Paper Heart ✔️

Chapter 27 | you can't run away

It's the next morning, I've waken with a pounding headache that's showing no remorse. I can barely comprehend the events leading to last night. My phone is buzzing with messages from Hero and Danielle. I guess Danielle and Justin are meeting Hero at the airport in and hour to say goodbye.

They want me to go, but I can't say goodbye again.

I take a cold shower and take many pain killers to ease the pain. My phone starts ringing again so I decide to answer Danielle's fourth call.

"Where are you?" She asks. "Hero's flight leaves in fifteen minutes."

"I'm not going." I tell her.

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing happened." I lie. "I can't."

"Ella, c'mon you have to be here."

I hang up the phone before she can say anything else. I sit at the edge of my bed, thinking back to a night ago, one of the best nights of my life.

I wipe my eyes and grab my shoes.

"I'll never make it." I say to myself as I start up my car. The engine roars to life as I back out and race down the street. I'm stupid, after everything Hero's done I admitted to using him? I'm not going to blame the alcohol either.

I'm and awful person for wanting to hurt him like that. I'm trying to find and explanation for the way I treat him, maybe I'm afraid of getting hurt so I hurt those around me.

We weren't so different after all?

I park my car at the entrance of the airport and run inside. I push passed multiple crowds of people, trying to find the line of people flying today.

"You came." Danielle says, spotting me first.

I try to catch my breath as I stop in front of them and look around. Danielle looks at me and shakes her head.

"He's gone."

The last few pieces left of my heart were finally breaking. It hurts, it hurts really bad and all I can blame is myself.

Wyatt was wrong when he said Hero needed me a lot more than I needed him. Hero and I both need each other and that's the cruelest part of it all because we can't.

"I can come over tonight if you want? We can come over?" Danielle offers gesturing to Justin. It was the end of lunch and our table of friends has shrunk in size.

Beverley and Sofie now sit with the cheer team on the other side of the cafeteria and Jess has made her way over with the jocks. Hero's gone so it's just the three of us now.

"No it's okay." I tell her. "I should get to class."

"Wow." Danielle stops me from leaving, she's staring down at her phone with wide eyes. "Looks like he's already forgotten about us."

I look over her shoulder at a photo Hero's been tagged in on Instagram. He's not doing much in the photo and yet he still looks like a model. I can't keep my eyes off of the brunette sitting on his lap laughing toward the camera, the cigarette between his fingers is blazing a cast of smoke which lingers in the air.