Running back to You
VIOLET
Thump. Thump. Thump.
That was the sound of my heart pounding in my chest as I walked out of the restaurant, my legs moving faster than my mind could keep up. The cold air bit at my skin, but it did little to soothe the chaos swirling inside me.
Ryan knew Amelia.
No, he didn’t just know her—they had a past. A past that included a pregnancy and an abortion.
I came to an abrupt stop on the sidewalk, my breath hitching as if I’d just run a marathon.
One. Two. Three.
I drew in three deep breaths, trying to steady the storm raging inside me, but it wasn’t enough. My thoughts raced too fast, each one colliding with the next, refusing to give me a moment of clarity.
I wasn’t angry at Ryan—no, I couldn’t be. But I was hurt. Hurt in a way that felt like betrayal, not because of his past but because he’d kept knowing Amelia from me.
“You lied to him about the party too. Don’t you think that’s a bit rich coming from you?”
The voice in my head was taunted nd it made me wince.
No, I wasn’t spiraling. This wasn’t about me. Or was it?
I shook my head, trying to shove the thoughts aside, and that’s when I spotted it—a small ice cream cart a few blocks away.
Ice cream.
It wasn’t a solution, but it was something. Something to ground me. Something to cling to while I tried to piece myself back together.
I started walking toward it, my steps slower now but still uncertain. Maybe a scoop of mint chocolate chip or vanilla could give me a moment of peace. Just one moment to figure out where to go from here.
The line at the ice cream cart wasn’t long, but every passing second felt drawn out, stretching my thoughts into uncomfortable places. My mind refused to stop replaying Ryan’s confession— it was raw, unfiltered, and honest, but it didn’t erase the sting.
I shuffled forward as the person in front of me finished their order.
“What can I get you?” the vendor asked, his voice cheerful, oblivious to the turmoil swirling inside me.
“Mint chocolate chip, please,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
As he prepared my order, I forced myself to focus on the mundane details: the soft hum of the cart’s freezer, the metallic scrape of the scoop against the tub, the cool breeze against my skin. Anything to pull myself out of the chaos in my head.
Why hadn’t Ryan told me sooner?
A part of me wanted to let it go, to remind myself that his past was bound to catch up with us someday. Maybe I shouldn’t even be mad—after all, I’d always known about his reputation, the flings, the casual hookups. It was part of who he used to be, not who he was now. But knowing that didn’t make it any easier to push away the knot of betrayal sitting heavy in my chest.
“She had an abortion. I never knew. Hell, I didn’t believe she was pregnant. I found out just two days ago, but I can only imagine how much it destroyed her.”
Ryan’s words echoed in my mind, their weight pressing down on me. Two days. He had only found out two days ago. That revelation hit me hard, making my head spin.
Amelia.
She had known all along.
And yet, she had said nothing. Not a single word.
Why?
Why had she acted so innocent, pretending to be my friend, sticking around me like she had no ulterior motives? My stomach churned at the realization, and the cone in my hand suddenly felt heavy. She knew. She knew everything—about Ryan, about the pregnancy, about the abortion.
And still, she had smiled at me, laughed with me, and stood by me.
My grip on the cone tightened, the ice cream melting against my fingers as anger started to bubble beneath the surface. She’d kept this secret not to protect me but to hurt him. To get back at him for abandoning her when she needed him most.
The picture.
It all made sense now. The timing, her carefully chosen words, the way she’d always managed to bring up Ryan in subtle but loaded ways. She wasn’t here to be my friend—she was here to settle a score.
My heart clenched at the betrayal. How could she?
I took a shaky breath, my thoughts racing. Maybe I should confront her. Call her out. Demand answers. But deep down, I wasn’t sure It was the odd for me to settle.
The wind picked up, carrying faint snippets of laughter and conversation from the people passing by. I glanced down at the ice cream in my hand, now melting and dripping onto my fingers. The sticky mess felt like a perfect mirror to the turmoil inside me—chaotic, unresolved, and falling apart.
This wasn’t just about Ryan anymore.
“Because I was ashamed,” his voice replayed in my head, raw and full of regret. “Because I didn’t want you to see that side of me, the person I used to be. I didn’t want to risk losing you because of my past.”
His words cut through me again. He had lied to protect me, to keep me close. He didn’t want to lose me. And yet, in my anger, I had walked away.
Tears blurred my vision, hot and relentless, sliding down my cheeks. That was our problem—our problem. It wasn’t just his to bear. Relationships were messy, imperfect. He lied to me… and I had lied to him too.
But he came to tell me the truth. He came to make things right. Why, then, had I walked out on him like that?
Regret clawed at my chest, tightening with each passing second. My mind raced with panicked thoughts.
What if he left? What if he thought I wouldn’t forgive him? What if… what if I lost him?
The idea sent a jolt of panic through me, and I stood abruptly from the bench, my heart pounding. I couldn’t lose Ryan. Not like this. Not over something we could fix if we just tried.
I dropped the ice cream into the nearest trash can, my legs moving before I could think. And then I was running—running as fast as I could back to the restaurant, the world around me a blur of color and noise.
Every step felt heavier than the last, every beat of my heart pounding with a single truth.
I couldn’t lose him.
I wouldn’t lose him.
Because no matter how complicated things were, no matter how broken we both felt, Ryan was mine. And if there was one thing I was most afraid of, it was letting him go.
This wasn’t just about Amelia and her secrets, her lies, or the tangled mess she’d created.
This was about us.
And I wasn’t ready to give up. Not now. Not ever.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
