Chapter 83 I Need You
Derek swallowed hard, his thumb gently brushing over her knuckles, as he allowed her talk.
"I should’ve told you the truth from the very beginning," she went on, her voice shaking. "I liked you. No, more than liked you. From the first day I met you. You were frustrating and arrogant and impossible… but you were kind in ways you didn’t even realize. Not everyone would help out the way you did."
She let out a soft, broken laugh as she forced herself to continue. "I was just… so hurt back then. Too hurt to believe someone like you could ever want me for real."
Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment as if the weight of her emotions was exhausting her.
"And the baby,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have hidden it. I was scared. I thought you’d see it as a trap. Like I was trying to force you into something you never wanted especially since you don't want a real marriage. You don't believe in love."
Her breathing grew uneven. "That’s why I fought with you all the time," she confessed. "Because you didn’t want a real marriage. You made it clear it was just business to you. And I couldn’t stand the thought of being someone you tolerated instead of someone you chose and truly wanted."
Tears streamed freely now. "I didn’t want to be your responsibility," she whispered. "I wanted to be your choice."
Derek felt his heart shatter completely. She opened her eyes again, looking at him with a sad, tender smile. "But none of that matters now. I just… I needed you to know. Even if this is only a dream."
"Rebecca," Derek said, his voice thick with emotion. "This isn’t a dream.”
She frowned weakly. "You're lying. I was left in that fire. Vanessa set the whole place on fire. I was left to die. I had died," she said as though trying to tell herself it was the truth.
He leaned closer, resting his forehead gently against hers, careful not to hurt her. His breath trembled softly. "You’re here with me. You’re alive. And I’m right here with you."
She searched his face, confused. "But… the fire..."
"You made it," he said softly. "You scared me half to death, but you made it."
Fresh tears streamed down her face. "You didn’t leave?"
"Not for a second," he replied without hesitation. "I stayed. I’ll always stay."
Rebecca’s lips parted, disbelief written all over her expression. "Derek…"
"I'm here," he said firmly. "And I’m not going anywhere."
She searched his face, as if trying to find a crack in the truth, but all she saw was honesty raw, unguarded, terrifyingly sincere.
"I love you," Derek said quietly.
Her breath caught as she looked at him sharply, she couldn't have heard right. “You love me? How? You don't believe in love. You never showed it. You never wanted it. Not with me or someone else.”
"Yeah. I know I never wanted marriage," he continued, his voice shaking. "I told myself it wasn’t for me especially after what I saw in my parents marriage. I told myself love was never meant for me when I discovered someone had been paid to love me. I told myself I could never get it right. That it was just a lie. I used to believe love never existed and marriage was just a prison. That it was just another transaction. But after I met you, I started questioning it. And that day, when I saw you lying lifeless and I had thought I had lost you, that I had cost you everything, I realized how wrong I was. I realized that I've always wanted you especially when I realized we had a past. Especially when I saw how you'd get mad when I talk about other girls. I realized you might love me and I was hurting you. That day, seeing you that way, me thinking I might never see you again when I tried all I could to find you made me realize I don't want to live without you. It made me realize I needed you."
He squeezed her hand gently as tears glistened in Rebecca's eyes.
"I'm sorry it took me almost losing you to realize what I have. I don't want a contract, Rebecca," he said firmly. "I want you. I choose you. Every messy, stubborn, beautiful part of you."
She broke down then, quiet sobs shaking her fragile body. Derek immediately leaned closer, brushing her tears away with trembling fingers.
"I’m here," he whispered over and over. "You’re safe. We’re safe."
Rebecca laughed softly through her tears. "You always say the right things when I’m broken."
"Because you matter," he said. "You always have and I'm sorry for not realizing it on time."
She looked at him with a mixture of love and disbelief. "I thought I was alone."
"You weren’t," he replied. "You never were."
And for the first time in days, Rebecca allowed herself to believe that maybe, just maybe, they had survived not just the fire, but everything that came before it too.