Elliot's father is a surprisingly reasonable man. I was fully prepared for him to murder me, but he didn't. His major concern is for her, and I agree one hundred percent. That's why I know what I need to do. I can't let this relationship ruin her future. No matter how much I love her—how much I've always loved her, in order to prove that I need to let her go. I just haven't quite worked up the courage to do it yet.

Ollie texted me and said he was coming over to help me pack. That was a couple hours ago, and due to the lack of things I actually have, I'm almost finished. I crack open another beer just as a knock comes at my door. Before I can take a step to answer it, Oliver peeks his head in.

"Oh, good," he says with a smirk. "You're still alive."

My eyes narrow. "Ha-ha, asshole. You're very funny."

He shrugs, closing the door behind him. "I'd like to think so." He walks over to the kitchen and sets a six pack on the counter. "Sorry I'm late. Family meeting ran over."

I take another drink. "You have those often?"

Oliver laughs, cracking a beer open for himself. "Yeah, like never. I've haven't seen my dad that pissed since he caught me drag racing his mustang across Cherry Bridge."

I smile. I remember that night. Cooper Thomas bet Ollie his car was faster—and the prize? The heart of Farrah Briggs, resident lover of all things dangerous and a smoking body to go with it. Long story short— Ollie won, and they dated for a magical two weeks.

Oliver takes a seat on the barstool and twirls his bottle between his hands. "I don't necessarily think this will be a bad thing. A little distance is good for a relationship."

I scoff, almost spitting out a mouthful of beer. "How would you know what is good for a relationship? I think your longest one lasted about a month."

"It was six weeks and that wasn't my fault," he argues pointing his finger at me.

"Uh huh, I'm sure it wasn't." I set my beer down and continue shoving random items into a box. "I really don't want your father to hate me."

Oliver smirks. "He doesn't hate you, but you have to admit he took the whole situation rather well. I've done a lot of shady shit over the years, but Elliot is like his pride and joy. The one who is destined to do great things." His smile fades as he takes another drink. "He's pretty much given up on that dream when it comes to me."

"Come on, man. You're not that bad."

Oliver raises an eyebrow, and I laugh.

"I'm serious. Sure, you like to dick off a lot, but you get shit done when you need to."

He ignores my comment and takes another drink, staring over my shoulder. "Elliot's really upset."

My heart sinks when he says that. The last thing I want to do is hurt her more when she's already so messed up over this. Oliver senses the weirdness in my mood and smirks at me.

"Don't worry, brother. My dad's cool. This whole thing will blow over in no time."

I drop a box to the floor with a thud and lean against the counter. "I'm going to break up with her."

Oliver's eyes widen. "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly." He stands up from the stool. "You mean to tell me that after everything you two put me through over these past couple months, you're just done?"

I nod. I also kind of want to laugh. Leave it to Ollie to somehow take my tragic break-up personal.

"You don't have an explanation for that?"

I sigh heavily. "You were right. She's young and she needs to be with someone her own age. Someone who can give her what she needs."

Oliver rolls his eyes. "What? Like Judah?" He laughs, reaching for his beer again. "You nearly killed the guy and now you want her to be with him?"

"It doesn't have to be Judah. It can be anyone, but you have to admit he has changed, and he really, truly loves her. That's what she needs."

Oliver's face falls. "You love her, too."

I give him a sad smile. "That's why I have to let her go."

***

Later that night, I tilt back my third shot of whiskey. As soon as it slides past my teeth, I can feel the burn all the way down. It doesn't numb my heart though. That's a pain that may never go away.

I started looking for jobs far away before this all started. I didn't give it much thought until I got a call last week. At the time Elliot and I were in a good place, but something told me to take the phone interview when they offered it to me. I still didn't accept the position, but I'm planning on it. After talking to Elliot's dad, I realized that maybe I am bad for her. She's about to go off to college and start living her life for the first time. I've already experienced all of those things. I don't want her to worry about what she's doing and how it might affect me. As much as I love her, I can't be the one to take that away from her.

The sun is just starting to set when I see Elliot hobbling over to the guest house in her knee brace. She's supposed to be on crutches for at least a week, but as usual, she's too stubborn to listen. I move from my seat on the couch and open the door for her, reaching my arm out for her to balance on.

She smiles and kisses me instead. "I'm fine, Hunter. This isn't the first time I sprained something." She hops over to the barstool and sits down. "See, all by myself."

I frown. "You need to listen to the doctors."

She rolls her eyes before looking around the room. "It's so empty in here. I'm sure it won't be long before Ollie fills it with beer posters and sorority girls again."

When I don't laugh, her eyebrows pull in. "It won't be so bad. You'll still see me all the time."

She can see it in my face, because she braces her hand on the counter and stands. "Hunter, what is going on?"

I cringe as she balances on one leg. "Maybe you should sit back down."

Defiantly, she crosses her arms and stands perfectly straight. Her eyes narrow. "Tell me."

I shake my head, my words already getting caught in my throat. "I don't know how."

She slowly walks over to me and places her hand on my chest. "I think you know by now that you can tell me anything. Whatever it is, we'll get through it—together."

She smiles on the last word, and all I want to do is break down. My heart starts to pound and my stomach knots tighter. After I say what I need to say, we won't be together. There won't be an 'us' anymore. I'm not even sure if we can be friends after this. It's almost impossible to love someone that much and then go back to being platonic. Judah can attest to that I'm sure.

Gently, I take her hand and lead her to the couch. She sits next to me without objection, and I continue to hold onto her hand for dear life. At any moment she's going to pull it away from me and I may never get to it back again.

I take a deep breath. "Elle, I'm leaving at the end of the semester."

Her face remains stoic, but I can see the wheels turning in her head.

"Leaving? Where are you going?"

I squeeze her hand a little tighter. "I got a job offer in Florida and I think—or I know, it's something I should do."

My attempt at keeping my tone light is already faltering, even I can hear the shakiness in my voice.

She pulls her hand back, and my heart beats double time. Her arms cross over her chest, her expression dumbfounded. "So, you're leaving me?"

"I'll never be able to leave you if I stay here."

Her eyes widen. "Are you being serious? You're breaking up with me now?"

She stands up before I can stop her. I try to pull her back down beside me, but she yanks away.

With a sigh, I motion back to the couch. "Will you sit down baby, please. You'll hurt yourself."

Her dark eyes glare, and she points her finger toward me. "Don't speak to me like that. Don't be cute with me if you don't even give a shit about how I'm feeling."

"Elliot—"

She puts her hand up. "Just stop talking for a minute." She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, there's wetness in the corners. "This past year has been hard, I won't deny that, but I think it made us stronger. We never let anyone tell us what we could or couldn't be. We loved each other, and we didn't care about anything else." She pauses and looks over at me as a tear falls. "I don't care about anything else."

"But you should. You need to think about your future. You're so young—"

Elliot wipes under her eye and laughs bitterly. "Oh, we're back to me being too immature to handle a relationship with you." She steps closer, almost leaning over me. "Haven't I proven that I'm in this as much as you are, if not more?"

"Yes, but—"

"But, what?" she interrupts again, throwing her arms up.

I stand to face her and place my hands on her shoulders. "Will you let me explain, please?"

She sniffs, hardening her expression. "What is there to explain? You don't love me anymore."

I shake my head immediately. "That's not true. Of course I love you, I just..." my voice trails off, and I run my hand through my hair. The only way I'm going to get her to walk away is to lie. "I just can't do this anymore. The secrets, the lies. It's not what I want, and you shouldn't either."

"What I want is you." Her voice is almost as broken as my heart right now.

Every part of me is screaming to tell her I want her too. Seeing the hurt in her eyes is ripping every bit of my heart out of my chest. It seems so wrong to be doing this to her, but I have hope that one day she'll understand. I want Elliot more than anything but holding onto her is selfish.

"I'm sorry, Elliot." I reach for her again, and she shoves me back. I choke down another wave of emotion. "Maybe in a couple years when you're done with college, things could be different. You'll know what you want to do—what you want to be."

I'm stuttering, but I can't stand the way she's looking at me right now. This already feels like a mistake, and she's close enough I can pull her back to me. I can still tell her I love her more than anything and I'll never leave her.

But I don't.

Her sadness turns to anger. "I'm not stupid enough to believe you actually mean that. You and I both know if we break up now that will be it. We won't come back to each other after spending years apart and pick up where we left off." Her eyes lock on mine. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't be able to leave no matter what the circumstance."

This time when I reach for her hand, she lets me hold it. I close both of my hands around hers, feeling the softness of her skin for potentially the last time. That thought alone guts me. It tears me open from the inside out. I don't want to ever let go.

"I'm doing this because I love you."

Elliot sniffs and slowly pulls her hand from mine. She runs it through her hair, brushing the long waves behind her shoulder with a bitter laugh. "Well, excuse me if that doesn't make me feel any better. You made it very clear before this all started what the risks were—we both knew." She shakes her head again. "I guess I was the only one who was willing to make that sacrifice."

When she turns to walk away from me, it takes everything inside of me not to run after her, to tell her she's wrong—but I can't. If I take one step outside that door, I'll hold onto something I never should have gone after in the first place.

***

Monday at school everyone swarms Elliot as she limps down the hallway. She still insists on walking without her crutches even though the doctor said she may need them for a couple of days. The girl is determined, and if it's something she wants it's almost impossible to talk her out of it.

I do my best not to stare at her for too long, but I can't help it. Not only is she the only person I want to look at, but with her injury I worry for her. The last thing I want is for her to cause further damage by doing too much too soon.

Even though I'm not looking directly at her anymore, I can still feel her eyes on me as she walks past me into my classroom. I cast mine down to my desk, unable to see the pain in hers.

As I take my spot at the front of the room, she dips her head and pretends to be engrossed in her notes. I clear my throat as the chatter begins to die down. "Okay everyone, I know it's getting close to the end of the year and you all are very excited to get out of here." I pause for a few excited cheers. It makes me smile, too. "Yeah, I know how you feel. It wasn't too long ago I was here myself, but we still have work to do." A series of groans echo, and I laugh.

"It's not too bad I promise." I reach behind me and pull out a stack of papers. "For our last big assignment, we'll do a group project. You can work with a couple of people or in pairs, it doesn't matter to me."

Holden Parker immediately nudges Elliot from behind. "Hey girl, we got this?"

He holds his fist out, and she bumps hers against it with a smile. "Yeah, we got this."

The casual way she interacts with him gets under my skin. I clench my teeth at the stupidity I must have for suggesting partners. Of course she would pair up with a football player. I always see him paling around with the group of guys that Judah hangs with when he comes home.

"All right," I say almost too loudly as I begin to pass the papers back the rows. "Here is the assignment. Put your names at the top." My eyes meet hers briefly before I force myself to tear them away. "You can have the rest of the period to start on it."

Casually, I stroll through the rows like I'm being observant, but I'm actually just trying to hear what they're saying. Elliot gives me a sideways glance when I linger too long next to her desk.

"Okay," Holden says. "I have baseball now, but after practice I can stop by later this week, and I'm sure we can bang this out real quick." He gives her a crooked smile, and I clench my fist. Bang this out? I don't like his choice of words.

Elliot flips her hair over her shoulder and continues to write on the paper. "Sure, sounds good. I'm not allowed to run until next week at the earliest, so I should have my evenings open." She says the last part loud enough to make a point, and my jaw ticks.

I walk back up to the front of the classroom before I cause a scene. My ability to control myself when it comes to her hasn't proven to be too reliable. I have to find a way to fight through this. There's only three months left until graduation, and I already want to throw the flag. Three months and I won't have to see her smile in the hallways, or hear her laughter travel all the way to my desk. No amount of distance can erase my memories of her. Those will haunt me until my last breath.