Chapter 103

• She runs her hand over the side of his cheek and cradles it there.
• He closes his eyes at her touch. “It’s just too much, too fast, Annabelle.” He breathes and opens his eyes to meet hers. The fear there is heartbreaking. “For so long I’ve…your selflessness is so consuming that it…” he struggles, reaching up to take her hand framing his face in his own. “I can’t give you what you need because I don’t know how to live—to feel—to breathe—if I’m not broken. And being with you? You deserve someone that’s whole. I just can’t…”
• The words to the song from the car flash into her mind, and they are out before she can stop herself. “No, Nicholas. No.” She tells him, making sure his eyes are on hers. “You’re not broken, Nicholas. You’re just bent.” Despite saying it with serious intent, Nicholas belts out a self-deprecating laugh at the apropos corniness of her using a song lyric to try and express herself. He shakes his head at her. “Really, Ry? A song lyric?” he asks, and she just shrugs at him, willing to try anything to break him out of this rut he keeps returning to. She watches as his smile fades and the concern returns to his eyes. “I just need time to process this…you…it’s just too…”