He stopped walking and turned to face me.
"When I finally decided to reach out, I called Adrian first," he said, running a hand through his hair, "And after chewing me out for my behavior, he told me about you and Damien. I just, I felt like I'd pushed you back to him by disappearing."
I swear I was going to kill my brother.
"I thought about calling you every day," he continued, "But then I'd think about you and Damien and I'd just, I don't know, I felt like history was repeating itself."
I stayed quiet, letting him talk.
His voice cracked slightly.
"I didn't know how to come back after that," he said, "So I didn't, and I'm sorry, Elena, I really am.”
I looked at him, at the genuine regret in his eyes, at how hard this was for him to say.
I stayed silent for a moment, taking in eve
