Chapter 1
CHAPTER ONE — THE LAST NIGHT
The rain had been falling for almost an hour when Ava Carter realized she was actually going to leave.She stood beneath the roof of the old train station, clutching the handle of her suitcase while water rushed down the glass windows in thick streams. People moved around her, dragging bags behind them and checking their phones as they waited for their trains. Everyone seemed to know where they were going.Everyone except her.Across the platform, Noah Bennett stood with his hands buried inside the pockets of his black hoodie. He had barely spoken since they arrived. He just kept looking at her, as if staring long enough might somehow change what was happening.Ava wished he would stop looking at her.If he kept looking at her like that, she knew she would break.“You still have time,” Noah finally said.“For what?”“To change your mind.”Ava looked down at her suitcase. “I can't.”“You can.”“Noah…”“You can, Ava. You just don't want to.”She looked at him then. He looked tired. Not angry anymore. Just hurt.That was worse.“I don't know what you want me to say,” she whispered.“The truth would be nice.”Ava looked away.The truth was the one thing she couldn't give him.Not because she didn't love him.Because she loved him too much.“You know this isn't working,” she said.Noah gave a small, humorless laugh. “That's what you've been telling me all week.”“Because it's true.”“No. It's what you've decided is true.”Ava felt tears burning behind her eyes.She couldn't tell him what her father had said. She couldn't tell him about the arguments between their families or the threat that had made her believe Noah's future would be ruined if she stayed.She had promised herself she would protect him.Even if protecting him meant breaking his heart.“You deserve someone who doesn't make everything complicated,” she whispered.Noah stared at her.“I don't want someone else.”Her chest tightened.“I want you.”For one dangerous second, she imagined dropping her suitcase, running into his arms and telling him everything.But then she remembered the warning she had been given.If you really care about him, you'll stay away from him.She opened her eyes.“I think we should stop.”Noah went completely still.“What?”“I think we should stop.”“You don't mean that.”“I do.”“No, you don't.”“I do.”He took a step closer.“Look at me and say it.”Ava couldn't.“Ava.”She forced herself to look at him.His eyes were filled with something she couldn't bear to see.“Say you don't love me.”Her lips trembled.She couldn't say it.He noticed.“You can't.”“Noah, please.”“You can't even say it.”“Because it doesn't matter!”“It matters to me!”His voice echoed through the station.He lowered it again.“Tell me what I did.”“You didn't do anything.”“Then why are you leaving?”“I just need to.”“Why?”“I can't explain.”“Then don't leave.”Her tears finally fell.“Noah…”“Stay.”One word.One simple word.And suddenly leaving felt impossible.Then her phone vibrated.Her father's name appeared on the screen.Ava stared at it.She knew exactly what it meant.She wiped her tears quickly and stepped away.“I have to go.”“No.”“My train is coming.”“Let it.”She shook her head.“I can't.”The announcement came over the speakers.Her train was arriving.Noah stared at her as if he was waiting for her to change her mind until the very last second.Ava picked up her suitcase.“I'm sorry.”She turned around.“Ava.”She stopped.She didn't turn back.“I love you.”Her eyes filled with tears again.She whispered the words so quietly that she wasn't sure he heard them.“I love you too.”Then she walked away.She didn't look back.Not when she boarded the train.Not when it pulled away from the station.Not when Noah disappeared behind the rain-covered window.She told herself it was the right decision.She told herself that one day she would understand.But three years later, when Ava walked into her new classroom and saw Noah Bennett sitting at the back of the room, she realized something terrifying.She had never actually stopped loving him.And judging by the way he was looking at her, neither had he.
