Dedicated to:MioneAnnabeth

Thanks buddy, for being so awesome while commenting and giving me shoutouts! I appreciate it highly! <3 Love ya' !! XD

Big thanks to my bae iiNoxxii for these fantabulous covers!! They're damn cute omg I love you!! Do check out her amazing books guys, she really is one of my favorite authors!

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"I never wanted to go away and the hard part now is leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven"

~Louisa May Alcott

Claire's POV

As dusk approached, the susurration emanating from the rustling leaves of the California sycamores could be heard throughout the neighbourhood. It was a time so serene that all my worries would get carried away by the mighty gale's drifting from the vast Californian oceans.

I sat on a bench, listening carefully to this stranger who narrated his story to me, advising about what I'm supposed to do in this situation.

"You see, Claire, sometimes you have to be the smart one" Connor said, his eyes fixated on the slice of the blazing sun setting "You're just a teenager now; you haven't even faced the real world. You say that your boyfriend doesn't trust you, oh well, go out there and you'll find that no one is trustworthy. I was a teenager once and I would make a big deal out of the tiniest of circumstances. For instance, I have a twin brother and I always felt insecure about myself because the thought of him being better than me perturbed me but I learned to grow out of it, knowing that brooding over this won't do any good"

His words sparked in me, what I would call shame. It was true. Indeed I was making a big deal out of this "What should I do?"

"Let it go" he looked at me "Be the smart one. Kill 'em with kindness, you know? If he truly loves you, he's gonna come after you and if he doesn't, you should go to him. Because, if you want this to work out, sometimes you have to compromise and even though it hurts knowing that you're sad about the right thing, it's better to forgive the other person"

Involuntarily, the corners of my lips twitched into a smile of appreciation. I nodded "You're right. Can you tell me how you and you're wife met?"

"Ah that's long story" he giggled, his blue eyes sparkling with enthusiasm "But I shall say, she and I were in a situation like you once but we grew through it – forgave eachother even though we both had hurt one another a lot"

"Sweet" I muttered, admiring his charisma and finally getting hope that Logan and I might work out "What's her name?"

"Kimberly, and she's gorgeous"

Logan's POV

I heard the last calls of the birds as they made their way to their respective homes, gliding through the orange sky.

My fingers twitched, consciousness focused on Adriel and my mother's conversation as they discussed my departure. Adriel had strictly demanded me to stay out of their argument but my mind wouldn't rest as I listened to their raised voices.

It was hard for me not be a part of it, so I stormed into the living room, interrupting both of them. Judging by the distressed look on Adriel's facade, I concluded that she was nowhere close to triumph.

"Logan, we talked about this" my mom said, crossing her hands "Who asked you to drag your friend into this?"

"Mom...I'm going to be honest with you. I am completely against the idea of departing from California just four months before my finals that I've worked on for more than a year"

"I understand honey" she paced closer to me "But you can repeat your school year and get even better grades"

"You don't understand!" I protested "I'm going to lose one year! I don't need another year of preparation, I can ace these exams! Do we really have to leave now?"

"Yes, we have to leave now"

Adriel walked up beside her "But Mrs. Walker, can't you postpone your departure to four months later? Then Logan will be off to college and you can head to Paris"

"Children, I know this sucks for you" she said "But I need to launch this start up right away. My sis and I have been preparing for it for a long time now and we're ready"

"But it's not fair!" I yelled "I have been preparing for my exams too! And you're startup can obviously, wait!"

"Your grades won't determine your future" her face twisted into anger, her voice raised to a stern and husky one – the one that gave me shivers "Stop questioning my decisions Logan, I've seen more of the worldly problems than you have. You're just like you're father and I don't want you to turn into a person who breaks other people's trust"

Her words were harsh; they left me staring at her in dismay at the mention of my real father.

I bit the inside of my cheek, glaring at her, screaming from my eyes with a love full of hatred.

I let my gaze drift to somewhere behind her, looking at the hues of the white clouds gradually materialize into hazy blue as evening fell.

I backed away from her. Without another word, I walked out of there.

"Logan...?" Adriel asked as she followed me outside "Logan stop, please"

I ceased, not meeting my gaze with her "It's over"

She walked up behind me, placing her palm on my back "What? No...we can still–"

"No there's nothing we can do" I turned to face her "Absolutely nothing"

"I don't understand" she shook her head in perplexity "You're mother as I knew her would always go out of her way to fulfill your wishes"

"She still does" I said, looking at my feet "It's just that she doesn't think it's a problem to repeat another year. She's a highly successful entrepreneur afterall, school didn't affect her much"

"Y-You can stay with me...with Claire, you can stay with us while she's gone!"

"I asked her that, but she refused, stating that I needed to settle in Paris"

"When're your parents divorcing?" she asked, shaky breaths escaping her throat.

"I don't know...after she launches the start up, I guess"

"That's it!" she snapped her fingers "You don't need to leave with her, you can stay with your father, here in California, until their divorce and give your exams"

I laughed nervously, shaking my head with consternation "Addy, my father doesn't like me enough to take care of me. Why else do you think he agreed with mom's decision?"

Her expression dropped in utter surprise as if she had heard something unworldly. While I was used to knowing there were more people out there who hated me than people who didn't.

A thought struck me suddenly – if my fate really was departing from everyone I loved, then I'd better do it the right way.

"I think it is better that I leave" I murmured, earning a look of disgust from Adriel.

Annoyed, she asked "What did you say?"

I repeated what I said, adding "It wouldn't affect a lot of people anyway"

"Are you fucking crazy?" she pushed my shoulder "What do you mean? It's going to affect a hell lot of people, you asshole!"

"Adriel!" I urged for her to stop yelling "Can't you see? I hurt people. I hurt people who truly love me! I deserve to stay away from them"

"You've never hurt me!" her voice broke a little as if she held back a whimper.

"I'm hurting you right now" I placed my hand on her shoulders "This is the bitter truth. Let it sink in. I'm a bad person and Claire deserves so much better, and so do you"

"No! You've lost your fucking mind!" she pushed my hands away "Are you just going to leave us behind?"

"Yes"

Her lips parted and she paused for a long time, hearing my abrupt answer "Don't do this..."

"I will cut all ties too" I smiled sadly "After I leave, I'll switch my phone, delete all my social media accounts, everything. I deserve this. Because I'm just like my father and I don't want to hurt people anymore"

"W-What? Wow, you can't do that" she gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, twisting it in fury "I'm not gonna let you, you can't cut us out completely, are you crazy?"

"You can't stop me either" I pursed my lips "It's the best thing I can do. My mom gets to follow her dreams, I get away from my father who hates seeing me every day and...you guys won't have to handle a broken guy who keeps hurting you"

She ran her hands through her hair, squeezing her eyes shut. Exhaling, she took me in her arms, hugging my waist. She whimpered into my shirt "Please don't do this Logan, we love you"

"There's nothing I can do to stop it either" I caressed her hair "If I leave, Claire is going to hate me and she will cut all ties with me herself. So, I want to cut ties with this place and everyone I've ever met here. This place will remind me of her. I'll wait till our paths cross again in MIT"

She hugged me tighter, initiating an excruciating pain in my chest, from the wound. I let go because this emotional pain needed to be overpowered by something.

"Addy?" I asked, lifting her face so she was looking at me "Don't tell Claire about this"

"Why?" she whined "She needs to know"

"She'll hate me if she does and I want to spend this remaining time with her, happily"

"So...you'll just...leave? Without telling her?"

"Yeah" I shrugged "I'll text her on the day of my departure. I'll hurt her just one last time"

"God, no, she's going to be so damn depressed" she wiped a tear.

"She is going to be depressed anyway, no matter when I tell her" I shrugged "So Addy, promise me you won't tell her about this"

She hugged me again "She needs to know"

"Promise me you won't tell her"

For a long time, she buried her face in my shoulder, wiping her tears off, thinking probably. In a low, heart-broken voice, she replied "I promise"

I hugged her back when she said that and muttered to her that it's going to be okay. She cried for a long time after that but I knew this was the right thing to do.

I've already hurt Claire a lot. I'll hurt her this one last time and then she won't have to handle me anymore.

You're just like your father...

I broke hearts.

And I was afraid – what happened with my father would happen with me, especially while having Claire by my side.

I was tired of this worldly weight on my shoulders trying to make everyone happy and posing as the good guy. I was tired.

Claire would hate me forever, not that I could do anything about it.

But she was the best, I would always love her.

Always.

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Excuse me while I go bawl my eyes out in my closet T_T

So...yes. Shit happens, but hey, this story isn't over yet! Don't lose faith in me guys XD

For those of you who don't know who Connor Parker is - he is a character that I whole heartedly love and he's from the book 'Twin Tussle', the first story I wrote :)

I hope you like the new title and the cover!

I love you guys to the moon and back, seriously, you're the best people in the world :D

Vote and comment to let me know what you think about the story so far buds! Stay awesome <3

Love, K

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