CLOSED STARTER ⸺ kiraz @kirazturan
SETTING ⸺ outside her house
Jake couldn't believe the depth of the mess he'd created. And the worst part was that he had no one to blame but himself. The second Sage confirmed that Kiraz knew about the divorce papers, he was already moving, practically sprinting for his truck. Minutes later, he was tearing down the road toward her house. He didn't even know if she was there. Hell, he barely knew anything anymore. He didn't know what he wanted, didn't know what he should do. This whole thing had spun so completely out of his control.
What he did know was that, despite everything, the fights, the distance, the years of hurting each other, Kiraz didn't deserve to find out like this. And what made it worse was that there was hardly anything concrete for her to find out. Not yet. But with the information she had, he was certain she'd come to the only conclusion anyone would. That he'd made his decision. That he'd chosen an ending. When he hadn't.
His thoughts were a tangled knot of doubt, fear, and regret. He didn't know what he wanted anymore—only that the thought of this being the thing that finally destroyed any chance they had left made his chest feel like it was caving in. He could only pray he wasn't already too late.
As his truck sped through Sedona, dark clouds swallowed the sky. Thunder rumbled overhead, low and threatening. A bitter laugh escaped him. The weather couldn't have painted a more accurate picture of the storm he was driving straight into.
By the time he pulled up in front of Kiraz's house, rain was hammering the earth in relentless sheets. He threw open the truck door and ran for the house. Within seconds, he was drenched, but he didn't care.
Before he'd made it two steps, the front door swung open. Kiraz stepped outside, her gaze sweeping up and down the street as the wind whipped her hair around her face. Another crack of thunder split the sky overhead.
And despite everything, despite the panic clawing at his throat, despite the hurt between them, Jake felt that familiar surge of concern he knew would never completely leave him. Closing the distance between them, he called out over the rain. "You're not actually thinking of going out in this, are you?"