Unclassic Hero Book 2

My heart shatters into countless fragments as I cradle a weeping Sydney in my arms, swaying us gently on the floor of her dorm room.

I’ve just done the unthinkable, the one thing I swore I’d never do—I’ve broken her heart. It’s the last thing I want, and I can only hope she’ll forgive me someday.

Her whispers of “No,” and “Why?” fill the room. All I can think is, she’ll understand why this is for the best, eventually.

I want to be with her forever, like I said, but she’s just starting her life. There’s so much she hasn’t seen or done that I already have.

I owe it to her to let her find herself without me. If or when she does, I hope we'll find each other again.

I’m taking a massive risk. I could be saying goodbye to her forever right now, but something inside me insists that’s not the case. We will find each other again, and then our forever can begin.

When her crying finally subsides, I realize she’s fallen asleep, her small hands still gripping my tear-soaked shirt.

Gently, I lift her up and lay her on her bed, pulling a blanket over her.

It takes every bit of strength I have not to wake her and tell her it was all a terrible dream, that I didn’t do what I did. She curls up into a tiny ball but doesn’t stir.

I move to her desk and sit, watching her sleep for a few minutes. She’s so sweet, so beautiful, and I love her more than anything in this world. What the hell am I doing?

I grab a notepad and pen from her desk and write my final goodbye. My hand moves across the paper, forcing the words out, and I feel like the worst kind of person.

Am I a complete coward, or am I doing her a favor? Only time will tell. As the cliché goes, if you love something, set it free, and if it comes back, it’s meant to be.

I couldn’t wish for anything more than for that to be true right now. I leave my pathetic note by her bed and walk toward the door, pausing to look at her one last time.

“I’m so sorry,” I whisper to her before I open the door and walk out of her life.

After a miserable flight, I arrive back at my hotel in LA and head straight to my room. I decide not to tell the guys that I’m back yet. I had told them what I was doing and got mixed reactions.

Kevin called me a fucking idiot, Jake agreed with Kevin but understood at the same time, and Harrison seemed annoyingly pleased about my decision.

If he thinks I’ve done this because I want to start living the single life, then he’s dead wrong.

If things were different, I’d go out and buy a diamond ring right now, quit the band, and fly back to Sydney right now and make her my promise. But I can’t do that, not yet. She’s too young.

She only thinks she’s ready for forever.

I reach for my journal, something I started writing after my father died, something to help me process everything that happened after his death. I open it and pull out the letter he wrote to me.

I fold the letter, tucking it back into my journal. I’ve read his words so many times, they’re etched into my memory.

His words are part of why I let her go. It’s a decision I’ve wrestled with for nearly a year. I couldn’t do it before, and I’m not sure I can now.

I want her to understand that she’s everything I want. The image of her face when I ended things is etched into my mind, a nightly ghost.

It’s as if all her doubts about us were confirmed, as if she never truly believed I could want her as much as I do. She couldn’t be more wrong. I wish she had more faith in me.

I suppose I also wished she would fight for us, but she just let me walk away. I fear I’ve made a grave mistake, but I have to let this play out.