too Natalie." Chase smiled. Chase stepped in, closing the door behind him. I was frozen in the same place as Chase hesitantly walked up to me. "I think we need to discuss what happened on Friday," Chase whispered, sending chills down my body. I nodded without saying a word. I led him to the living room, I sat on the couch, expecting him to sit across from me, but instead, he took a seat close to me. "Listen, I meant what I said that day. When I said that I never got over you, I truly meant that, but I never got to hear your response. These past could days have been weird and confusing."

"Chase-"

"I felt something when we kissed, and I know you felt it too. I just want to know if I'm holding onto something that isn't there." Chase pleaded for answers. I didn't know if I even had the answers. I've been so conflicted, confused, and so caught up in the past. I wasn't an emotional person but Chase always knew how to change that part of me. "Jade."

"I never truly got over you Chase, no matter how hard I tried in the past," I said, attempting not to get choked up. "I've been through so much shit these past twelve years. My heart is pulling me one way and my head is pulling me the other. And if I'm being honest? I don't know if I have the answers you're looking for right now." I sighed. "I've felt so conflicted ever since you came back."

I knew what I wanted, but I was so fucking scared to put my heart back out there.

"You keep hinting at your past relationship. I wanna know, so I know how to be better for you. I want this more than I've ever wanted anything in life-"

"If you wanna know what not to do? Don't get in a car accident and die right in front of me-" I gasped for air as the painful memories came into light. Chase fearfully looked over at me, his eyes pleading for the rest of the story.

"W-what? Jade-"

"The day we went out for coffee, I told you that I moved to North Carolina because my boyfriend at the time landed a job here, his name was Thomas. We met in our last year college, we started dating, and I was so in love with him that I somehow convinced myself to move here with him. We dated for a year, then we got engaged. We were really happy, like the perfect fairytale kind of happy. I never knew I could fall so hard and fast for anyone like I did with him." I sighed, anxiously twiddling my fingers. Chase put his hand on mine noticing how hard this was for me.

"Jade, it's okay."

"We bought a house together, we were ready to start a new chapter. After we got moved in, we found out that I was pregnant. Everything seemed too perfect for us until the accident happened. Before I knew it, we were heading to South Carolina to be with Thomas' parents for his birthday coming up. We drove throughout the day into night. As we were crossing an intersection, a car came out of nowhere. It hit us and all I could remember was us rolling down a ditch. Thomas was knocked unconscious but I was still fully aware of everything. I yelled and screamed, Thomas didn't answer me. There was so much blood-" I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words, and recollecting my thoughts. "I must've blacked out because the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, and found out not only did I lose my unborn baby, but I lost T-Thomas too-"

"Hey, hey, hey, shh, it's okay." Chase comforted me as I broke down into tears. He pulled me closer to him, slowly and gently running his hand up and down my back. I don't know how long we sat on my couch, but Chase was still here, that meant something. He didn't run. "Deep breaths." He says as I leaned out of his embrace. "It's okay, you're okay." He softly shot a sympathetic smile as his thumb grazed my cheek, wiping away my tears.

"I've just been so scared of letting people in. I lost just about everything that day, I don't know if I can lose anybody else under any circumstance."

"Jade, I'm not going anywhere," Chase said lifting up my head. "I don't care how long I have to wait, I'll be here." He said looking deep into my eyes.

We both knew what would happen next, it was a matter of who was going to make the first move. I didn't know what self-control was at that moment in time, I went for it because I craved it. I leaned in for the kiss that was absolutely electrifying, it left both of us wanting more. This kiss was different it was more passionate but gentle.

"Chase-"

"I know." Chase sighed brushing down my messy hair. "I wanna make this work again."

"I do too."