#davidandpatrick

Chapter 12 now posted. This is the last main chapter before the Epilogue! 💙🦛 “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn...is just to love...and be loved...in return!” 𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦. Stevie’s line felt like another cruel joke; one more way the universe was taunting me. Whether it was the line itself, or when to say it, after months of rehearsals she had routinely forgotten it, no matter how many times someone reminded her. Why was it that 𝘯𝘰𝘸, when I was prepared to walk away from everything, she suddenly remembered? A deafening silence swept over the crowd, bringing the grief I was so desperate to escape from back into focus. I forced myself to take in other details because I didn’t 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to think of how David had shattered my heart into a million pieces. I didn’t 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to think of how I had left him as a sobbing, broken mess when every instinct said I should be comforting him. I didn’t 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 to think of how each step was more difficult than the last or how every breath was an effort. All I 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 to do was fall apart and I 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵. I turned my attention to how my suit slid over my skin with every movement and the velvet carpet yielded softly underfoot. How the freshly installed electric lights cast a soft glow, illuminating specks of dust falling like snow in the beams. The way champagne flutes clinked while curious theatergoers fidgeted in their seats. With each new detail my pace slowed until I became still, weighed down by the indecision of determining whether Stevie’s words meant something more. My eyelids fluttered shut and I inhaled the intermingling scents of the auditorium and its occupants. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴, 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰. 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦. 💙🖤