Chapter 21
708words
I was a ghost haunting the streets of Boston for a whole week.
I had sold everything. My championship ring from 2022 went to a pawn shop in Queens for a fraction of its value. My car was repossessed. I used the cash to buy a one-way ticket and a cheap motel room on the outskirts of the city.
I stood outside the Titans' training facility, shivering in the wind. I didn't have a coat. I had left it in the foreclosed house.
I looked like a beggar. People walked past me, giving me a wide berth. A few looked twice, thinking they recognized me, then shook their heads. No, that can't be Liam Sterling. That guy looks like a junkie.
I waited.
I knew her schedule. I knew she arrived at 8:00 AM sharp.
At 8:15 AM, a black Range Rover pulled up to the security gate.
I ran.
"Elena!" I shouted, rushing toward the car. "Elena, stop!"
The security guards were on me instantly. Two massive men tackled me to the pavement before I could get within ten feet of the vehicle.
"Get off me!" I struggled, scraping my face against the concrete. "I need to tell her! She needs to know!"
The window of the Range Rover rolled down.
Noah Blackwood sat in the driver's seat, looking at me with pure disgust. Beside him, Elena looked out. She wore oversized sunglasses, but I could see her face. She looked healthy. Glowing.
"Let him up," Elena said softly.
The guards hesitated, then hauled me to my feet. I stood there, panting, bleeding from my lip, clutching the dirty blue scarf in my hand.
"Elena," I wheezed, stumbling forward. "I found it. The scarf. The journal."
Elena stiffened. She lowered her sunglasses. Her eyes were cool, unreadable.
"I know it was you," I choked out, tears mixing with the grime on my face. "In Minnesota. The blizzard. You saved me. You dragged me ten miles. It wasn't Sophia. It was you."
I waited for the reaction. I waited for her to cry, to realize that now that I knew, everything would be different. I waited for the bond of that night to pull us back together.
Elena stared at me. Then, she shrugged.
"Yes," she said simply. "It was me. So what?"
I blinked, stunned. "So what? Elena, you saved my life! I owe you everything! I... I didn't know. If I had known..."
"If you had known, you would have loved me?" Elena finished for me, her voice dripping with pity. "Liam, love isn't a transaction. You don't love someone because they saved you. You love them because you see them. You never saw me."
"I see you now!" I fell to my knees on the sidewalk. "I see you, El. I swear. I'm crazy without you. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I sold my ring to get here. Look at me! I have nothing!"
"You have exactly what you gave," Noah said, his voice like a gavel striking a block.
"Shut up, Blackwood!" I screamed at him, then turned back to Elena, holding up the scarf like an offering. "I remember now. You held me. You said you wouldn't let go. Please, El. Don't let go now. I'll do anything. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."
Elena looked at the scarf. For a second, I saw a flicker of sadness in her eyes. Not for me, but for the girl who had knitted it.
"That girl is dead, Liam," she said. "You killed her in a car accident on Route 9."
She pressed the button to roll up the window.
"No! Elena! Don't leave me!" I lunged for the car, grabbing the door handle.
Noah floored the gas. The car jerked forward, tearing out of my grip. I fell face-first onto the asphalt.
I watched the taillights disappear around the corner.
I lay there, clutching the scarf, sobbing into the dirt. I was desperate. I was broken. But I wasn't done.
I couldn't be done. She was the only thing keeping me tethered to reality. If I let her go, I would fall into the abyss.
I had to try one more time. Just one more.
