The Season of Falling

29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty-nine

Dean

With the realization that I was in love, I had raced over to Kasey’s. But after knocking on the door for at least five minutes and leaving two voicemails, I gave up and called Ro. “Do you know where Kasey is?” I asked as soon as she picked up.

“Well hello to you, too,” she said with a huff.

“Ro, I need to talk to her.” I grew more impatient with every passing second.

“She’s been a little MIA the past few days, but I think it’s because her grandpa’s in the hospital.”

My heart skipped at those words. He’d been in the hospital for a few days while I’d been trying to figure things out? “Thank you. I’m going there right now.” I was already jogging to my car and climbing inside.

“Dean?” Ro said, keeping me from hanging up. “She’s kind of been a mess since you guys spoke last. Just…don’t break her heart, okay?”

“I don’t plan to.” I said goodbye and drove straight to the hospital. I had no idea where her grandpa was or even if they’d let me go in. But I had to try. I was waiting by the front desk in the lobby when I heard a voice behind me.

“Dean? What are you doing here?” It was Kasey. I turned around and a sigh of relief escaped me. I don’t know if I’d ever been so happy to see another person.

“Kasey, I’ve been trying to find you. I went to your house, but you weren’t there and you didn’t answer when I called.”

“Sorry,” she said, her forehead creased in concern. Did I look like a lunatic? Because I sort of felt like one. Who dropped everything to rush to the hospital for the girl who he may or may not be in a relationship with any longer? Apparently, I did.

“I’ve had it on do not disturb,” Kasey continued, glancing around. “Here, let’s go outside so we can talk.”

I followed her out the sliding doors, and all I wanted to do was grab hold of her hand and pull her to me. But she seemed tense and wary, and I had no idea how things were with her grandpa.

“How’s your grandpa doing?” I asked once we took a seat.

She sighed and her shoulders slumped. “He puts on a good show, but it’s bad. The doctors say it’s only a matter of time. It’s already been three days, but they don’t think he’ll last much longer.”

“I’m so sorry, Kasey,” I said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and trying to give as much comfort as I could. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”

“At this point there’s nothing anyone can do.” She sat up straighter and turned to face me. “He promised me he’d be okay long enough for me to come and talk to you. I was actually on my way to your house.” I was bursting with questions, but I let her gather her thoughts and speak first.

“I wanted to—no, I needed to apologize. What I did was wrong. It may have started as Kendra’s idea, but I knew better. I should have been upfront and honest with you from the beginning. There are no excuses for my behavior or the way I broke your trust like that.” She shifted on the bench but continued to talk, keeping her eyes on her hands that she fidgeted nervously with on her lap.

“I understand now why you said what you did. Why you told me that you didn’t want to risk our friendship by dating.” Her voice broke and she coughed lightly before going on. “I know now that I shouldn’t have risked our friendship like that. And I’ll understand if you don’t want to, but…is there any way you can forgive me? That we can still be friends?” She kept her eyes down as she spoke quietly. “Maybe even pretend like the last couple of months didn’t even happen?”

“But, Kasey, they did happen. And I can’t forget them.” Her gaze flew up to meet mine, and I could see tears start to well in her beautiful brown eyes before she jerked her head down and angled her body away from mine, trying to hide her distress from me.

I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s not what I meant. Well, it is what I meant, but not what you thought I meant.” I could feel her confusion, and I laughed a little. “I’m sorry, let me start over.” I took a deep breath before diving back in. “Kendra told me everything. She came over a few days ago and told me the entire story from her side, and it was…enlightening, to say the least.”

Kasey laughed but it sounded watery, like she was laughing to try and keep the tears at bay. I longed to reach for her, but I wanted everything out in the open between us first.

I continued on before she could start talking about what a trial sisters are or something. “I was calm and thinking rationally, and her words helped me to realize some things, especially why you did it. I was still hurt, but I felt less betrayed and way less upset about everything. And then something she said…” I got quiet and shook my head before going on. “Well, it unlocked the rest of my memories. At least I think it was the rest of them. It doesn’t feel like there’s a block up there anymore.” I tapped a finger against my temple.

“Oh, Dean,” she exclaimed, facing me fully again. “That’s amazing. I’m so glad you got all your memories back. I know you were worried about that.”

My heart swelled with her words. Even not knowing what I was going to say or how I felt, she was still so supportive and happy for me.

“It is great, but that’s not the best part.” Her brows wrinkled in confusion, and I went on. “Her unlocking that box of memories basically sent off a chain reaction. My mind kept playing through all these memories of the two of us. And not only memories from the past year. But moments from the beginning of our friendship up until now. Even ones from the past few weeks of us dating.

“And, Kasey, it was beautiful.” I smiled, thinking back to all the memories I had gotten to relive. “We’ve built a beautiful friendship together. But even that’s not the best part.” I paused for dramatic effect until she grew impatient. “What’s the best part?” she asked, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. For a moment, I was distracted by the way her cheek creased with that smile. But I mentally shook myself. Once I told her, I could welcome a distraction like that.

“Reliving all those moments was almost like watching them from someone else’s point of view. I got to see how good you are. How much you smile and make me laugh. How you give your kindness freely and truly care about the people you love. I got to see how much fun we have together and the things that make our friendship so special. And the best part?” I said softly. “The best part was realizing that I’ve been falling in love with you since the day we met.”