APRILS POV
I was just about done cleaning when I heard the door swing open. The familiar sound was enough to make my shoulders tense and my heart quicken. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. I could feel him, the way his presence shifted the entire atmosphere of the room. I had to bite back a sigh and suppress the instinct to turn around and confront him. But I didn’t. Not yet.
I kept my hands busy, wiping down the counter with slow, deliberate movements, pretending I couldn’t feel his eyes on me. Pretending I didn’t care.
“April,” his voice came, low and cautious. The same voice I’d heard just before he kissed me, the same voice that had called it a mistake right after.
I didn’t turn around.
“You’re here,” I said flatly like I wasn’t even surprised. “Guess this is your idea of making up for being a ghost for months.”
I know I left, but before I did, Cassius walked out on me first and just disappeared.
Despite him being mad at me the last time he was here, I am just glad he got a taste of his own medicine.
Now he knew what it felt like.
A sharp intake of breath, then his footsteps. He was getting closer. “I didn’t know how to handle things, okay?” he said. His voice cracked just slightly at the edges like he was fighting for control. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I gripped the rag harder, fighting the urge to throw it across the room. “You didn’t hurt me, Cassius,” I muttered, the bitterness creeping in. “You disappeared.”
There was a long pause. Too long. Then he spoke again, and his voice was quieter this time, almost like he was trying to pick his words carefully as if he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. “I never wanted to leave you like that. I never wanted to make you feel like you didn’t matter.”
“Funny how you didn’t think I mattered when you called the kiss a mistake and walked out like it was nothing,” I snapped, finally turning to face him. My gaze met his, and for a split second, I almost wished I hadn’t. The vulnerability in his eyes was enough to make me falter, but I pushed it aside. I wasn’t going to let him get to me again.
“You think I didn’t care?” His voice was low now, almost raw. “You think I didn’t feel it, too? That it wasn’t tearing me up every damn day after? I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
I snorted, shaking my head, and turned back to the bar, refocusing on the task at hand. I didn’t want to hear it. Just more lies.
“You left. And I’m not just going to forget that. I’m not going to let you walk back in here like nothing happened.”
There was a long silence between us, and I could feel the weight of his gaze on me and could almost taste the regret in the air. He stepped closer, and I resisted the urge to step back.
“April,” he said softly, his voice so full of tension it made my chest ache, “I’m sorry. I’m not asking for forgiveness, but I’m asking for a chance to show you I didn’t want to hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you.”
I closed my eyes, taking a slow breath. There were too many feelings tied up in his words, too many memories of how things had been before he walked away. I couldn’t just let it all slip back into place with a few words.
“Chance?” I scoffed, dropping the rag onto the counter. “You think I’m just going to open the door and let you back in because you said ‘sorry’?”
He looked at me like I’d slapped him. “No. But I’m here now. I don’t want to lose you, April.”
I turned to face him fully then, arms crossed, trying to hold my ground. I couldn’t let him see how much his words affected me, how much I wanted him to mean it. “You already lost me, Cassius. You made that decision when you walked out and didn’t even look back. You left. And I’m not sure you even understand how much that hurt.”
His jaw clenched, and I saw the flicker of anger in his eyes, but he didn’t lash out. Instead, he took a deep breath, his frustration palpable but controlled.
“I understand more than you think,” he said, his voice tight with restraint. “I’m not proud of how I handled it, but I swear, I never meant to leave you like that. It was just… it was too much, too fast, and I couldn’t process it.”
I laughed bitterly, stepping closer. “Too much? You kissed me and then told me it was a mistake. That’s what you do when things are too much? You walk away without a word? Without a damn explanation?”
He winced at the heat in my words, but he didn’t look away. “I didn’t know what to say, April. I didn’t know what it meant. And I thought… I thought maybe if I left, I’d stop feeling the way I did about you. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.”
For a moment, the air between us seemed to thicken, and my anger faltered just a little. It wasn’t that I wanted to forgive him. I didn’t. Not yet. But part of me… part of me wanted to believe that he really hadn’t meant to hurt me.
“You should’ve figured it out before you kissed me, Cassius,” I said, my voice quieter now but no less firm. He did not know it was my first kiss. “You don’t get to show up here and ask for another chance when you clearly couldn’t handle it the first time.”
His gaze softened, and for the first time in what felt like forever, I saw him really see me. “I know. And I’m sorry. But I’m not going to pretend like I don’t want another shot. Not when I still care about you, April.”
I stood there, staring at him, weighing his words. The room felt too small, the air too thick. And despite everything, I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that the man standing in front of me wasn’t the same one who had walked out so easily, who had left me cold and alone.
But it wasn’t that easy.
“Prove it,” I said, my voice steady but cold. “Prove you’re not the same man who walked away. And I’ll think about it.”
He nodded slowly, his face a mixture of relief and determination. “I will. I swear I will.”
For the first time in a long while, I let my guard down just a little. He wasn’t going to get away with it that easily. But maybe, just maybe, I’d let him try.