Never Too Late
Starting Fresh
John's Point of View
“I broke up with Taylor.”
I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth right then. Why, why, why had I said that? That wasn’t even true; I’d actually been spending a lot of time with Taylor while Lacey was in the hospital. I’d drifted from everyone – Lacey was only allowed to talk to family members while she was in treatment, Lucy wasn’t speaking to me at all except to give me updates on Lacey every few days, and even Mason had shut me out, presumably because Lucy had told him about everything that had happened. Taylor was the only one I’d had left, though probably not for much longer.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with Lacey, or that I meant to lie to her about Taylor. I’d had every intention of breaking up with her, and actually planned on doing it before Lacey was supposed to come home. But I kept delaying and putting it off until eventually Lacey’s release day arrived, and I was still dating Taylor. And Lacey, if she’d still have me, and it seemed that she would.
Like I said, I didn’t mean to lie to her. But it was amazing to see her and be with her again after a month of nothing, and she looked so good – so healthy, at ease, and I guess even a little hopeful. And I wasn’t about to be the guy to shatter that for her. I’d been a piece of shit, and I didn’t want to be an asshole to her anymore. And while Lacey was being rehabilitated, I really should have been doing the same, but old habits were hard to break, and so here I was yet again, stuck between two girls because of my own cowardice and lies.
“Really?” Lacey asked, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes, her head lying on my chest.
She was giving me the chance to take that statement back. And I should’ve taken it. That was my whole fucking life in a nutshell, not doing things that I should have and then regretting it. But the way she was looking at me, I just couldn’t. “Yeah. Right after you went into the hospital. She didn’t take it so well and it turned into a whole big thing, but that calmed down a while ago, and I haven’t talked to her since.”
Jesus Christ, I should have been a fucking politician. I even amazed myself with my ability to lie so easily. I just sucked at keeping my story straight sometimes.
“How did it all go down?” Lacey questioned. “What’d you say to her? And what’d she say to you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. I wasn’t prepared for those questions in the slightest, and I needed to change the subject fast. I kissed the top of her head, my arms still around her. “All that matters is that it’s all over. God, I just can’t stand how much I hurt you, Lace. And I really hope you know how sorry I am about everything. I’d give anything to just have a fresh start with you.”
“Seems like I’m starting fresh with everything lately,” she commented, tracing patterns on my skin as she talked. “But that sounds like exactly what you and I need.”
“Thank you for giving me another chance,” I told her, my stomach twisting a little. Lacey really had no idea that I was lying through my fucking teeth, and that made everything worse. “I care about you a lot, Lacey. I promise I’ll prove that to you this time around.” I tilted her head up to kiss her, deep and passionate. “What time do you need to be home again?”
“Five thirty,” she replied, smiling into the next kiss. God, it was so good to see her smile again.
I picked up my phone to check the time, noticing that I had an unread text from Taylor on the screen. I swiped it away immediately, praying Lacey hadn’t seen. I looked back at her and realized I’d lucked out, since she hadn’t even taken her eyes off me to steal a look at my phone. I thought about the text from Taylor again. Why was I such a shit? What had I ever done to deserve to have Lacey look at me like I hung the moon? I swallowed the guilt and forced a smile, though I didn’t have to work too hard at it.
“Looks like we’ve still got about an hour,” I said. “I could take you home early if you want to see your family.” I kissed her again, running my hands down to her hips, pulling her closer, if that was even possible. “Or we could always start fresh again.”
Lacey rested her hand on my face, running her thumb along my scruff before kissing me again. “My family can wait.”
“I broke up with Taylor.”
I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my own mouth right then. Why, why, why had I said that? That wasn’t even true; I’d actually been spending a lot of time with Taylor while Lacey was in the hospital. I’d drifted from everyone – Lacey was only allowed to talk to family members while she was in treatment, Lucy wasn’t speaking to me at all except to give me updates on Lacey every few days, and even Mason had shut me out, presumably because Lucy had told him about everything that had happened. Taylor was the only one I’d had left, though probably not for much longer.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with Lacey, or that I meant to lie to her about Taylor. I’d had every intention of breaking up with her, and actually planned on doing it before Lacey was supposed to come home. But I kept delaying and putting it off until eventually Lacey’s release day arrived, and I was still dating Taylor. And Lacey, if she’d still have me, and it seemed that she would.
Like I said, I didn’t mean to lie to her. But it was amazing to see her and be with her again after a month of nothing, and she looked so good – so healthy, at ease, and I guess even a little hopeful. And I wasn’t about to be the guy to shatter that for her. I’d been a piece of shit, and I didn’t want to be an asshole to her anymore. And while Lacey was being rehabilitated, I really should have been doing the same, but old habits were hard to break, and so here I was yet again, stuck between two girls because of my own cowardice and lies.
“Really?” Lacey asked, looking up at me with those beautiful eyes, her head lying on my chest.
She was giving me the chance to take that statement back. And I should’ve taken it. That was my whole fucking life in a nutshell, not doing things that I should have and then regretting it. But the way she was looking at me, I just couldn’t. “Yeah. Right after you went into the hospital. She didn’t take it so well and it turned into a whole big thing, but that calmed down a while ago, and I haven’t talked to her since.”
Jesus Christ, I should have been a fucking politician. I even amazed myself with my ability to lie so easily. I just sucked at keeping my story straight sometimes.
“How did it all go down?” Lacey questioned. “What’d you say to her? And what’d she say to you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I replied. I wasn’t prepared for those questions in the slightest, and I needed to change the subject fast. I kissed the top of her head, my arms still around her. “All that matters is that it’s all over. God, I just can’t stand how much I hurt you, Lace. And I really hope you know how sorry I am about everything. I’d give anything to just have a fresh start with you.”
“Seems like I’m starting fresh with everything lately,” she commented, tracing patterns on my skin as she talked. “But that sounds like exactly what you and I need.”
“Thank you for giving me another chance,” I told her, my stomach twisting a little. Lacey really had no idea that I was lying through my fucking teeth, and that made everything worse. “I care about you a lot, Lacey. I promise I’ll prove that to you this time around.” I tilted her head up to kiss her, deep and passionate. “What time do you need to be home again?”
“Five thirty,” she replied, smiling into the next kiss. God, it was so good to see her smile again.
I picked up my phone to check the time, noticing that I had an unread text from Taylor on the screen. I swiped it away immediately, praying Lacey hadn’t seen. I looked back at her and realized I’d lucked out, since she hadn’t even taken her eyes off me to steal a look at my phone. I thought about the text from Taylor again. Why was I such a shit? What had I ever done to deserve to have Lacey look at me like I hung the moon? I swallowed the guilt and forced a smile, though I didn’t have to work too hard at it.
“Looks like we’ve still got about an hour,” I said. “I could take you home early if you want to see your family.” I kissed her again, running my hands down to her hips, pulling her closer, if that was even possible. “Or we could always start fresh again.”
Lacey rested her hand on my face, running her thumb along my scruff before kissing me again. “My family can wait.”