He Promised to Catch Me. Then He Pushed Me Off the Edge Chapter 09

He Promised to Catch Me. Then He Pushed Me Off the Edge Chapter 09

Ethan recovered faster than I expected.

I didn’t think he’d come find me again.

His ribs probably weren’t fully healed. His stance was slightly off. He was wrapped in a black down jacket. His face was so thin his cheekbones jutted out.

Then he saw me. A dim light flickered back into his hollow eyes.

He held something out. A small velvet box.

“Your birthday’s coming up. I gave you a gift every year. I wanted to… this year too.”

I didn’t take it.

He smiled, pained. He opened the box himself.

A thin silver chain. A tiny airplane charm.

“I was going to buy something else. But I walked around for hours and still ended up with this one.”

His mouth twisted with self-mockery.

“That’s me, I guess. Always making the wrong choice at the wrong time.”

“The academy’s letting me keep my enrollment. I cut Vivian off completely. I just wanted you to know… being a pilot is my thing. I’m never going to force you to change. Let people say whatever

they want.”

“If you don’t want me to be a pilot, I can—”

“Your life isn’t my business.”

I cut him off.

Of course I’d heard what happened between him and Vivian. She got detained and deported. She tried to go after Ethan again, and he made sure the whole town knew exactly how she got caught abroad. It didn’t take long before Vivian couldn’t even land a job. She had to slink back to her

hometown.

The color left Ethan’s face inch by inch, until there was nothing left.

“Ethan. You don’t need to give up your life for anyone. Just like I don’t need to cure my acrophobia for anyone.”

“We didn’t break up because you wanted the sky. We broke up because you never saw me standing next to you.”

He tried to speak. Nothing came out. His eyes glazed red.

“I know you’ve done a lot of thinking since I left.” My tone stayed level.

“But it doesn’t fix anything. You still shoved me off a platform without blinking. You still left me on

that mountain and went to bed like nothing happened.”

“Nora.”

“Go home. Heal up. Fly. Don’t fly. That’s on you. Just stop using my name to justify it.”

He was silent for a long time. I thought he’d given up.

Then he reached out. He pressed the little airplane necklace into my palm.

“Keep it. You don’t have to wear it. Just keep it somewhere. Think of it as… proof. Proof I once promised to hold you up forever.”

He turned and walked away.

His dark figure shrank against the snow, smaller and smaller, until the white swallowed him whole.

I looked at the necklace for a long time. The tiny plane glinted cold under the streetlight.

In the end, I dropped it in the trash. I stood there, watching the snow fall heavier, my thoughts

somewhere far away.

My phone buzzed and pulled me back.

A message from Dr. Cole in the group chat.

[Everyone, Owen Sterling’s joining the lab next Wednesday as a visiting researcher. Make him feel

welcome!]

A flood of emojis followed. Thumbs up. Party poppers. A few overenthusiastic GIFS.

I stared at the name for a second. The neighbor upstairs. The baked ziti. I hadn’t heard from him

since that night.

But somehow, here he was. On my research team.

Outside, the world went soft and blurry behind the snow. I watched the flakes disappear into the

dark, falling from somewhere so far up I couldn’t see.

The sky had never belonged to me. That was okay. The ground beneath my feet was solid enough,

Steady enough. Strong enough to carry me wherever I wanted to go. Even if there was no one there. to hold me up.