Four years. That's how long it has been since Sebastian saw his best friend's sister Maya. She was the sweetest seventeen year old girl you probably ever met. Now? Not so much.
Her brother Theo moved out and her whole world fell apart after that. Sh...
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Acker fell asleep snuggled against my back, but I didn't close my eyes. How could I? Everything I said to Theo replayed over and over in my head.
I slowly pulled away from Acker so as not to wake him and sneaked out of the room. I carefully closed the door behind me and stopped when I noticed that Theo was still in my apartment.
He's sitting on my couch and hasn't noticed that I'm standing behind him yet. I just looked at him for a while.
How did we get here? We should act like siblings, right?
But he hurt me. How can I just forgive him? He left me alone. I was just a child.
"What are you still doing here?" I asked in a calm voice.
Theo didn't look up or look at me. "There's nothing I can say that would change your opinion of me, is there?"
"What do you expect from me? I owe you nothing." I hugged myself.
"I made a mistake, I know that."
"You have no idea, do you?" I shook my head before he finally looked at me. "For seventeen years you were my hero. Someone I looked up to. I went everywhere you went because I felt safe with you. And then you left me in a house with people who didn't care if I ate or got home alright." He didn't say anything, he just looked at me with pity in his eyes. "You didn't call or write or communicate in any other way. It's like I suddenly didn't exist. Do you know how much that hurt me?" I buried my finger in my chest.
"I'll never forgive myself, Maya. But you have to understand that I had to get out of there."
"Then you should have taken me with you." I walked up to him. "You could have taken me with you," I whispered.
"I should have."
"But you didn't." My voice broke. "And I had to live with the fact that I wasn't even good enough for my own brother." I felt a tight feeling in my chest.
"I deserve every drop of your hate, but..." He let out a heavy breath. "I was selfish and I know you'll never forget it. And I may never earn your trust again, but I'll wait. I'll wait however long it takes."
I slowly walked over to the couch and sat down. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes. "The worst thing is that I'm so stupid and naive that I'll forgive you one day. And I'll hate myself for it."
"I know I don't deserve another chance. I know you won't just give it to me, but this time I'll prove to you that I deserve it. I'll try and..."
"Stop." I jumped into his speech and looked at him over my shoulder. "Stop saying things you won't follow through on. It's only a matter of time before you go to New York again."
"What do you want me to do, Maya?"
"Right now?" I stood up. "I want you to leave." I turned my back on him and started walking away from him.
