SEPARATED: CONCLUSION TO UN-RELATED Read Free Page B

resting his head on my shoulder. He was breathing hard, and I knew he was still torturing himself. I put my hands on his face and pulled it up to look at me and whispered, “I am home as long I’m with you. I love you…there’s nothing to forgive. And Kellan, I could never hate you. You never have to doubt my feelings for you, because I will love you forever. I always have, and I always will.” I hugged him close for a few minutes, and when I felt him relax a bit, I asked him if he had any pajamas.
    “I have pajama bottoms. I um, I don’t usually sleep in…” he sighed, “anything.”
    “Put them on and can I have one of your t-shirts, please?”
    “Abby, I really should…”
    “It’s my birthday, so humor me, okay? I swear I just want to be with you. I’m not asking for anything more.”
    He nodded and walked over to the dresser and pulled out his flannel pajama bottoms and then grabbed a shirt from another drawer. He told me there was a new toothbrush and other toiletries in the main bathroom. I got ready for bed and when I walked back into his bedroom, I noticed he was sitting on the edge of the bed, still wearing his clothes.
    “Is that how you normally sleep?” I asked, trying to lighten his very somber mood.
    “No.” He looked up at me and said, “I told you how I normally sleep, and with whom. Are you sure you can forgive me?”
    I walked over to him, lifted his face and kissed him. “I told you, there’s nothing to forgive. Please stop worrying.”
    “I’m so afraid I’m going to lose you. That you’re going to wake up in the morning and realize you made a terrible mistake.”
    “Kellan, get ready for bed, please. I need you to hold me, and you need me to hold you, too.”
    He stood up and grabbed his pajama bottoms and headed into the bathroom. He didn’t say another word, but he was in there a while, I’m sure debating on whether or not to take me home. 
    “Kellan, are you okay?” I asked from outside the bathroom door.
    He opened the door and I noticed he was still pale white. He looked down at me and touched my face as he walked by. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the blankets.
    “Are you sure that you don’t want to go home?” he asked.
    I climbed in to bed and reached my hand up to him. He took my hand and sat down next to me. “Abby…”
    “Kellan, just come to bed, please.”
    He sighed but climbed in like I asked. He was quiet as he slowly laid his head down on the pillow. I leaned in next to him and kissed his cheek.
    “Abby…”
    “Shh, it’s my turn to talk.” I sat up and leaned over him. “I know you think you’ve committed some unforgivable sin, and that I won’t be able to get over it. But, I love you and there’s nothing you’ve done that I need to forgive you for. The only one who needs to forgive you…is you.”
    “It’s not that easy. You don’t know how many…”
    “And, I don’t want to know. Whatever you did in your past…is just that, the past. You’ve never had it easy, Kellan. You’ve always had to struggle and work for everything. But, I also know that girls…and women have always found you irresistible. I’m one of them. I don’t blame you…or them. But you don’t owe me an apology for anything you did before we were together.”
    “It was wrong…I know that. I swear I haven’t touched anyone since the last time I was here.”
    “I know, you told me.”
    “I need you to believe it.”
    “I do believe it.”
    He got up and started to pace again. “Do you understand why I can’t sleep with you right now?”
    “No, not really. Actually, not at all.”
    He was still pacing. “I don’t deserve to be with you.”
    “Would you stop saying that? It’s not true.”
    “Yes, it is. I can’t bring myself to touch you…no matter how much I want to. You deserve someone like Tyler.”
    “What makes Tyler so much better for me, than you?”
    “He’s your age, he loves you, and I’m sure he hasn’t slept with half