━━ ˟ ⊰ ★ ┋ evan.
it took everything in evan’s power to walk away from avia in that moment. the unspoken words that had weight so heavily on him for years finally finding their way out of him despite how hard he’d suppressed ever speaking them out loud. he never shared his feelings like that before and after the way his chest felt after saying everything he had, it was unlikely that he’d ever do it again. it didn’t feel good for him to tell her that he loved her. in fact, it brought him more pain to admit that to her than anything else had. whoever had shoveled the crap ass idea that love was this amazing, feel good thing needed a serious slap in the face.
he’d only gotten so far away before the soft click of her heels and her oh-so-sweet voice began to echo behind him, her demand for him to stop pausing him in his tracks. it was stupid for him to do so. if he was a smart man, even in the slightest, he would keep going and never look back. evan was the last thing that avia needed in her life and he’d promised himself he wouldn’t ever cause her pain again after he’d initially left, yet here he was making it worse for her all over again.
her words cut straight through him, a mixture of emotions brewing in his head as he worked through everything she was telling him. ‘don’t leave me behind’. the plead made him wince, the sadness in her voice sending an ache to his heart that he didn’t know he could feel. avia wasn’t the type to beg like this. she was such a strong, level headed woman and for her to be brought to this state by an asshole like himself was almost sad. he’d taken this perfect strong girl and he had ruined her.
yet the idea of her being his forever was one that he couldn’t shake ever since the words had fallen from his own lips. that truly was what he wanted, he hadn’t lied about that. he would give up the rest of his life to make her happy if she so wanted, but part of him still teetered on the thought that he’d never be good enough for her. he’d give her the big house, the big wedding, the babies – but in the end would he still be enough? when they were faced with forever together, would she still think evan was the right choice?
“i wish i’d never left you in the first place,” he said quietly, slowly turning to meet her gaze, “i know that you needed it, but i wish i’d never done it. i lost myself when i lost you. i want nothing more than to sweep you off your feet right now and kiss you till the end of time, but you’re engaged. what kind of man would that make me?”
━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ ┋ 𝓐𝓿𝓲𝓪 𝓚𝓷𝓸𝔁.
with a short scoff, the bold blonde dared to take short steps towards him, unable to disguise the myriad of emotions that stirred within her. for someone as smart as she knew he was, he had quite a track record of being so silly. avia would have found it endearing if she wasn’t so outraged that he was consistently so terrible to himself. since she knew full well he had just given her a clear future worth fighting for, there was no chance she was going to back down so easily, even if he felt he was sparing them both by being ‘a better man’. ❝ for starters, you’d be the kind of man that knows what he wants and doesn’t let some pretentious stick in the mud take the woman he loves away, ❞ she began, humor evident in her tone and further emphasized by the soft grin that toyed at the edges of her plump lips.
❝ the kind that sees the girl that’s insanely crazy about him, throwing herself in his arms, and knows well enough to take advantage of the opportunity because everyone knows that they belong together. in fact, nel would practically insist. it would be rude to ignore her obvious efforts to make this exact thing happen. ❞ avia teased further, finally standing a mere foot away from him, her head tilting slightly to the left as she stared up at him. every second that ticked by only sealed their fate even more in her eyes and the ideal of settling for the life she had fooled herself into thinking was enough was laughable.
❝ more importantly, you’d be the man i’ve always been head over heels in love with. one that i doubt really cares for the idea of me sleeping in anyone elses arms when he knows where i really belong. plus, if you can tell.. there is no ring on my finger quite yet. ❞ the woman couldn’t help but feel giddy as she lifted her right hand, waving the finger where an engagement ring should have been shining. sure, mark was a planner but avia had still managed to keep the persistent man at bay and in that moment, the reason why seemed as apparent as ever. ❝ so since i’ve yet to sign my soul off to the devil, the ball is in your court o’donnell. you tell me, what kind of man are you? ❞













