Love, Like Ghosts: A Bay City Paranormal Investigations Story

manifested, staying in control of myself has been one of the guiding principles of my life. I lost sight of that on Wednesday, and I regret that more than I can tell you. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry, that I’ll never, ever let myself forget what I did, and I’ll never let it happen again as long as I live.”
One corner of Greg’s mouth quirked upward. “Never is a long time, Adrian.”
“Maybe. But I can try.” Hope surged in Adrian’s heart when Greg’s expression didn’t change. “I also wanted to say that I think I know why you were so angry with me after I told you…what I told you. But I swear to you—I swear —that everything I said was the complete truth. I wasn’t lying, and I wasn’t making fun of you. For me, it was a huge step to be able to tell you those things. I’ve never trusted anyone enough to tell them about what I can do, or about what happened to me when I was eleven. You’re the first person outside my family who’s ever been that important to me.”
I love you. Adrian longed to say it, but the fear that Greg would think it simply a ploy to win him back stilled his tongue.
Greg closed his eyes. The dark circles underneath them stood out like bruises against the unhealthy pallor of his skin. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
Yes, you do! Ignoring the part of him that wanted to scream until he got what he wanted, Adrian forced his voice to remain soft and calm. “You don’t have to say anything. I know I hurt you, and I know I scared you. I’ll regret it forever, but I can’t change it now. What I can do is give you the time you need to decide what you want to do. I hope you’ll still want to be with me. And I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready, if that’s what you want. If you don’t…” Adrian’s voice broke. He cleared his throat and made himself go on. “If you don’t want me anymore, I’ll respect that.”
Silence fell. Adrian waited, his stomach churning. After a long moment, Greg opened his eyes and stared into Adrian’s. “I do want to be with you, Adrian. Nothing in the world could make me not want to be with you.”
After nearly three days of sickening uncertainty, this rare moment of blunt truth from Greg felt like a benediction. Adrian planted his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands as relief left him dizzy. “Thank God. I was so afraid.”
“Adrian. Wait.”
Something in Greg’s voice made the bile rise in Adrian’s throat. He met Greg’s gaze with trepidation. “What?”
Greg gave him a sad smile. “I want to be with you. But I don’t know if I can.”
Adrian’s heartbeat stumbled. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t know if I can do it. Mentally, I mean. Emotionally.” Leaning back in his seat, Greg rubbed the side of his face with one hand. “My arms are bruised where my jacket dug into them, Adrian. I know it sounds stupid since it’s just a couple of bruises, and it was just that one time with you and you’ve always been so good to me, but I can’t help it. I think to myself, what would happen if it wasn’t the only time, but the first time?” He turned his head to stare out the window at the clouds slowly covering the blue sky. “The first time Harrison hit me, I told myself I should overlook it because it was just that once and he’d always treated me great up ’til then. But of course that wasn’t the only time. It was just the first time. After I left him, I promised myself I’d never let there be a second time again.”
Adrian nodded, even though what he wanted was to prostrate himself at Greg’s feet and beg until Greg relented and gave him another chance. “I understand. I won’t bother you anymore.” Sliding to the edge of the booth, Adrian stood. He stuck his hands in his pockets so Greg wouldn’t see how badly they shook. “I’m so sorry, Greg. I’d give anything to take it back. I’d turn back time if I could. And I’ll never, ever forgive myself for ruining the best thing that’s ever happened to me, or for hurting you like I did.”
The tremor in Adrian’s voice reached the breaking point. He snapped his mouth shut, spun and hurried toward the door without looking back.
He made it halfway across the quad before his knees decided he was done walking. Dropping to the ground, he stretched out on his back and contemplated the increasingly gray sky beyond the bare branches above his head. He felt numb. Greg had just broken up with him. He hadn’t run