My shoulders slumped under the weight of my guilt as I crept out in the main room.

Luc was busy at the stove, humming happily to himself. He had no idea that moments before we had made love—could I call it that anymore?—I had been thinking of leaving him. Afterwards, I had lingered in the shower, attempting to let the soothing warm water unwind the knots in my head. 

It hadn't worked.

I had never been in this position before. Before Luc, I had only ever dated Rick and that breakup hadn't exactly been normal, scorched furniture aside.

But it all came down to one thing...

Do I still want to be with Luc?

There was no clear answer to that. I watched his back as he worked, the lines of his strong shoulders visible underneath the simple white tank. I tried to picture the scene in my head: my things packed, us standing together in this empty room, looking into his sad eyes. I don't think we're right for each other...

A sharp pain that shot through me, driving right between my ribs and making me gasp. My eyes welled with a sudden onslaught of tears. The thought of leaving him was too much—I still loved him.

But sometimes loving someone wasn't enough.

I blinked my tears away. A relationship was more than just love. You had to invest time, effort, care... Which was something Luc hadn't been doing.

Except for today.

He looked up, noticing me lurking at the door.

"Hello again," he said, a bright smile already on his face. "You had a long shower."

"Yeah," was all I said, quickly blinking my tears away. I didn't want him asking questions. "I got lost in my thoughts."

Luc nodded knowingly. He knew my habit of taking long showers when I needed to think.

"Hopefully nothing too terrible," he said. "Anyway, I'm glad you're out. I was starting to get worried that breakfast would get cold." He stepped aside to reveal a plate stacked with freshly made French toast. Two more slices were sizzling in the pan.

My mouth began to water shamelessly.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Luc said, nodding to our little kitchen table that was tucked in the corner.

My gaze followed. To my surprise, the table was fully set. Not just plates and forks, but placemats—when had we gotten placemats?—and patterned napkins, a fresh pot of coffee, and even a small bouquet of flowers arranged in a vase.

I headed over, somewhat stunned. When I came to the edge of the table, I noticed something else. Next to one of the settings was a glossy white box. It was the phone that Rick had given me yesterday. And sitting on top of it was a brand new SIM card.

I picked up the SIM card. "What's this?" I asked, turning back to Luc.

Luc was shovelling the last pieces of toast onto the plate, so it took him a moment to look up. When he did and his eyes settled on what was in my hand, his smile faltered. He brought the plate over, placed it on the table then stood before me.

"It's an apology."

"What do you mean?"

His gaze dropped to the floor. "I'm sorry how I reacted yesterday after Rick came by. I was being a..." he took a deep breath, "...real dick."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I wasn't going to put it that way..."

He smirked. "Well, it's accurate. And it made me realize something."

"Huh?"

"Now I understand how you feel when I keep something from you," he said, gently taking hold of my shoulders. "When Rick showed up and mentioned that he had talked to you and you hadn't told me, I was... I was shocked. I was jealous. And, above all else, I was hurt."

I just stared at him, losing myself in his bright green eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," he continued. "For doubting you. For keeping things from you. For hurting you. I never intended to, and I promise to do better."

A lump formed in my throat. I wanted to say something, but the lump made it impossible. He seemed to understand anyway. He pulled me close and, like before, I let myself sink into him.

"For all the times I've asked you to trust me, I should've trusted you," He took the SIM card from me. "So this is kind of my way of telling you that I trust you. You trust me, right?"

I just nodded against his chest.

"And you should keep the phone," he continued, kissing the top of my head. "Who turns down a free phone?"

"I don't know," I said. "I don't want to feel like I owe Rick anything."

"You don't owe him anything. He gave it freely. Just think of it as some kind of... douchebag tax."

I laughed again. Dammit. I really did love him. Why couldn't he be like this all the time? My thoughts were all tangled up again.

"Come on, now," he said, giving me a little shake. "Let's eat breakfast before it gets cold."

"Right," I said, releasing him and taking my place next to the white box. "Is that why you did all this? For your big apology?"

"Well, it's for a lot of things, but it's a thank you most of all," Luc said, also taking his seat. His smile was tentative. "I wanted to show my appreciation. The shop is finally ready to open."

"What?" I replied, shocked. "It's ready? For reals?" I had known we were getting close, but I thought Luc had wanted to add a few more finishing touches...

"Yeah, it is," he said. For some reason, he didn't seem as excited about it as I thought he would be. "And I couldn't have done it without you."

I sat in silence for a moment, chewing on my lip. It felt strange to do this now, with everything looming over us, but... "You know, I got you something, too."

Luc perked up and his eyes softened. "What? You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," I said, getting up from my chair. I went to the kitchen cupboards, to one of the deep ones beside the stove. I had to get down on my knees to reach far in the back. The present was exactly where I had left it several weeks ago.

Luc's eyes brightened when he saw the big bottle of champagne in my hands.

"To celebrate your grand opening," I said, standing up and handing it to him. I tried my best to give him a proper smile, but my eyes were prickling again.

"Whoa," Luc remarked, taking the dark green-tinted bottle from me. He inspected the label with a smile. "This is lovely. Thank you."

"I wanted it to be special," I said, and then cleared my tightening throat. For some reason, I wanted to burst into tears. I just wanted to make him happy...

"If only we had orange juice," Luc said lightly. "I could make mimosas."

"I can go get some," I offered, my voice slightly thick. I turned around, fighting off a sudden threat of tears. Getting out of here wasn't a bad idea. I needed a moment to collect myself. I headed for the door. "I'll run out to the corner store and—"

Luc caught me by the wrist. "Don't worry about it," he said softly, pulling me back towards him. He stood up from his chair too so he was looming over me again. He leaned in for a kiss. "We can save this for dinner." He gave me another smile then left me there as he went to put the bottle in the fridge.

I just stood there. He must've noticed the tears in my eyes... But why hadn't he said anything? I wished I was a mind reader so I could know what he was thinking. If I could peek inside his head, would I find?

Luc closed the fridge door and turned back to me. "Shall we?" he said, walking back with a smile on his face again.

"Yeah," I said, blinking back my tears, and slid into my seat.

I stirred and opened my eyes. For half a second, I thought that wonderful morning had been a dream, a different kind of nightmare where instead of getting what I didn't want, it was everything I did want... but didn't have.

But this wasn't our bed. I was tucked in next to Luc's chest, his arm curled around my shoulders, pressed tight together. We were laying on our tiny couch. Weighed down after that delicious—but very heavy—breakfast and lulled by the soft, warm sunlight, we had fallen asleep like a couple of lazy cats.

Guilt washed over me. Once again I had let myself fall into him again, too afraid to push him away.

Coward. I was a coward.

A coward who really didn't want to let him go.

I nuzzled against him, listening to the soft thud of his heart inside his chest, savouring his warmth. Yes, we were having problems. That was undeniable. But maybe... Maybe we could keep trying. I wanted to, at least.

We could give ourselves one more chance, right?

One last chance...

Something buzzed nearby. I lifted my head. My new phone was sitting on the side table, its screen lit up. I had a notification. Before we had fallen asleep, I had sent out a few crucial texts from my newly set up phone, telling everyone about my change in number As an extra bonus, Luc had put me on his business plan. He offered to pay for it too, claiming it was a business expense, but I didn't want to accept until I knew what I was going to do.

Moving carefully so not to wake Luc, I reached for my and pulled it close.

It was a text. From Ethan. He was one of the first numbers I put in because I didn't want to forget and lose the scrap he had given me.

Congrats on the new phone! Glad you've rejoined civilized society, he replied in response to my message. How're you doing today?

Pretty good actually, I typed back. Much better. Luc spent the entire morning with me. He even made breakfast! I hope that means that Tory's actually around for you, too.

It took only a second for Ethan to respond.

He is. I think Luc put the fear of God into him or something cause he's spent all morning working on my car while I lounged around with a mojito. The headlight is fixed and so is the radio!

Wow, Ethan was much more talkative over text. Maybe he did have more in common with Tory than I had previously thought. I began typing. That's great—

We're going out for dinner tonight, too. Ethan fired back before I could even send my reply. Want to come with?

Dinner out? That might be nice...

Luc roused from sleep, probably awoken by all the buzzing. Oops. He blinked, dazed, before he noticed the phone in my hand. "Who are you talking to?" he asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "Polly?"

"No, it's Ethan," I replied. "He just invited us out for dinner with him and Tory. Do you want to go?"

"Mm, no thank you," he mumbled. "Honestly, I could use a little break from Tory." He burrowed back into the cushion and dozed off again.

I had to tuck my lips under my teeth to prevent myself from grinning too wide. I didn't know how or why, but Luc was saying all the right things today.

Not today, I quickly texted Ethan back. We're having a quiet day in.

Sounds lovely. Enjoy it while it lasts! I am.

Those final words seemed to blaze out at me from the screen. Enjoy it while it lasts... I knew that Ethan had just meant it as a joke but it made my heart sink.

I unwound myself from Luc's arm. I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again with that thought banging around in my head.

No, I warned myself. You can't fall down that hole again. 

I wanted to try again. And I was going to do my best. If it was going to fall apart, I wanted the peace of at least knowing that I had tried my hardest.

And I would tell Luc that... 

Once he woke up.

I left him on the couch and wandered around the apartment, wondering how to distract myself. Luc had already done the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. I had cleaned the bathroom a couple of days ago. The laundry was done. There wasn't even anything to do in the shop!

Ethan's invitation rose up in my head again. Dinner! Of course! Luc had made me breakfast, so I could make him a dinner. A nice dinner, especially since we were going to open the bottle of champagne. It was a celebration after all. A new start. A new chance.

I went to the fridge to see what we had. To my surprise, it was crammed full. Had Luc done a big grocery run too? He had been busy last night.

But as I looked the contents over, I realized all the food was simple stuff—sandwich meat, sliced cheese, eggs, chocolate milk. I checked the freezer. Frozen pizza, frozen meals, frozen vegetables. Luc had really stocked up.

But nothing in there was a fancy enough meal to go with champagne. Not that I was opposed to pairing champagne with frozen pizza, but I wanted to do something a little more... special.

I glanced back at the couch. Luc was still fast asleep. I could run to the grocery store a few blocks over and pick something up before he even knew I was gone.

Grabbing my purse and hoodie from the hook, I slipped out the door, making sure to close it quietly behind me. I slinked down the stairs as ideas of what to make flitted through my head. Steak, maybe? Or maybe we should have something light after our big breakfast. Or maybe I should go all out and get some crab legs and—

As I stepped through the curtain and into the shop, I staggered to a stop.

Gold lines of swirling text striped the room, running down the walls like molten gold.Every surface was covered—walls, floor, ceiling, door. The lines were even painted on the glass, crossing overtop of the hand that Luc had painted a few days earlier.

What the hell? When did Luc have time to do this?

And why?

I heard movement behind me. I turned and found Luc stepping out from behind the curtain. His hair was still mussed from his nap, but his face was solemn, his eyes guarded.

"I didn't want you to find out like this," he said softly, "but you can't leave."

Uh... What did he just say?!
Why is Luc doing this?! 🔮

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
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As usual, I'll be posting the next chapter on Patreon next week (find the link on my profile!) and then on Wattpad the week after that!