A Broken Forever

by Megan Noelle

  “Okay,” he said before walking away. Stefan smiled and crossed the room. He stood in front of me, staring down into my face. I didn’t know what was on his mind, and I didn’t know if I wanted to know.

  “Now that that’s taken care of, why don’t we head out?”

  “Leave? And go where?”

  “You’ll love it—trust me.”

  My arms crossed over my chest as I prepared my stubborn self for an argument. “I’m not going anywhere, Stefan. I will stay right here and wait for my car, because with that kind of threat he’ll be done with my car within the hour. And I intend to get out of here as soon as it is finished.”

  Stefan mimicked my posture. “Your car will not be ready within an hour, beautiful girl.” He sighed playfully as his lips tweaked up into the smallest hint of a smile. “So you would rather stay here, having your source of nutrition solely be candy and bad coffee?”

  Nothing about that sounded appetizing, but I still nodded my head once. “It won’t be so bad.”

  Stefan adjusted his posture slightly, moving his hands to the waist of his jeans while his gaze seemed to intensify on me. “What have you had to eat today, Greyson?”

  Nothing. “It isn’t any of your business.”

  He stepped a foot forward closing the distance between us slightly. “Maybe eggs, or pancakes, or wait, did you have your favorite breakfast food?”

  “You don’t know my favorite breakfast food,” I challenged, taking a step backward.

  Stefan stepped closer once more. “Belgian waffles, bananas, walnuts and a little bit of whipped cream to top it off.”

  Why did this man have to have such an impeccable memory? Even just the thought of waffles made my very empty stomach growl at the reminder that there has been nothing of substance to fill it.

  His eyes focused on my traitor of a stomach, “It seems you might not be telling me the truth.”

  “I’m fine,” I lied.

  “Mhmm.” He nodded his head before leaning in closer to whisper in my ear, “I promise if you come with me I won’t tell anyone. If anyone asks I can just tell them you were yelling at me.” He stepped away, and I was happy to be able to breathe again without his intoxicating scent filling every sense I had.

  His finger made a cross over his heart. I didn’t answer right away, but a minute later I knew it was fruitless to deny I wanted to go. Not only was I starving, but for some frustrating and bizarre reason, I had to be near him. That thought alone frightened me while at the same time it seriously pissed me off. All this confusion was making me tired and especially hungry.

  “Fine, I’ll go, on one condition.”

  Stefan crossed his arms across his chest and nodded his head for me to continue. “Name it.”

  “I get to pick the place.”

  He looked around the room, as if he was trying to find an answer and make me wait just a little bit longer. Eventually his lips pulled into a full-on, absolutely beautiful Stefan grin. I had seen him smile and I had seen him smirk, but I had almost forgotten how incredibly special his grin was. My heart fluttered, warming at the sight while my lips spread into a matching grin that I had no control over.

  “Deal. As long as you let me guess it to see if I know what you’re thinking.”

  “And what do I get if you’re wrong?” He took another step closer, closing the space between us, his eyes alit with amusement as he threw an arm around my shoulders, pulled me into him and leaned his lips down to my ear.

  My eyes closed at the overwhelming sensation of his body against mine. I could hardly hear him whisper over my beating heart. “Trust me,” he breathed out. “I’m not wrong.”

  My attempt to pull away failed—horribly. Instead of removing his arm from around me, I somehow managed to lean into his body even more. I felt his hold tighten as my pulse beat even more rapidly. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stand the way every goose bump on my body was aware of the feel of his hard, toned arms curling around me. My eyes were on the verge of rolling into the back of my head, but I still managed to keep my legs from completely turning into jelly.

  “So, um…” I said, trying desperately to regain control of my overactive senses. “Are you going to, er… tell me where?”

  I tried to slink away, but was fruitless as he tightened his grip and began walking us toward the door. “Nope, I’ll just show you.”

  “Oh, well…”

  Nothing else came out as Stefan placed a single finger across my lips. The smirk in his eyes said he knew what he was doing, but I still sat here damn near hyperventilating as I held back the need to flick my tongue out and taste his skin, even if just for a second.

  “Shh…have faith, Greyson Rose. If I know anything in this world—it’s you.”

  My mind was a swirling tangled mess of emotions; the need to pull him to me and wrap my arms around him the way I once did, when we would see each other after a moment apart. While on the other hand I wanted to shove him away and lay a good open-palmed slap across his face for touching me. Neither happened though, and instead I mindlessly let Stefan walk us out to his sleek, shiny black car in the parking lot.

  Neither of us said a word in the car. As reluctant as I acted I didn’t doubt Stefan knew exactly where I wanted to go. Stefan kept his eyes unfailingly locked on the road and for some strange reason—I couldn’t look away from him.

  I watched the way the sun shined and reflected on his beautiful skin, highlighted the contours of his face, brushing against the natural colors in his hair. The content and peaceful look upon his demeanor drew me in and made it impossible to see anything else. Had it really been six years since the last time I had been able to just stare at him? It didn’t matter where we were; whether it be lying together in bed, on the couch, or driving in the car—I loved watching him. My heart fluttered while my body calmed as I stared into the face of this incredibly beautiful person. It wasn’t just his face or his body that called to me—it was his heart, his stunning and slightly broken soul.

  There had always been a side to Stefan that no one else saw—only me. And gazing into his eyes reminded me that every single day was a truly remarkable miracle that it was me that he wanted.

  Remembering those things and wondering why things happened the way they had, the memories only had a way of crushing my heart. It wasn’t right to keep looking and feeling things like this. What we had was…wonderful. But those days were more than over, I ached to let them go, and truthfully—I wanted to forget what they meant. Memories only had a way of torturing my soul and it was already seriously battered. If I didn’t find a way to move away from all of this, I had no doubt I would only open a world of pain that was tightly locked away in the deepest place in my heart.

  But how do you say goodbye when you never imagined letting them go?

  As if reading my thoughts, Stefan turned to me with a soft smile that hardly reached his sorrow-filled eyes. His hand reached out and gave mine a comforting squeeze. How was it possible that in a moment of silence and unspoken thoughts he always knew just what I was feeling and exactly what I needed?

  “We’re almost there,” the low melodic rumble of his voice filled the car.

  “Okay,” I said with a nod as I straightened in my seat, reluctantly turning to face outside of the window. I hated the way the empty space between us filled with uncomfortable silence, but I was in no position to lighten the mood.

  Unsurprisingly, minutes later Stefan pulled into the parking lot of our absolute favorite restaurant, Boston Burger Company. He turned off the car and shifted his body around to face me.

  “So, how’d I do?” His head nodded toward the front doors.

  I smiled at the doors and looked back into those hauntingly beautiful blue eyes. “You were right.”

  We went inside, got a booth in the back, and the young hostess gave us our menus. She stared at Stefan ceaselessly as she babbled something about the waitress coming over to the table. After batting her lashes a few too many times she stepped away
. I watched her walk off, and when I turned my gaze back to Stefan he was staring at me. With an arm draped across the back of the booth and amusement in his eyes, I tried to ignore the way my blood sizzled at his attention.

  “So…” he started, but stopped as the waitress appeared at the table.

  “Hi there, I’m Cami, and I’ll be serving you today,” she said with no hesitation as she eyed Stefan up and down. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  Stefan spoke up before I could even think what I wanted. “Two Samuel Adams, and we’re actually ready to order.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “I haven’t even had a chance to look through the menu,” I added, only making a Cheshire-like grin spread over his lips.

  “Do you really need to look?” he challenged.

  “Maybe I do,” I insisted.

  He shifted forward, placing his elbows on the table his face slowly inched closer to me. Before I knew it, I was moving in toward him.

  “You didn’t pick this restaurant because you wanted a salad, Greyson Rose. There was only one meal we ever used to get when we were here. So you can’t tell me you selected this place to change traditions.”

  His eyes held me in their grasp as he watched every muscle of my face for the slightest twitch to prove him right.

  “Fine, you’re right…again.”

  The corner of his lips quirked up as he handed Cami the menus. “We’re going to take two Mac Attack burgers, medium well, waffle fries and seasoned sour cream.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him, letting him know that he was forgetting one thing. He grinned at me and turned his attention back to Cami. “Make that extra seasoned sour cream.”

  My head nodded a single time in approval, Stefan winked as Cami read back our orders.

  “Sounds perfect,” he replied, his eyes never leaving mine.

  “I’ll put that in the computer and be back with your beer.” Judging by the tone change in her voice, she was obviously giving up the battle for Stefan’s affection.

  When Cami was out of sight Stefan leaned back against his seat, unbuttoning the single button of his sports blazer.

  “So why here, Greyson Rose?”

  I figured he would ask that question, but I still hoped he wouldn’t. “What do you mean?” I asked simply to give myself a little bit of time before I had to answer.

  He cocked his eyebrow, not buying my ignorance for one second. “Don’t play dumb, Grey. Why here?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and looked everyone around the booth and the table in front of me, anything to avoid his penetrating gaze. “I don’t know, I was just craving a mac and cheese burger, I guess.”

  His head bobbed up and down. “When was the last time you came here?”

  “It’s been a while,” I admitted.

  “Me too,” he added. “Not since we were last here together.”

  Something about that made me heart tighten. Was it a coincidence that in the past six or so years the both of us avoided the places that were special to us? I wasn’t sure, but the way the thought comforted me was enough to believe it may be true.

  A single dry chuckle made its way from my chest. I looked up to meet his eyes and muttered, “Memories.”

  With his eyes holding mine he nodded, “Indeed.”

  Throughout the remainder of our meal I laughed so hard my belly hurt and smiled so much my cheeks were sore. And when I stopped to think about it, I could hardly believe Stefan Harrison was sitting across from me. Less than a week ago he felt like nothing but a faint memory, but now here we were—it was so surreal. One part of me wanted to hold this moment close to my heart, but my head was screaming at me to back away.

  There would always be something in me that would be drawn to him. It had been like that since the first day I met him. Never before had I ditched a class until Stefan, and to this day I still didn’t know what made me do it. I guess maybe even then my heart knew he was meant for more in my life. I wondered if at that point destiny knew everything we would go through. Did it know the pain he would cause me by simply not being there? Was I always meant to hurt by the one person that promised and vowed not to?

  I found myself staring into his captivating blues, his smile lighting them up so magnificently I couldn’t resist getting lost in a trip down memory lane.

  “You’re doing so well this year, Grey. Just don’t take on such a heavy course load this semester. Too many times I have seen students lose their steam because they thought they could do it all.” I smiled and listened to my favorite teacher, Mrs. Lawrence, go on about things I already knew. I knew what I could handle, I may be young but that didn’t mean I couldn’t determine for myself how many classes I should take on.

  My eyes darted to the wall clock, and I registered there was four minutes before my next class would start. With the crazy hall traffic and an inevitable stop to my locker, there was no way I was going to make it. I stood, slinging my bag onto my shoulder and loading the books into my arms that wouldn’t fit into my backpack.

  “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said in hopes that she would wipe the concern from her face and let me be on my way.

  “Would you consider meeting with a guidance counselor about your excessive work load?”

  I glanced back to the clock—three minutes. “Uh huh.” She let out a laugh and shook her head.

  “Alright, Grey, you’re excused. Go make a run for it to your next class. Would you like a note?” I heard her question, but I was already out the door and wasn’t going to stop to go back. I would just skip the locker and hope the halls were clearing up.

  Going from the first floor to the third was never an easy feat, but I managed to make good time. Well, that is until I rounded the second to last corner and slammed into something that definitely shouldn’t have been there. I didn’t merely stumble backwards, I completely fell onto my ass with my books nearly crushing me. My first thought was that I was never going to be to class on time now, but my second thought…well, it was filled with him. About a foot from me, crouching down to scoop my books into his arms was a wide, mischievous smile and eyes that danced with amusement.

  “I’m so sorry about this. Are you hurt?”

  He spoke in a manner that made me stop my struggle to right my backpack over my shoulder. There was no way he went to this school, I would have remembered, or at the very least heard about him. This enigma of a man looked like he had a secret, and for the first time in my years in this high school I could care less about getting to class on time. He placed my books on the ground in a pile and reached his hands down to me. He locked them around the back of my arms and lifted me to my feet.

  “Well, you don’t look it at least,” he said with those absolutely impeccable blue eyes focused on me.

  Now, I’ve seen blue eyes in people all my life, but none could hold a candle to his. It was as if every beautiful shade of blue added a fleck of color to the iris. Dark blues, angelic soft coloring, and even more, they changed as he stared. The amusement made his eyes shine with the sapphire, midnight and navy shades, but as his amusement became concern, a softer shade of azure took over. It hadn’t occurred to me until the loud chime of the bell rang throughout the halls that I had just been staring into his eyes.

  How embarrassing! I have never, ever done that before. Maybe I hit my head when I fell? That was about the only thing that came to mind of why I would stare at him this way without blinking.

  “Are you not answering me on purpose?” He crossed his arms over his chest. The toned, tanned muscle of his forearms stood out against his white sweatshirt.

  “Huh?” Brilliant—win him over with your intelligence. I have a 4.0 GPA and all I can manage is the word ‘huh.’ Please let something large fall on my head. I was never going to live this down.

  A wickedly charming smile revealed the whites of his teeth. “Am I distracting you from something?”

  “Um,” Think Grey—you can do this! “No.” Way to go with a solid answer—shit! “Y
es!”

  He raised an eyebrow and scanned those magnificent eyes along my figure to the floor where my books sat between us as a reminder of where I should be.

  “Class,” I finally got out. “I need to get to class, but no, I’m not hurt,” I answered, remembering his earlier questions.

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “That I need to get to class?” I found myself asking. Why I couldn’t just pick up my stuff and walk away was a mystery I was still struggling to grasp.

  “No, that you weren’t hurt by slamming into me.”

  “Oh, yeah. Did I hurt you?” He let out a slow enchanting chuckle as he shook his head from side-to-side. A shaggy, perfectly unkempt head of dark hair with golden tones caught hold of the sun, and I swear between the gold in his hair, blues of his eyes and that charming smile—I was going to forget everything I’ve ever learned.

  “I’m alright, sweets; don’t you worry about me.”

  My heart skipped a beat, literally. I’ve read that horribly cheesy line in more books than I could count, but now here I was—feeling it, experiencing it, and loving it. The butterflies in my stomach fluttered anxiously and my cheeks reddened under the intensity of his gaze.

  “Good, well, I need to go to class.”

  “So you have mentioned, yet here you stand.” He was toying with me and I knew it. It should have irritated me that someone so nonchalant about everything could make me so—loopy. In a matter of minutes, I might add.

  “You’re right. Well, I’ll be going now.” I leaned over, picked up my books and took two steps to walk away when he spoke up.

  “Or you don’t have to.”

  ‘Just keep walking’ was the mantra swimming through my skull as I turned back around to him.

  “But I have class.” His soft red lips twitched up in a smile as I once again repeated myself. Before he could say another word I added, “Don’t you?”