My Name is NOT Cupcake novel Chapter 44

It was a full week before I heard from Elias again. He called Mason who handed the phone to me. We were strained over the phone. There was tension. He wanted to see me. And I wanted to see him too. I showered and got ready before Nolan drove me to meet Elias. We agreed on meeting at a little coffee shop on Still Water territory. When we got there, Elias was already standing outside waiting for me. When I got out of the car, Elias pulled me into a bear hug. Nolan got out and growled at him.

"Nolan, it's okay. You can wait in the car," I said. Nolan quieted with a glare and got back in the car. Hesitantly, I hugged Elias back with a sigh. I must have missed him more than I realized. It felt like a weight had been lifted from me as Elias embraced me.

It has been torture without you, cupcake," he said honestly. Pulling away, I could see that he was being serious. He looked miserable. His eyes held bags under them and his eyes were puffy and red.

"Elias," I sighed as I shook my head and stepped closer to him. He took my hand and led me inside. He pulled out a chair for me and we sat in the corner of the coffee shop next to the window. He sat across from me and just looked at me with a sense of pain and longing.

"How are you?" he asked a bit eagerly. A woman sat cups of water down in front of us. I took a sip before I clasped my hands in my lap.

"I'm fine, but I could ask you the same thing. Your dad was kind of hard on you with the punishment," I said. He only shrugged.

"It doesn't even compare to the pain of being away from you for this long. I want to see you. I want to see our child grow over time. I don't care if you yell at me every day, just please come home with me. I was wrong and I'm sorry for everything. I just wanted you, please," he said, holding my hand tightly in his. I was so tempted to just go with him and forget everything, but I couldn't forget... and I couldn't be sure that he wouldn't hurt me again.

"Elias, I love you, but I can't stay with you... at least not yet. I'm still not confident that you can just... exist with me. I trust you, but it's forced. I want to trust you because I trust you. Not because some supernatural turn of fate told me to," I ranted softly. He looked happy and shocked.

"Y-You love me?" he said excitedly. I gave a chuckle and sighed as I shook my head at him.

"That's all you heard, isn't it?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, I heard everything; I was just... more elated to hear that," he said. "I love you... so much, little cupcake. You have no idea how much it means to hear you say that," he said, squeezing my hand gently. A ghost of a smile graced my lips before I sighed and took my hands out of his.