Drowning to Breathe (Bleeding Stars, #2)

by A.L. Jackson

My girl, bent in half, and broken in two. All that blonde drenched, like a swilling river overflowing with pain.

She took me by surprise when disappointment coursed from her. “You think I don’t see you?” Slowly, she shook her head. “Do you want to know what I see when I look at you, Sebastian? I see someone who takes the burden of the entire world and places it on his shoulders because he somehow thinks he deserves that weight. The one who’d bear it all if it meant those he loves would suffer a little less. I see someone who’s made mistakes just like the rest of us. Just like me. I see someone who maybe on the outside looks a little frightening. But what I’m frightened of most is how intensely he makes me feel.”

She touched her chest. “I see a man who’s loyal. Devoted. One who opened himself up enough to a love a little girl who isn’t even his. I see the man who caused me to fall so hard I didn’t know what hit me. I see a man I’d needed so badly, yet hadn’t even known it until he showed me what I was missing. I see the one I love.”

This girl who was so gorgeous and broken and scared. The woman who’d become my responsibility. My future. Because I’d be damned if I remained a prisoner to my past.

You take what you’re given and make the very best of it. Live life to the fullest even when it might feel empty. Live like there are no barriers when there are walls towering in front of you. Be prepared to fight, even in times of peace.

Those eyes met mine and he swept me away. The entire show enraptured me. Lost in his spirit. Drowning in his presence.

Life wasn’t worth living if we didn’t take the chance to go after what brought us the most joy. Wasn’t worth living if we didn’t fight to be with the ones we loved or work for the relationships that brought beauty into our lives.