He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 02

He Said I Was Slow to Commit While He Was Slow to Tell Me About Her Chapter 02

He fell asleep before I did.

I got up and stepped onto the balcony.

My finger hovered over the call button for a few seconds before I pressed it.

The phone rang three times.

A soft female voice answered, warm and sleepy.

“Hello?”

“It’s me. Avery.”

There was a beat of silence, then a quiet laugh.

“How did you get my number?”

“From Garrett’s phone.”

“Oh.”

She did not sound nervous.

“Did he tell you I’m coming back?”

I did not answer.

“Avery, I’ve actually wanted to thank you for years,” Stella said. “If you hadn’t invited me home for Christmas freshman year, I never would have met Garrett.”

For a second, my mind went blank.

Then the memory came back.

Freshman year, winter break.

Stella lived in the dorm room next to mine. Her parents were spending the holidays out of state, and she could not get home in time for Christmas Eve.

When my mother found out, she told me to bring Stella with me.

No one should spend Christmas alone, she said.

Garrett was there that night too.

He sat across from me, sliding the onions off my plate because he knew I hated them and quietly saving me the crispest roast potatoes.

Stella sat beside me, eating quietly.

Every now and then, she looked up, her gaze lingering somewhere between Garrett and me.

At the time, I assumed she envied how certain everyone thought we were.

“He waited for you for four years,” I said.

A few seconds passed.

Stella gave a soft, “Mm.”

“I know. He came to see me abroad twice. Last Christmas too. But I still hadn’t decided whether I wanted to come back.”

“And now?”

“Now I have.”

Her voice carried a gentle certainty.

“Avery, I’m not coming back to take anything from you.”

“He waited for me for four years. You were beside him for all of them. You two had eight years. He and I barely had a handful of moments. But some things just happen when the timing is right. Don’t you think?”

I gripped the phone.

No words came.

That old habit of freezing when something hit too hard took over again.

All I could hear was the sound of fireworks on New Year’s Eve sophomore year.

Garrett had stood in my parents’ backyard with his face turned toward the sky, holding a sparkler that had already burned out.

Stella stood two steps behind him.

The corners of her mouth were lifted in a quiet smile.

The fireworks had been too loud that night.

No one said anything.

“Avery? Are you still there?”

I came back to myself.

“Yeah.”

“Come tomorrow,” she said. “The three of us should sit down and talk. Some things need to be said out loud.”

I closed my eyes.

After we hung up, I went back to bed and turned my head toward the man sleeping inches away.

Garrett, you filled every corner of my life.

You cared what time I left in the morning. You had opinions about what I wore and which route I took home.

When I worked late, you waited outside the station.

When I said I was cold, you gave me your coat.

When I moved slowly, you pushed.

When I hesitated, you decided for me.

When I said, “Let me think about it,” you had already arranged everything.

At every major turn in my life, you stood there pointing the way.

So why was Stella the one thing you never said a word about?