Late

Late
Serena heard the sound of Paul's footsteps getting closer to her bedroom. She turned just as he swung the door wide open.

The two stared at each other.

It was Paul who spoke first.

"Can we talk?" He asked her as he motioned to the living room.

Serena nodded. She slowly moved her hands against her lower back making her way out of the bedroom into the sitting area. She sat on the sofa's armrest closest to her.

Paul sat on the puffy light blue accent chair across from where she was facing. "Serena, I know it's late and you're probably tired but so much happened today-"

"I'm sorry I kissed you," she interrupted him as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's just Heather," she growled. "Fucking Heather Lindley. I can't stand her air of superiority." She scrunched her nose in disgust. "And the way she behaves like she has a claim on you."

"Serena, she isn't a factor," he quickly dismissed. "I don't need to talk about Heather tonight or ever. I need to talk about what happened between you and Iris earlier."

She gasped. Heather's presence had nearly made her forget.

She stood, turning her back to him. "I can't right now," she whispered feeling as the guilt she felt earlier came rushing back tenfold. "I can't bear to talk about it right now, Paul, please don't make me."

She heard movement behind her and then she felt his hands on her shoulders spinning her around to face him. "Serena, you weren't the reason Mom had a heart attack. You need to know that." He reached for her chin pulling it to face him. "George may be at Mom's feet right now but he gave her many hard years. That can cause a lot of stress in a lifetime." His eyes looked downward. "And my silence didn't help ease her worries."

She was about to argue but he stopped her.

"That would make it my fault. If you had convinced me to come back the very moment we ran into each other in Hawaii, she still would have wound up at the hospital." He reasoned. "Years of stress cannot heal in one week."

She hugged herself. "I still wish I had told them right away about you." She slowly pulled away from him. "I had no right to keep you from them." A lone tear spilled from her left eye.

Paul reached up and wiped it away before it reached her jaw. "Don't live in the past, Serena." He said softly. "We can't change what already happened."

She sniffled. "I can't help it, Paul."

He grabbed her hand, pulling her to the sofa.

She intertwined her fingers, placing her hands between her knees.

Paul leaned toward her. His knee was touching hers.

"Serena, I never planned on returning to Apple Bay," he confessed in a quiet tone. "Even after I saw you in Maui, I thought we would spend some of our vacation together but in the end, you would go your way and I would go mine. That heart attack was the only reason I came back."

She released a deep breath she hadn't realized she was holding until the feeling of relief filled her chest. She covered her face with her hands. "Oh, I'm so relieved!" The words were muffled. She moved her hands away from her face. "This was weighing heavily in my conscience all day long, it feels like I aged ten years."

For the first time that day, everything was beginning to make sense again.

Well, almost everything.

"Paul," she spoke softly.

He reached for her hand, "Hmm?"

"Who's Bruce Marshall?"