"Hey, Ollie, here to do inventory?" Marley asks cheekily.

She's still holding on to me and her embrace feels more protective and defensive as Oliver makes his way over to us.

"It's Oliver, Marley. You know that. Camden, can I speak to you privately?"

"No thanks, I think I'm going to hang out with Marley a while longer. Actually, Mar, is your couch open? I need a place to crash tonight."

I look Oliver straight in the eyes as I say it and smile sweetly at him.

"Of course, babe. We always have room for you."

"Absolutely not. Camden, I'm not entertaining this. I need to speak to you," he says harshly.

I raise my eyebrow at him, refusing to move from my seat.

"Please," he adds on softly.

I let out a heavy sigh and slowly get up from my chair.

"I'll be out front," I tell him, my voice curt.

I say goodbye to Marley with promises to call her later and head out the front door. One of the security guards follows me out, not that I'm surprised. The wind whips my hair around and I hug my jacket tightly around me.

Oliver walks out shortly after and stands beside me silently.

"What? You have something to say, say it. Quickly."

"I love you," he responds quietly.

My brain short circuits as I try to process what he's saying, and all I can do is stare up at him blankly.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted in my office," he continues. "I just panicked. You are the absolute most important thing to me and I realized today that I couldn't push you away anymore. It scared me."

"So your reaction was to... push me away again?"

He takes in a shaky breath and hands me his coat. I don't even realize I'm shivering until he wraps it around my shoulders. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes and tries several times to light one, but the wind keeps snuffing it out. I cup my hands in front of it, still numb, still too confused to even think about the fact that I'm enabling his bad habit.

I continue to stare up at him, urging him to explain with my eyes.

"I've been keeping you at an arm's length my whole life, Cam. I knew what I was getting into when I started working for our parents and I wanted to protect you from all of it. You're the only person I give a shit about and the thought of losing you scares me shitless. I thought I was doing the right thing, keeping my distance, but now I realize that's only causing me to lose you anyways."

He looks down at me, his eyes pleading with me, full of desperation. He looks so vulnerable, like when he almost cried while I was in the hospital. This was raw emotion. This was Oliver laying his heart out on the table for me.

I exhale deeply and bite my lip. Everything he's saying is exactly what I've wanted to hear from him since we were stupid, naive teenagers. Oliver loves me. This should be the best moment of my life, but I'm still not convinced the words he's saying are true.

His actions today don't line up with his words at all and I need answers.

"So why did you shut down and turn away from me in the office earlier? Why did you have fucking Lily in there with you, all alone, just a few hours later?"

"Because I felt guilty," he admits with a shrug.

I step away from him with a bitter laugh. He reaches out for me and tries to pull me back to him, but I snatch my arm from his grip.

"I didn't mean it like that," he calls to me.

He runs his hand through his hair roughly and takes a long drag of his cigarette. He looks helpless and it pissed me off more.

"So how did you fucking mean it, Oliver? Enlighten me!" I snap.

"I just meant that if I was going to finally let myself admit that I love you and be with you, I wanted to do it right. I've been ignoring Lily pretty much since you've been back and I wanted to end things with her properly. I wanted to make sure there were no loose ends to fuck things up between us and I felt like I owed her a proper explanation."

"I don't know, Oliver," I whisper.

"Please, Cammie," he begs. "I know I've been a complete ass, but let me prove it to you. I only want you, I don't care about anything else. I love you."

His confession makes my heart race and I start to feel light-headed. Can he really be the guy I fell in love with again?

"I want to believe you. But I won't put up with this hot and cold bullshit anymore, not even from you, Oliver. I know you want to protect me, but I've already told you a thousand times that you don't need to."

"I know, I know. And I can't promise I won't be an overprotective asshole, especially with Jasper still out there, but I can promise I won't let it get in the way of being with you ever again."

I beam at him and grab his hand. I've wanted this boy for so long and I'm not going to let him go now.

"Okay. I'm giving you a chance, but you better work for it," I tell him.

He nods at me and smiles as he wraps his arms around me.

"I will. I love you, Cam."