Only Yours

45. Start Again

Tamina

Lucius caresses my face before getting up and offering a smile to mum before exiting the room silently, and my heart turns heavy seeing him go. Mum takes his place next to me, and she wraps an arm around me and settles my phone in my lap. "Is everything OK?"

I shrug tiresomely, and sniffle. "I'm calling it off with Brandon, I've just been waiting for him to get back to me."

Mum nods and places a kiss on my cheek. "Whatever you choose, we'll support you. I think you can also count on Lucius to help you through it too."

A shaky smile pulls at my lips. "I know, and that's the sad thing, mum. He told me he loved me, and he'll be more than happy to wait, but it's wrong. He shouldn't have to do that, it isn't fair," I whimper.

She pulls me in for a hug. "It will work itself out, sweetheart. The heart is the strangest thing, but that's how love works."

Nodding against her neck, I give her a soft squeeze before wiping my eyes completely. "Thank you, mum."

Opening the device, Brandon's name occupies the notification bar, and I'm hesitant to open it. When I do, there's two messages from him. One must've been when we were on our way saying, 'Not now, we'll talk later,' and there's one from three minutes ago telling me I can come to his at 21:00 p.m. and his address is listed below along with how the door will be unlocked for me to walk in.

Eyeing mum, she nods. "I'll let everyone know you're ready to make a move."

Thanking her, I take a minute to compose myself, and then finally head downstairs. Once I'm there, mum is embracing Lucius, who embraces her with one arm while the other holds our jackets. Dad gives him a handshake and a clap on the back, and then they all turn to me. Smiling the best I can, I hug mum and dad and let Lucius slip my jacket on for me before we head for the door.

"Thank you for having us," I say, waving through the car window.

"Any time, and Lucius, don't make yourself a stranger," dad warns, and my belly is full of butterflies.

"Thank you." His eyes meet mine, and I smile. "I won't," he finished.

After saying goodbye, I sigh and sink into the fabric of the seat.

"He messaged you, didn't he?" Lucius asks cautiously.

My head bobs. "He did. He wants me to meet him at his place at nine." Catching his eye, I add, "I'm set on what I'm doing, I'm not making the same mistake again."

No, he had called it off first, and my gut is yelling at me to call it off this time for fear something is amiss. This will be the perfect opportunity.

The drive is longer than I thought it would be. Traffic was hectic, and then I think there might've been a small accident on one of the routes, so we were turned around. Not only that, the conversations between us were brief, but that wasn't Lucius's fault; I'd been too worked up, and my mind was imagining all the ways I could tell him I want this to be done with because we're not getting anywhere.

Once we do pull up, the road is lined with fancy looking houses, and one was even made of glass, which was my least favourite because it looked to have little to no privacy at all. The gardens were short if they had one instead of a drive, if it were a drive, it was big to say the least. And now we're a few doors down from Brandon's, and my stomach is doing flips, and my hands can't stop trembling.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

My head swivels to face him, and I force a confident smile. "Thank you, but it's OK. . . I have to do this part on my own."