“Well, look who decided to join the party. Mom and Dad are already asleep.”

I kept my eyes on Harper as she slowly looked over to my sister, then up to me. Her gray eyes widened, and the bag of chips slipped from her grasp.

“I was busy.” It’s not like Mom and Dad didn’t know why I’d been avoiding today. “Harper, can I talk to you?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah I guess.” She started walking toward me and her face paled drastically, her arm shooting out to grip the counter. “Whoa.”

“Are you okay?” Bree was out of her chair, and I was rushing toward Harper when she held up a hand to stop us.

“I’m fine, I just got dizzy for a second. Thought I was going to faint again.”

My hands clenched into fists. I needed Bree to not be here; it was taking everything in me to not go up to her and hold my princess. To check her myself and make sure she was okay. Is she sick? I hadn’t seen her since over a week ago, when she fainted in the kitchen of my house, and even now she still looked like she might fall over at any second. Bree and Harper spoke softly to each other before Harper said she’d be back and stepped toward me again.

I turned without a word and walked halfway down my parents’ driveway before turning to look at her.

Her eyes took me in, and even in the dark, I could see the color come back to her face, along with the blush I loved so much. She bit down on the corner of her mouth and shifted her weight a couple times before saying, “Hi.”

I blew out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. A month without talking at all, and all she can say is ‘Hi’? “Hey, Princess.”

“Where have you been?”

“Working a lot, classes, surfing. That’s about it.”

She nodded and looked away, then down before talking again. “Your family misses you.”

This was it. This was where I needed this to go. I steeled myself, and shakily asked, “Do you?”

Her eyes snapped back up to look at me, and I hated the pain I saw there; but it gave me the smallest sliver of hope. “Of course I do, Chase.”

“Harper, I’ve given you more than enough time. I can’t stand to stay away from you anymore, so I need to know who you choose.”

“You’re really going to do this now?” she hissed, and looked at the door before taking a step closer and speaking low. “Bree could be listening from the front door!”

“Yes, now.” While I still had the balls to do this! “I need to know.”

“Chase, how can you even ask me to choose between you two?”

What?

“You left me, like you always do. You expected me to think you still wanted me after you’ve completely avoided me for a month?”

Seriously? What. The. Fuck. I threw my arms out and looked at her like she was insane. Does she not remember anything she’s told me? “I was giving you time! You asked me to give you time!”

“I didn’t want you to avoid me like the plague, I wanted you to fight for me. To show me that you loved me like you said you did.”

Could she honestly even question my love for her after what happened between us? “I do love you, Harper, and that’s why I gave you that time to think about things without my interfering.”

She stepped back, and I closed the distance again. Her eyes held mine, and I watched as they filled with tears. “I’m sorry, Chase, but I can’t.”

Oh, shit. “No. No, no n—”

“I can’t be with you. I love Brandon; I’m sorry.”

No! “Baby, don’t say that. I will fight for you, I will. Please just give us a shot.”

“A part of me will probably always love you, too, but I can’t take chances with you, Chase. You’ll leave me one day, and it will kill me when you do.”

“Wha—No! I wouldn’t, I swear I wouldn’t.” Did she not understand that she meant everything to me? I pulled her into my arms and held her as my body started shaking. I couldn’t lose her. I’d been preparing for it, but I couldn’t handle it.

“You can’t stay with any one girl, that’s just how you are. And that’s fine, Chase, it’s fine. You’re with different girls every night, but when I think about love, I think about forever. You can’t give me that, so I’m not going to hurt myself by only having you for a short time.”

Tears stung my eyes, and it became painful to breathe. After everything, she still thought I was living my old life? She still hadn’t realized I’d changed everything for her? I’ve never claimed to love anyone other than her, I’d never even thought of loving anyone but her. I would give her the world if she asked for it. And she thought I just wanted some fling with her?

I cupped her cheeks and brought her face from my chest so I could look at her, but she was a blurry mess from the tears that were threatening to spill over. “I haven’t been with anyone but you since you started dating Brandon. I knew then there would never be anyone else like you, and I wasn’t going to waste time being with someone else.”

Princess shook her head slightly, went up on her toes and kissed the corner of my mouth before beginning to move out of my arms. “I love you, Chase.”

“Baby, please. Don’t do this!” I gripped her hand, not willing to let her leave yet. I couldn’t just let this end like this.

“I have to, I’m sorry.”