It Ends with Us

Oh, God.
The hallway instantly becomes a blur of fists and elbows and my screams
for them to stop. Two waiters push through the door behind me and
shove past me, separating them just as quickly as it started.
They’re pushed apart against opposite walls, staring each other down,
breathing heavily. I can’t even look at either of them.
I can’t look at Atlas. Not after what Ryle just said to him. I also can’t
look at Ryle because he’s probably thinking the absolute worst possible
thing right now.
“Out!” Atlas yells, pointing at the door, but looking at Ryle. “Get the
hell out of my restaurant!”
I meet Ryle’s eyes as he begins to walk past me, scared of what I’ll see in
them. But there isn’t any anger there.
Only hurt.
Lots of hurt.
He pauses as if he’s about to say something to me. But his face just
twists into disappointment and he walks back out into the restaurant.
I finally glance up at Atlas and can see disappointment all across his
face. Before I can explain away Ryle’s words to him, he turns and walks
away, pushing through the kitchen doors.
I immediately turn and run after Ryle. He grabs his jacket from the
booth and walks toward the exit without even looking at Allysa and
Marshall.
Allysa looks up at me and holds her hands up in question. I shake my
head, grab my purse and say, “It’s a long story. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
I follow Ryle outside and he’s walking toward the parking lot. I run to
catch up to him and he just stops and punches at the air.
“I didn’t bring my fucking car!” he yells, frustrated.
I pull my keys out of my purse and he walks up to me and snatches
them from my hand. Again, I follow him, this time to my car.

---

I don’t know what to do. I don’t know if he even wants to speak to me
right now. He just saw me locked in a bathroom with a guy I used to be in
love with. Then, out of nowhere, that guy attacks him.
God, this is so bad.
When we reach my car, he heads straight for the driver’s side door. He
points to the passenger side and says, “Get in, Lily.”
He doesn’t speak to me the entire time we’re driving. I say his name
once, but he just shakes his head like he’s not ready to hear my
explanation yet. When we pull into my parking garage, he gets out of the
car as soon as he turns it off, like he can’t get away from me fast enough.
He’s pacing the length of the car when I get out. “It wasn’t what it
looked like, Ryle. I swear.”
He stops pacing, and when he looks at me, my heart doubles over.
There’s so much pain in his eyes right now, and it’s not even necessary. It
was all due to a stupid misunderstanding.
“I didn’t want this, Lily,” he says. “I didn’t want a relationship! I didn’t
want this stress in my life!”
As much as he’s hurting because of what he thinks he saw, his words
still piss me off. “Well, then leave!”
“What?”
I throw my hands up. “I don’t want to be your burden, Ryle! I’m so
sorry my presence in your life is so unbearable!”
He takes a step forward. “Lily, that’s not at all what I’m saying.” He
throws his hands up in frustration and then walks past me. He leans
against my car and folds his arms over his chest. There’s a long stretch of
silence while I wait for what he has to say. His head is down, but he lifts it
slightly, looking up at me.
“Naked truths, Lily. That’s all I want from you right now. Can you
please give me that?”
I nod.
“Did you know he worked there?”
I purse my lips together and wrap my arm over my chest, grabbing at
my elbow. “Yes. That’s why I didn’t want to go back, Ryle. I didn’t want to
run into him.”
My answer seems to release a little of his tension. He runs a hand down
his face. “Did you tell him what happened last night? Did you tell him
about our fight?”

---

I take a step forward and shake my head adamantly. “No. He assumed.
He saw my eye and your hand and he just assumed.”
He blows out a laden breath and leans his head back, looking up at the
roof. It looks like it’s almost too painful for him to even ask the next
question.
“Why were you alone with him in the bathroom?”
I take another step forward. “He followed me in there. I know nothing
about him now, Ryle. I didn’t even know he owned that restaurant, I
thought he was just a waiter. He’s not a part of my life anymore, I swear.
He just . . .” I fold my arms together and drop my voice. “We both grew up
in abusive households. He saw my face and your hand and . . . he was just
worried for me. That’s all it was.”
Ryle brings his hands up and covers his mouth. I can hear the air
rushing through his fingers as he releases his breath. He stands up
straight, allowing himself a moment to soak in all I’ve just said.
“My turn,” he says.
He pushes off the car and takes the three steps toward me that
previously separated us. He puts both hands on my cheeks and looks me
dead in the eyes. “If you don’t want to be with me . . . please tell me right
now, Lily. Because when I saw you with him . . . that hurt. I never want to
feel that again. And if it hurts this much now, I’m terrified to think of what
it could do to me a year from now.”
I can feel the tears begin to stream down my cheeks. I place my hands
on top of his and shake my head. “I don’t want anyone else, Ryle. I only
want you.”
He forces the saddest smile I’ve ever seen on a human. He pulls me to
him and holds me there. I wrap my arms around him as tight as I can as he
presses his lips to the side of my head.
“I love you, Lily. God, I love you.”
I squeeze him tight, pressing a kiss to his shoulder. “I love you, too.”
I close my eyes and wish I could wash away the entire last two days.
Atlas is wrong about Ryle.
I just wish Atlas knew he was wrong.

---