A Twist of Fate (Complete)

Ch. 21 - Brad's Confession

Brad raised his head and looked into her eyes and asked, "Isn't it obvious?"

She sat there looking at him. "I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "UCLA is the best college baseball team in the country, the team you've always dreamed of playing for because you thought it would help you get signed to the Yankees. I'm not really sure why you would give that up?" 

He was quiet for a second before he shrugged and said, "Because I realized there are some things in life more important than baseball."

She laughed. "Well those are words I never thought I'd hear come out of Brad Lancaster's mouth in a million years. Who are you and what have you done with Brad?"  

He didn't smile or laugh. "I'm serious Everly," he said, taking off his baseball hat and running a hand up through his hair, letting out a frustrated exhale. "YOU are more important to me than baseball. You always have been, but I guess I lost sight of that until I lost you. I would have done anything to get you back because that's what you do when you love someone as much as I love you." 

"What are you saying? You transferred to NYU ........ for me?" she asked in disbelief, swallowing hard. Saying it out loud made it sound even crazier.

"Yeah. I did. I was sitting in California on the bench at a UCLA game when I realized being there didn't make me happy like I thought it would. My dream of playing for them had come true but there I was feeling miserable. All I could think about was how much I missed you and how empty I felt without you in my life. That was when I realized how bad I had screwed everything up and I knew I had to fight with everything I have to get you back so I wouldn't have any regrets." 

She let out an exhale and looked down at her phone that was recording their conversation for the newspaper article and she clicked stop on it. She looked up and saw his eyes getting red and watery.

"Brad," she said softly, before hesitating. She wasn't really sure what to say. It didn't matter anyway because he didn't even give her a chance to speak before he started talking again. 

"I took for granted that you'd follow me wherever I went and support my dreams because you loved me. Somewhere along the way I forgot that if I love you I should support your dreams too. It goes both ways. I'm sorry I acted like your dream wasn't as important as mine," he said with a sniffle, grabbing a napkin off of the table and wiping his nose on it. 

She sat there with wide eyes, shaking her head in disbelief that he was really saying all of this.  After thinking about it, she looked at him with scrunched eyebrows and said, "I BEGGED you to go to NYU with me but you wouldn't even consider it because you said going to UCLA was life or death to you. It's a shame you couldn't see how important I was to you BEFORE you dumped me and had sex with Amber and had to transfer to a different college just to prove you loved me."

"You're right Ev," he said, reaching across the table and grabbing her hand. "It is a shame. I was a selfish asshole and I lost focus on what mattered the most in the world to me. You. I love you Everly." 

She sat there in stunned silence feeling overwhelmed by his confession and not sure what to say, so they both sat there in silence for a few seconds. Her mind was racing and she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

She finally shook her head and pulled her hand away from his. "I'm with Keaton now and we're happy. I really wish you hadn't transferred here for me without talking to me about it first. You can't throw away your future and your dream for me, because I honestly don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you and give us another try. You have to transfer back to UCLA."

Brad shook his head and said, "No. Can't you see. I'm not throwing away my future. I'm here because I'm fighting for my future, with you. The NYU recruiter told me I can play baseball anywhere and get signed and he's right. When I made the decision to transfer to NYU I knew there was a chance you might never forgive me for what I did Ev, but I also knew that if there was even a slight chance you could take me back one day, I had to move here and fight for it with everything I have."