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^^ Dave Franco as Travis ^^ 

Crys' POV

This has got to be a dream.

How the hell did he manage find me, if we only just spoke? I know I didn't leave anything on my phone he could have used, even my friends from my old college don't know which college I transferred to either.

This just doesn't make any sense.

Looking at him now, he barely seems like the same man from six months ago. He's shaved his face and gotten a haircut, those eyes no longer hold aggression when they look at me, and he's even wearing clean and neat clothing.

He looks like the man I fell in love with in the first place. 

"Hey Crissy." His voice breaks me from my rampant thoughts. 

"How... How the hell did you find me?" I shock myself by asking him. My anger temporarily in control in that moment, until my anxiety shows its ugly head.

"I didn't mean to." He says quietly. Stepping towards me, only to surprisingly stop when I hold my hand up to him. 

I can't have him close to me right now, his distance is one of the things keeping me sane. I really wish I had Harv here with me right now, he's always been my safety net in stressful times.

"What do you mean? How did you get my phone number?" I breathe out the anger almost gone completely, as hopelessness starts to come forward through my body. 

Strangely, I'm not as scared as I thought I would be when I met with him again. Though I don't know if it's because we're at a party full of people I can scream for their attention, or if it's because I can't see that menacing look in his eyes he used to carry. Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining for the moment.

"I got your number off of Katy. As far as finding you goes, I swear I'm not here for you." He explains, leaning back against the wooden railing around the gazebo. 

I mimic his actions on the opposite side, taking in the information he's giving me. This all just feels like way too much to take in, seeing him and hearing from him so suddenly is making my mind race a million miles an hour.

"Crissy, I really do just want to talk to you. I'm not here to do you any harm, I promise." 

"Promise? That's rich." I scoff before realising that I said that outloud. 

I expect to see anger or even annoyance in his eyes after my statement, but all I see his regret and sadness. I watch his eyes and face while he's here with me, they've always been the best way to know what mood he's in. 

"I know. How I treated you was... is unforgivable. But all I ask for is five minutes to talk, please?" He pleads. 

I find myself staring at him again, for what must be the tenth time already since seeing him. He just doesn't seem like the same person I left behind, seemingly closer to his old self than before. I could walk away from today and never see him again in my lifetime, and be happy knowing he's the better version of himself again.

"Fine, but first I want to know how come you're here, if you're not stalking me?" I ask, causing him to smile at me before realising I'm not joking.

"That's fair enough. I'm staying with my cousin for new years, because I'm trying to break away from my old friends back at college." He tells me, though I can't know if it's true since I never met his extended family.

"Okay, makes sense I guess." I mumble, trying to think about people who I've seen at college that look similar to him.

An arm wrapping around my waist breaks me from my thoughts, making me jump slightly at the thought that he's actually touching me. But when I look up, I'm happy to see Harv's face smiling back down at me.

"I was wondering where you went off to, Scar said you were still in the garden when she came back." He still smiling down at me, causing one of my own to appear. 

"Who's this guy?" Travis' voice interrupts. 

"U-Umm...-" I start, unsure of how he'll react to the situation.

"The name's Harvey, who are you?"  He interrupts, holding me slightly closer. 

"Travis." He answers. As soon as the name leaves his lips, I feel Harv tense beside me. "If you don't mind, we were just about to have a private conversation." 

Harv looks down at me with a mixture of confusion and hurt in his eyes, making me nervous for how this will go with both of them here. 

"Is this who I think it is?" He says quietly in my ear, causing a shiver to slightly flutter through me. As soon as I nod my head his body jolts towards Travis, only stopping because I'm holding him with me.

"We were just talking, nothing more." I whisper to him, holding onto his upper arm tightly. 

I really don't want him to leave.

"I promise to give her back in one piece in a few minutes, so can you please leave us until then?" Travis asks, surprising me that he's actually still calm. 

"I'd feel better if he stays, if I'm being honest Travis." I tell him, because I already feel safer with Harv by my side.

Travis looks between us, eyes roaming over our close proximity and Harv's hand still wrapped around me. After a minute, he sighs before nodding in agreement.

"Okay, if it makes this better for you." 

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask curiously.

"After you left that night, I woke up to the apartment empty and all your things gone. I remembered what happened the night before between us, and my guilt set in pretty quickly and I realised you had run away from me." He holds a hand up when I'm about to interrupt him. 

"Yes, you had every reason to leave that night." He gives me a sad smile. "At first I thought you just went to stay at a hotel, but when I tried to call and your phone was saying it had been disconnected, I started to really worry. Calling all of our friends trying to find you resulted in that spitfire, Brit, tearing me a new one. While she yelled at me, she told me that it's all my fault that you ran away and that she doesn't even know where you went because you didn't want to risk seeing me again." His head dropping down, giving me a small moment to feel happy that she went off at him. 

"You can't have been that surprised." Harv states, making us both look up at him. 

"I take it he knows?" Travis asks awkwardly, already knowing my answer before I nod at him. 

"I was shocked she actually did it, but it was an eye opener too. I hate that you felt like you had to run away from me, that I was that bad where it was really the best thing for you to do. But it also worked out to be the best thing you could do, I was slowly killing you back then." His posture slouched as he continues talking, his face a mixture of sadness and remorse.

"I really don't know what to say." I tell him quietly, and it's the honest truth. 

I have no clue what to say to him, I was expecting him to be furious the moment we met each other again, unloading all of my hate and resentment onto him. But here he is looking better than ever, trying to make some form of peace between us.

"You don't have to say anything, but I just wanted to say that I'm beyond sorry for the way I was to you. You had every right to have me arrested, or hospitalise me in retaliation, but you didn't. You're the kindest person I've ever met, and I almost destroyed that with my behaviour. I have no excuse to give you for any of it, but I needed to be able to at least tell you just how sorry I am."

"Why now?" Harv's voice asks after a few minutes of silence between us. After getting confused looks from both Travis and I, he elaborates. "Why are you trying to make things right now? Why not when she first left?" 

"Ah. Well, when she first left, I went through a bit of a drinking binge. One of my buddies tried cheering me up by spouting that 'you're better of without her' shit. That only resulted in me getting in a fight with him though, to which he put me on my arse while telling me that it's no wonder you left me." He looks back up at me with sadness in his eyes, still leaning on the opposite side of the gazebo thankfully.

"It was a wake up that came too little too late, but I took it none the less. I called a domestic violence hotline, explaining my own behaviour and telling them I wanted to get help. They advised me of steps I can take, as well as going to a group session for people that were instigators of domestic violence. It was a real eye opener, showing me if I didn't do more, I could end up like some of those people. A lot had gone to jail already for the things they had done too, I didn't want that to be my life." He shakes his head, like he's remembering it all.

"Since that hotline call, I've been to the group session as well as weekly one on one sessions. I really wished to make things right, but I knew that you'd likely never want to talk to me again. My therapist told me I could always try to make contact with you, but not to push you. That you had every right not to want to hear from me. That's why when you told me not to call, I tried to just text instead. Seeing you here isn't what I had planned, it was pure dumb luck, I swear it." He pleads for me to believe him. 

When he's done talking, I just stand there staring at him wide eyed. He actually got help. He's not just talking shit like I half expected him to, he went to therapy sessions and sought after ways to stop the way he was behaving. 

As much as I wish he did that before things got so bad between us, I'm strangely happy that he at least did it.

"I'm really happy for you, Travis." I tell him honestly.

Apparently surprising both men with my words. Travis glances across at me with a look of disbelief across his face, Harv's face not looking too much different.

"I'm being serious, but I can't forgive you yet. One day I might, but that isn't today. I'm really happy that you have bettered yourself though, because you are a great person when you have yourself together." I try to smile over at him, but the caution still flowing through me limits how much I can.

"Thanks Crystal. Honestly, I'm just glad to see you're doing okay, and that you've found someone who treats you well, I hope." He says, eyeing Harv up and down.

"Certainly better than you ever did." Harv mutters in annoyance.

"Right, well I'll let you go enjoy the party. I might call it a night, at least you won't have to worry about running into me then." He smiles, walking towards the gazebo exit.

"Wait, who's your cousin?" I ask, remembering that he knows someone here.

"Oh, I don't know if you know him, but his names Parker Chaplin." He tells us, causing Harv and I to tense at his words.

"That really shouldn't be a surprise." Harv says first.

"Yeah, I'm going to guess he's a dick. He has been since birth sadly." Travis chuckles. "I promise I'm not like him, I can actually see my own faults for one." 

"Ah huh, well, just know I hate your cousin.... and you." Harv tells him casually. 

Pulling me closer to his warm body, I take comfort in this not turning out so much worse than it could have. I don't feel safe, but I don't feel like I'm in immediate danger either. 

"Well, happy new year Crystal. I'll leave you alone now, though if you ever need anything just call or text me." He offers, knowing it'd never happen.

Watching as he walks away, I let out a breath I barely noticed I was holding in as he walked by us. As soon as he's out of sight, I wrap my arms around Harv's neck, holding him so close to me that our bodies are pressed together. 

I just stay that way, wrapped in his arm in a protective hold. Taking in his warmth, his unique scent, and his comforting presence that reminds me I'm safe and unharmed. Leaning up to gently kiss his smooth lips, I hope I'm showing just how grateful for him I am. 

The scary thing is that this feels like it's becoming so much more between us than it was before. I'm starting to struggle with ever picturing him out of my life, and that terrifies me. I'm so tempted to just give in to everything I feel, but fear of scaring him away stops me. 

I think I'm starting to fall hard for this man, and all I want is for him to catch me.

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This chapter wasn't quite as good as I wanted it to be, but the story line aspect is what I needed. 

When this book is complete, all of my books will undergo editing. 

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