Chapter 23

"I love you. I have loved you since we were fifteen. It's another thing that I should've told you a long time ago, but I did it for you." He let himself fall back onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair again. "It started with a crush. I looked at you as a friend, only to realize I love you. You said you weren't looking for a relationship and I respected that. I tried not to love you, but it quickly backfired because my love only grew more."

"Evan, I--"

"You don't know how much it hurt me yesterday when you said you saw me as a brother," his voice cracked. His unshed tears started rushing from his eyes and down the sides of his head. "I should've lowered my expectations."

I didn't notice that I had a hand covering my mouth until I felt a tear fall onto it. All the time, he would make jokes about wanting to be in a relationship with me and I thought they were what they seemed to be; jokes. I never gave it a second thought as to what they were.