Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

dead tree Aiden and I started on this afternoon. My hands throb with fresh
blisters ripping open, but I don’t care. Better to hurt on the surface than deep
inside.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
A grunt leaves me with each swing. Until I can’t even hold an axe anymore,
and it falls at my feet. I groan, pressing my forehead to the tree. How did I lose
her? I did exactly what I promised her I wouldn’t. I made a choice that made her
feel like a problem I prioritized rather than the person I love.
And “therein,” as Shakespeare says, “lies the rub.” Because I will always
choose her. I will show up for her and care for her, the same way she’s shown up
and cared for me—with tenderness and empathy—but until Frankie stops seeing
herself as a burden, she’ll always see my choices through that lens of obligation.
Meaning all I can do is hope that with some time and perspective, she’ll see
things differently. Once again, I’m left waiting.
I’ve waited for her before. You think I’d be able to cope, but it’s like slowly
suffocating without her, aching to know how she is and what she wants and if
there’s a chance in hell she’ll finally see herself through my eyes.
Helplessness and anger possess my body. A raging cry surges through me as
I yell into the woods, and lightning cracks through the sky. I jump back
instinctively as the world flashes blue-white, revealing the outline of a woman
down the drive to the main road. A torturous ghost of a woman.
Long hair plastered to her face, a short walking stick. She glances up and I
choke when I recognize them—gold-green eyes, sun and earth, glowing in the
light of the storm.
My heart jumps in my chest. “Frankie?”
She smiles, and lifts her hand in a wave.
I say her name again. And again. Then, I’m running toward her, sprinting
down the muddy road, breath filling my lungs for the first time in weeks.
Laughter taking over breath. She’s here. She came.
I stop, toe to toe with her as she looks up at me, shivering. Clumped dark
lashes. Two curtains of wet, dark hair framing her face. “H-hi,” she says shakily.
I swallow as a tear slides down my face. “How did you get here?”
“By plane. Then Willa,” she says simply.
I glance past her shoulders and see Willa and Ry’s Subaru pull out from the
main road, followed by a stream of staccato honks. Staring down at Frankie, I
shake my head and blink. This can’t be real.
“Ren,” she whispers. Stepping close, she cups my cheek. I jolt at the touch,