EVELYN'S POV:

I open the door to the diner and look around for Jack, trying to spot him in the crowd.

I see him sitting at one of the far off cabins with his back to the crowd and make my way towards him.

He wanted to meet off-campus but I told him that it was better to meet here if he didn't want to get late.

As I come nearer, I see that he is tapping on his phone. His head jerks up as I slide into the seat in front of him and he places his phone on the table.

"Hi, Evy," His eyes light up as he greets me.

''Hi, Jack," I smile remembering that's how I greeted him last time.

"So how have you been?"He asks rubbing his neck nervously.

I look at him trying to decide how I should answer that question.

"Good I guess," is the only thing I can come up with.

"Oh, okay. That's good," I guess I am not the only one struggling with words.

We sit in silence trying to come up with things we can talk about but there are too many elephants in this room that needs to be acknowledged and none of us is willing to take that step.

I look up at him and see him studying the people sitting around the diner.

Now that I am looking closely at him, I can see how he has changed. His skin is paler than it used to be. His once brown hair is dyed black and with his head turned sideways, I can see the earring he is wearing. though his head is covered with a grey beanie, I catch the glint of it. It's a simple black stone that matches his hair.

He turns around to look at me and his eyes fill with amusement at having caught me staring.

"How come there isn't a crowd of girls asking for your autographs right now?", I ask trying to avert his attention from me.

"Let's just say that I am good at blending with the crowd," he says.

"I highly doubt that."

He shrugs and points towards the table and it's the first time that I notice a pair of glasses and a dust mask lying on the table.

"Ohh," I blush at my stupidity. and once again silence descends between us. Jack looks troubled and every few seconds I sense him glancing at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him open his mouth to say something but as if deciding against it, he doesn't say anything.

Both of us have so much to say to each other but none of us is willing to take the first step.

Okay, so this situation is getting more and more awkward with every passing minute.

Thankfully the waitress comes to our rescue.

"Hello. I am Isabelle and I am here to take your order," she chirps and that's when she notices Jack.

"OH MY GOD. Are you..."

"No, he is not who you think he is. He just looks like Jackson Miller," I cut her off before I can realize what I am doing. Immediately I regret my decision of interfering and quickly glance at Jack to see his reaction to my outburst.

To my surprise, he looks unfazed. I notice that he is wearing the glasses I saw earlier and the glasses combined with the beanie makes him look different. More like a nerdy teenager than the famed rockstar that he is.

"Oh I am sorry," the waiter replies hesitantly but she still doesn't look sure.

"Oh, that's okay. I get that a lot. I quite enjoy it. Nothing wrong with being mistaken for a prodigious and eminent rockstar, is there?" he winks at the waitress.

I roll my eyes at his response. I can see the girl falling for his words and I say words in the literal sense. I am sure she is thinking THE Jackson Miller won't use words like prodigious and eminent. Jack wan no less of a nerd than me. It was just that he was good at so many other things as well that that side of him often got ignored.

"That's true. I guess. I actually thought you were him," she chuckles at his response."So I never got your name?'' she asks curiously. I can't believe I am being ignored. Its as if I am not even sitting at this table.

"Tyson," he tells her with a smile.

I look at him trying to decipher what's going on his head. For a moment I couldn't believe he told her his middle name. He hated that name and anyone who dared call him that was lucky if he wasn't six feet under if Jackson heard him.

"You have a cute name. So Tyson what would you like to have this fine afternoon," she asks while twirling a lock of her hair.

Ughhh

I can't believe she is flirting with him.

"Two chocolate milkshakes please," Jack says as she jots down our order.

"Actually I would like to have a strawberry milkshake," I say changing my order.

Jack looks at me funny but doesn't say anything until Isabelle leaves.

"We always had chocolate milkshakes," he says, clearly disappointed at my change in order.

"Keyword. HAD."I can't believe he is acting like this.

He doesn't say anything after this and another uncomfortable silence descends upon us.

I look around the dinner feeling uneasy with every passing minute.

"I didn't think the day would come when Evelyn Jones will have nothing to say", Jake's attempts to lighten the mood.

"You learn how to stay quiet when there is no one there to listen to you," I reply trying to sound nonchalant when I am anything but that.

Jackson's face falls at my answer and he clamps his mouth shut.

Okay, now I have just had enough. I didn't come here to waste my time if we are just going to beat around the bush.

Apparently, Jack comes to the same conclusion because just as I am about to tell him that I am going to, leave he says, "Look, Evy. I know you are mad at me and you have all the right to be. I came here to apologize for my shitty behavior. I am really sorry. You didn't deserve how I treated you and it was awful of me to do that but I really want you to give me a second chance."

"No Jack. I am not mad at you. That's not even close to what you made me go through. Do you know what it's like to feel as if you are not good enough for your own best friend? Do you have any idea what I had to go through when all the kids in school suddenly started claiming that they had been your best friends when they realized that you were getting famous when I couldn't even talk to you anymore? I wasn't mad, I was hurt. I was hurt when you started ignoring my calls and messages and outright refused to talk to me. I was hurt when you turned your back on me when I needed you the most. I was hurt when I..." My voice breaks and I clamp my mouth shut when I realize what I just said. I hope he doesn't ask me what I meant by that.
My hands are shaking and I take them off the table, placing them in my lap so that Jack wouldn't see them. His eyes flicker towards my hands but he is quick to avert his gaze.

Looks like my wish is granted.

Jack looks at me with a strange emotion in his eyes. His shoulders are slumped and he has the look of someone who has just lost his last ray of hope. He moves and before I know, he is holding my hands in his. His hands are really warm. Just the way I remember them.

"Evy, I am so sorry for making you feel like you weren't good enough for me when the truth is far from that. You have no idea how much it hurt me to do all that but I had to do it," he says and I can feel regret lacing his voice.

"Why?'' I ask.

He looks at me as if he confused about what I am asking. I shake my head in annoyance and explain my question.

"You said you had to do what you did. Why did you have to do that? What was so important that you had to push me away," I ask.

"I am sorry Evy but I cant tell you that," he says dejectedly as if already accepting defeat.

Wow. Just wow. He asks me to forgive him and he won't even give me a reason for his behavior.

I am about to voice my thoughts when he reads my mind. I keep on forgetting how we used to do that.
Read each other's minds.
Steal each other's words.

"I know. I know. I am a jerk for asking you to forgive me when I won't even give you a half-ass reason for what I did. But Evy I am tired of having a life without you. I am tired of ignoring you and I may not be able to tell you now but I promise I will tell you everything soon. Just give me a chance. Please. I need you to trust me on this".

I had come here knowing that he will apologize and to be completely honest I had no plans of forgiving him so easily but there is something in his voice that makes me believe him.

I just hope I don't regret this. I can not afford a repeat of history.

"Okay. I will give you a second chance but that doesn't mean we are back to where we left off," his eyes light up as I say this. And for a moment I see the old Jack again. The one who used to tease me, his eyes lighting up when he thought of something particularly devilish. I wonder if he ever looks in the mirror and searches for the Jack who used to smile like his life depended on it. I wonder when we lost him along the way. Him and I both

And as for trust, it will be some time before I can fully trust you again. You broke my heart once. I am not stupid enough to give you that power again," I know I am being harsh but it's true.

The light in his eyes dims a little but a smile still makes its way on his face, lightening up his features.

"Thank you so much, Evy. That's more than I could ask for. I promise I won't let you down," he nods his head with so much vigor that I smile at his enthusiasm.

And not for the first time in my life, I fully believed him.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter has been long overdue and I am really sorry about that.

It was kind of a domino effect. First, my internet was not working and then I got really sick and when I was finally healthy, I had lost all the ideas about what I wanted to write in this chapter. So it took me a while to get back to writing. I was so clueless about what to write that I literally looked at a blank screen for half an hour before I got around to writing it.

But all's well that ends well, right?

Anyway enough of my rambling.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.

And don't forget to vote and comment.