My One Night: An On My Own Novel by Carrie Ryan (life books to read .txt) 📕

“That’s okay,” Dad said, holding my mom’s hand. “We wanted to see the place. It seems like a nice home,” my dad added, looking around.

“It is,” Dillon said from behind the couch, clearing his throat. I looked over at him, and he put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it slightly. “You guys don’t have to go,” he said. “You’re welcome to stay.”

My parents looked at each other and then at Dillon, shaking their heads. “No, we’ll give you two some time. I know your brothers and their wives just left, as well as a couple of the other parents, but we wanted to make sure Elise was okay.”

“I am,” I said, self-conscious now.

“Well, just let us know if you want us to pick you up, or if someone else will. We’re here if you need us.”

I knew my parents were worried, but I had to do this. I needed to stop being scared of my shadow. Everything had happened so quickly, and I hadn’t realized what had been going on.

Dillon’s dad had been strung out on meth and had needed money to pay his debts. Somehow, in his drug-addled mind, he had convinced himself that Dillon would have it for him. And vowed he would get it no matter the cost.

I had just been in the way. He had seemed remorseful after, as if he hadn’t wanted to hurt me. At least at first. But then Dillon had shown up, and everything had changed.

Dillon’s dad would be in jail for a little bit and would hopefully get the help he needed, but he was out of Dillon’s life forever. Once again. And I couldn’t be more grateful for that.

My parents leaned down and hugged me, and I sighed.

“We love you,” Mom whispered.

“Yes, we do,” Dad said, and then they left, Miles leading them out.

“We’ll give you two some privacy,” Pacey said, and Tanner, Sanders, Mackenzie, Nessa, and Natalie all nodded before dispersing, headed towards the kitchen and study areas. I was pretty sure they could probably hear us unless we were in Dillon’s room, but they were trying to give us some semblance of privacy. And that’s how I found myself alone with Dillon for the first time in days.

He sat in front of me on the coffee table, his forearms resting along his thighs. “Hey,” he whispered.

I swallowed hard. “Hey.”

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. I hope you can forgive me, but I’ll understand if you can’t. It must have been so scary. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t gone out to that shed, gotten there in time.”

I shook my head. “But you did. You were there. And this is not your fault.” I leaned forward, putting my hand on his. “It’s not your fault, Dillon. In all honesty, I came over here in the first place to apologize to you.”

He frowned. “Why would you need to apologize to me?”

“Because I pushed you away because I was scared. Because I couldn’t deal with my feelings. And, honestly, I’m not there yet.”

He pulled back, his face going blank. “Not where?”

I winced. “I’m not dealing with all of my feelings. But I need to. I already talked to Mom and Dad, and we’re going to start with me seeing a therapist. Because I need to talk about Corinne. It’s tough for me to do so, but I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I didn’t need to make things worse. I need... I don’t know what I need, but I didn’t need to do what I did to you.”

“I understood why you did it, though.”

“Well, I don’t. So that’s something I need to deal with.”

I sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

“How about this? How about we stop apologizing to each other? Clean slate, or at least as clean as it can be.”

He moved so he sat next to me on the couch and then brushed my hair away from my face. He was careful of my wound, and I saw the way his jaw tensed. “I almost lost you. I don’t know what I would have done if you had been hurt any more than you were.”

“He could have hurt you.” I looked down at his arm. “You got stitches, too.”

“You’re right, I did. But I’m going to be fine. And so are you. I still blame myself for what happened.”

“Don’t. I’m fine. And you’re fine. We’re going to be okay.” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to feel about losing Corinne, and that’s something that will take me a while. I’m broken inside, Dillon, but I want you to be by my side when I figure things out. Can you do that? Can you be here?”

He sighed, leaned down, and gently pressed a kiss to my lips. I nearly cried, but I held myself back, afraid that if I started crying, I wouldn’t be able to stop or speak.

“I love you, Elise.”

I blinked, then looked up at him. “What?”

A small smile played on his lips. “How could you not know that? How could you not see it whenever I look at you?”

I swallowed harder, traced my fingers along his jaw. “I hoped. But I thought maybe I just saw what I wanted to see.” I let out a breath. “I love you, too, Dillon. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I don’t know what I’ll feel in terms of everything else in my life once I let myself think, but I do know that I love you.”

His smile was bright this time, and he kissed me again. “Then we will have to do this together. Whatever comes next is you and me. Our path won’t be easy, Elise. We know that. But we can do it together. You and me. Us, against the rest of the world. Just don’t leave me again. Don’t push me away.”

“And don’t blame yourself for what others do to us,” I whispered.

“That, I can promise you,” he said