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I wouldn’t be able to tell you how it started. It seemed like he’d always been there, the booth in the corner, Mr. Strawberry milkshake and cheeseburger, with the Irish accent. Then suddenly he was Druig, sitting at the counter with easy smiles and sarcastic jokes. He became my favourite regular, he became my best friend, and then something more than that. But at times he was almost a stranger, I didn’t know that side of him, in those moments he was terrifying, but he always came back to me.
We’d spend countless hours just talking, we never ran out of topics-but he’d very rarely speak of his family. From what I understood they had hurt him badly, I understood. Not everything had to be said aloud to have been said. When he did speak of them it was a comment here and there, until the day they showed up on my doorstep looking for him. They seemed to think he was holding me against my will, which was confusing, but they left quickly after I slammed the door in their faces.
Druig didn’t come back for a while after that.
I didn’t think he was ever coming home, but I woke up to him making us breakfast like he used to do before he disappeared. He handed me a plate with a smile and an apology on his lips, an apology I stole from him, just happy he was where he belonged.
He told me everything. Who and what he and his family were, what they had done. I gripped him closer, terrified to let go, knowing how close I was to losing him for good. Three words and more than a few tears stealing my voice away. We had agreed from the start that we weren’t meant for forever-but I knew how I felt. The feeling I got whenever we locked eyes, when I laid my head on his chest and he pulled me close to his side, the way the sunlight hit his eyes just right, making them glow. I loved him, but I knew I couldn’t keep him.
I knew before he told me that he was leaving again. I told him I would miss him, and thanked him for the chance to know him. When he kissed me I knew it was goodbye. I knew it was my only chance-I had to take it.
“I love you, Druig.”