Knox went back home, his thoughts in chaos as flashbacks of what had taken place at Gina's hotel room came rushing back. When he had seen her standing there, skin damp from a shower, features flushed, as beautiful as dawn, it had taken him every ounce of control he possessed to not pull her in his arms and kiss the softness of her lush lips. For a moment he had been captivated by her proximity, the freshness lingering in the air and the beauty that she so effortlessly acquired.
     And as she opened her mouth, all Knox could hear was resentment for him, but his heart had silently bloomed upon realising that her eyes hadn't spoken the same language. She still had the look in her eyes, the one she had many years ago when she had continuously told him she loved him. There was just this way her eyes softened, the way she would look away like a shy school girl because she was aware of the magnitude of the words. Knox had found hope then, even more so when she actually said the words.

       He had no idea miracles were so small but the very fact that she still loved him gave Knox more hope than anything else. The words surrounding it, he knew he was guilty of but knew he couldn't sit and wait for her to come around.

He went to his room and began to pack a bag. There were too many times that he allowed her to slip away but he wouldn't this time. Raking a hand through his thick, dark hair, Knox looked around, trying to think clearly through his haze of thoughts. There was this adrenaline pumping within him and now all he wanted to do was run, find Gina and let her know that he wouldn't give up on her.

As Knox slung the small traveling bag over his shoulder, the maid came and informed him that Sally was at the door. Curious and not wanting the interruption, Knox went down to see what she wanted.

Sally turned when she saw him. "Where's Gina?" she asked.

Knox released a sigh. "Why don't you ask her?" he asked, moving to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before he left.

     "I'm not getting her cell and I really need to talk to her," she explained, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

      "And what makes you think I know?" he asked as he opened the refrigerator door.

  Sally huffed. "Well do you?" she asked, getting a bit frustrated.

Knox regarded her with a flat stare before he pulled in a steady breath. "I think she's going to Las Vegas with that Fred guy."

Sally's brows shot up. "So are they like ...a thing or something?" she asked, amused.

Knox huffed out a breath, slamming the bottle to the counter as she flung the door shut. "Look, I don't know... I don't think so - fuçk!"

   Her eyes snapped towards the bag over Knox's shoulder. "Where are you going?"
  
      Unscrewing the cap he said, "I'm going after her," watching Sally's befuddled expression.

      "Are you crazy- No!"

      "I wasn't asking your permission Sally," he said, moving past her.

Sally ran to keep up. "You already screwed up Gina's life. The least you can do is let her move on and I think that's reasonable for all the hell she's gone through because of you."

Knox stopped and turned abruptly to confront her. "Your opinion is unneeded but yes, I admit I screwed up but what do you think I'm trying to do here? And by the way, I wasn't here when she was making a mess of her life but you were here so what did you do to try and help her? When her face was plastered across every media outlet with the most slanderous headlines, what did you say to her? What the hell did you do to help your friend?!" he snapped, voice bassy in the room.

Knox was contented by her baffled silence. It confirmed just how right he was and it gave him the escape he needed to leave without Sally further meddling in his business. But as soon as he arrived at the door, her words had him going still.

     "Say Gina forgives you, what about April? She might've signed up to be your wife but I'm sure she didn't sign up to be a mom just yet. Is this something you're gonna force on her again?"

Knox saw her raised eyebrows and the questions lingering in her deep blue eyes. Before he had the chance to say anything, she was already saying more.

    "If all this is meant to be then it will be but right now if it's space Gina wants then give it to her. Maybe she'll eventually come around and come back to you."

Knox scoffed. "I think you should get to know your friend a bit more. Gina doesn't come back... Even if she wants to somehow make amends, she won't say it, she won't come to me and say it. I have to be there when she does," he explained, staring pointedly at Sally before he relaxed his shoulders and sighed. "Look, I take full responsibility for all the silly, selfish things I did but the greatest part about realising your mistake is fixing it and that's what I'm gonna do. I won't lose her again."

~***~

Fred and Gina was just minutes away from the airport, driving along traffic roads with Gina in the passengers seat and Fred driving beside her. They had spoken until silence now intervened and beckoned the collection of thoughts.
       As always Knox plagued Gina's line of thinking and no matter how hard she tried to rid herself of his memories, he was always popping up. It was pointless to try and convince herself that she didn't want to be with this man - to give them another chance because really, he was the only man she ever considered being serious about. Both in the past and now.
   She briefly glanced Fred's way and saw the small smile on his face - he was just glowing with happiness to be with her, Gina realised, and it somehow made her feel guilty. She didn't want to string Fred along knowing that she wouldn't feel the same way about him. Gina knew that no matter how many times Fred had said he was alright with a platonic relationship, he still had feelings for her.

    She swallowed hard before she spoke. "Fred..." he briefly took his eyes off the road to reply to her.

     "Yeah, everything ok?"

     "I- I can't go," she softly said, her voice a bit hoarse. "I'm sorry."

Fred's head snapped towards her, clearly surprised. "Wh- what, why not?" he asked, turning off the road to park. Gina sighed.

    When he parked and turned the ignition off he turned to her. "What's going on?"

     "I just can't go," she said regarding him apologetically- her gaze soft as she looked at his frazzled expression. "I love Knox and no matter how my mind constantly tells me to forget him, it's my heart that let's me remember..." she trailed off, seeing the defeated look on Fred's face. "I'm sorry."

Fred raked his fingers through his hair and sighed. "You're only hurting yourself Gina...he doesn't love you..."

    "No, I'm the one hurting myself by being here. I'm prone to acting beyond myself and who knows what could happen in Vegas of all places-"

   "Then we can go somewhere else," he intervened quickly. "Warner isn't a good guy for you, don't you see that?"

   Gina scoffed. "I thought you said you understood-"

     "And I do. I understand that you love him but all he'll ever do is hurt you again. You can't just forgive him and forget everything he's done to you," Fred exclaimed.

      "I'm no saint Fred and I'm guilty of doing things I shouldn't have done - things I regret so I can't cast the stone at Knox for doing the same thing just because I'm the one who got hurt."

Silence filled the car for some passing seconds. "Ok," Fred finally said, his voice heavy with emotions. Quietly he started the car and turned it around, headed home and no longer Las Vegas.

~***~

Gina felt guilty because she knew that confessing her feelings and declining the getaway hurt Fred and that was far from what she wanted. Dropping her off, he had said goodbye and judging by the tone and the look he gave her, Gina knew it would possibly be her last time seeing him.

Sighing heavily, she knocked on the door to Sally and Jamie's place and awaited it to be opened. She really needed to see and talk to her best friend. Seconds later it opened to Sally whose eyes widened at the sight of her friend.

     "What are you doing here?" she gawked.

     "Nice to see you too, Sally," Gina flatly stated.

      She shook her head. "No- I mean... I thought you were gone."

Gina's brows knitted. "Gone where?" she asked suspiciously.

    "Um," she scratched her neck. "With Fred."

    Gina's brows shot up. "How did you know I was going away with Fred?"

Sally's gaze fell to the traveling bag at her feet. "Well aren't you?"

Gina sighed. "Well not anymore, anyway. Who told you I was going away with Fred?"

Sally walked further inside, leaving the door open for Gina to enter. When they were in the living room, she paused and turned to face her. "Knox did."

Gina was about to ask how he knew when she remembered he might've overheard when she was at the hotel.

       "When did he tell you?"

     "Today. I went by to ask about you, seeing that I couldn't get a hold of your damn phone," she raised a brow at her before she continued. "And then he told me."

Gina swallowed. "Oh, I-"

     "Shit!" Sally cut in, causing Gina to stare at her curiously.

      "What?"

       "I think you should call him."

        "Why?"

          "Because he's possibly boarding a flight to Las Vegas as we speak."

Gina's eyes widened to saucers. "What?"

       "He said he was going after you, that he couldn't lose you again and..."

Gina sucked in a breath. "He was going go after me?" she asked, unable to believe it.

      "Yes, call him now before..."

Gina quickly shuffled through her bag for her phone, her hands basically shaking as he did so. "I turned it off earlier," she said, waiting impatiently for it to come on. "Can I borrow yours?"

Sally quickly retrieved it from the coffee table and handed it to her. Dialling his number, Gina's heart plummeted as she awaited for him to answer but her heart slightly fell when it went straight to voicemail.

She sighed. "He's not answering," she told Sally when suddenly her own phone rang.

It was Jamie.

     "Ah, hey," she greeted, trying to sound chipper about her brother's call when all she really wanted to do was talk to Knox.

     "Have you heard?" his voice sounded soft, almost pitiful.

      "Heard what?" Gina asked, watching as Sally took the phone to reply to a message. Gina wasn't so focused on Jamie's words as much as she was focused on Sally's expression when a content in her phone had her going pale. Her head snapped to Gina and in her gaze held sorrow.

     "Warner's been in an accident," he said and that was all it took to spin Gina's world out of focus.

Through this confusion, this haze, this unforseen tale, Gina watched as Sally reached for the remote and turned on the television. She switched through a few channels before she finally came upon the news and there she saw a reporter at the scene of an accident, cars smashed together, fire fighters at the scene. Gina heard that Knox was involved and then she heard nothing else because her eyes were fixated on the black SUV she recognised to be his.
     Jamie was repeatedly calling her name to get a response and at the other end, Sally covered her mouth as she listened to the unfortunate tale.

Tears ruined her makeup and sorrow ruined the hope she had felt in her heart just moments ago.

______________
Author's note:

Hey guys! How's everyone doing? I hope you all are great ❤

Well, how was the chapter? Did y'all enjoy? Lol, don't kill me 😀.Make your predictions about the upcoming chapter peeps 😉

And until next time,
Stay warm. Live good. Love ❤
Laters baby!
Xoxo
Juju