As I made my way up the stairs, I heard a faint sob coming from the living room and I wondered if it was just my imagination. I looked back at where Ashley was laying and never heard the sound again. I took a deep breath and headed up the stairs. I closed the door to my room and fell back against my bed.

I closed my eyes tightly not wanting to think about what was going to happen. I had a decision to make and it wasn’t going to be easy.

—-

“Did you cry that night?” I asked looking at Ashley’s face.

She looked up at me with a confused look. She had no idea what night I was referring to and she looked at me waiting for me to ask again.

“When I got accepted…I heard a noise…I could have sworn it was someone crying…but then it stopped and I didn’t think about again…” I stroked her cheek and felt my eyes water. “Was it you? Were you crying?”

She lowered her eyes and nodded her head. “I couldn’t help it Spence…it felt like the whole world had just caved in.” She said causing the tears to fall down my face.

“Why didn’t you tell me that?” I said wondering why she kept all this from me for so long.

“Because you wouldn’t have gone…and I didn’t want you to regret that decision.” She said softly.

“Ashley the only thing I regret is ever leaving you….Harvard was a great experience but what I shared with you meant more to me than any stupid school ever could. You have no idea how many times I wanted to pack up and leave to come back to you…but when we started losing touch I…I couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing you again so I immersed myself in my studies.”

She stayed silent as I spoke to her. Her body was tense and I wasn’t sure what she was thinking about.

“Ash? What’s wrong?” I said looking into her eyes with a concerned look.

“Nothing Spence…I just…I should have been there for you…and I wasn’t…”

I shook my head and smiled at her. “Ash…you were always there. You were here.” I put her hand to my temple. “And always here.” I said finally placing her hand over my heart.

She pulled me in tighter and we stayed like that for the rest of the night. I couldn’t sleep at all and neither could Ashley. We listened to each other breath as the time passed by us slowly.