Broken Bad Boy

PERCIE

It had been a while since I came back to visit her. I had been dwelling with grief, pain, and regret of losing her. I was still in denial until I found out I wasn't alone anymore so was Larkin.

I cleaned up dried leaves on her grave and placed lilies just right beside other lilies. My brows knitted while I took a seat. Who came to visit Emma? These flowers still looked fresh.

"I'm a bad brother, aren't I? I missed you so much, Em. I know it's been a while. I haven't come here often, it's not because I don't love anymore or I have forgotten you. I just can't accept the fact that you're not here with me anymore. It still hurts. I'm so sorry." I pulled one of the callas out of the vase.

"You're beautiful as this calla. You're pure, always faithful to the people you cared about. I wish we had more time together so that you had the chance to tell me the special guy you ever loved. Did you ever plan on telling me about him? Why didn't you tell me, Emma?"

"Because you wouldn't have approved." I was startled by the voice behind me and squeezed my eyes shut.

I remained seated. His shadow hovered the grave. He then took the old Calla, replacing it with a new one. "What made you so sure I wouldn't like you?"

He sat beside me. "Well, for starter, I was a bully, dubbed as the great Remy Larkin, the quarterback, could have everything and everyone in a snap of my fingers. Until I met Emma during the game. Sure you remember me. Everything's changed. I've changed because I wanted her the only girl I couldn't have, but I didn't give up."

He poured out his emotions in front of Emma and me. It was hard to listen not to revisit and reimagine Emma alive. At the same time, I felt her alive in Remy.

I took a deep breath. Tears filled my eyes as I nodded in amusement as he reminisced how they spent time together.

"After almost two years, we had our first date. I asked Em if what did she tell you. She told me that she would be with Chloe, doing their homework."

I stared at him in disbelief and chuckled. "What the fuck? All those times, she was with you?"

"Could you blame her? Well, maybe not all the time, but that was how we met so that you wouldn't have your suspicions."

"I wouldn't have known if you did not tell me earlier." I chuckled. My chest tightened. "I'm still finding it hard to believe. Until I got through her stuff. She was a sneaky little thing."

"You would do anything for love, I guess."

I stared at him. Now I could clearly see how lost and devastated he was. I had despised him for quite a while now because I thought he was so shallow. But behind the façade of his bad-boy image, he was lost in grief.

"You still love her?"

"Always will," he answered without hesitation. "She's the best thing that ever happened to me."

"I wouldn't blame you for hating me. For a long time, I blamed myself for putting Emma in a terrible position. And then for losing her. I'm still wishing I was in her situation. What I put her through was unimaginable." "No one could have foretold that accident. It was the drunk driver's fault."

"Yet you blamed me."

"Yes. And what you did in New York."

I looked down. Guilt filled my chest. "I wasn't aware Emma was sick. I swear. She and my grandparents kept her illness from me. It took me by surprise when she was already gasping for air in the middle of the road." "I was there. When you left the hospital, I asked the doctor if I could donate my kidney, but it was too late."

The chill seeped through my bones. I couldn't believe someone like Remy Larkin would do something for Emma to live.

"You dropped your subjects—"

"I just lost her. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't look at the book. All I saw was her. Everywhere I went, everything I did. I had to do it, or I lost my mind." "Does my parents know about you and Emma?"

"Yeah."

"They liked you, of course. My parents were opportunists."

"You still haven't talked to them?" His face fell.

I shook my head. "They disowned me."

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"That's why you burned down their house."

I laughed. "You knew about it, huh?"

"Yeah. After what they did to you, I would have done the same thing. My father isn't fond of me as well. I just don't like the idea of my father have expectations I have to live up to. Losing Emma did a great impact on me. And my father wasn't so pleased."

"I knew exactly how did it feel," I agreed.

"Being an heir isn't as luxurious as what people might think and see in us. I have huge shoes to fill, but I'm a person of my own. They can't tell me what to do anymore."

"Good for you."

"So why are you here?" he asked me. His voice wasn't filled with anger anymore. So did I. It felt good to talk to someone who knew Emma very well. I even felt the burden lifted off my shoulder.

"It took a while for me to check her stuff I have in my apartment." I pulled a picture I took with me and offered it to Remy.

He blew a huge breath before he took it. "I can't believe Emma still has this."

"Now you have it." Our conversation felt like we knew each other for a long time. I felt an instant connection with Remy despite I almost punched him earlier and despised him for months. Right now, I felt nothing but relieved and contentment. "This is our first date."

I scoffed. "Really? How original?"

"Where did you take Hailey on your first date? At the Lakehouse?" He was smirking at me.

I narrowed at him. "How the fuck did you know?"

"You're very predictable." He looked even amused, laughing at me.

"I'm not."

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"Fine." He rolled his eyes. "I took her to my parents' boat on our second date."

I laughed out loud. I even did a little exaggeration, lying on the ground. "Couldn't have been better."

"Shut the fuck up."

"No can do. I think Emma and I just loved the water."

"Can I have this?"

"It's yours. What are your interests with Hailey." I sat back, staring at him closely to search for the real intentions in his eyes. I only saw deep sadness.

"I think we both saw something in her that we couldn't deny."

"At first. When I got to know her, Emma and Hailey are two different persons. If you wanna be friends, I have no reasons to be against it. But that's all. She's my girl, and I would not definitely share her with you." "Your girl? Sharing?"

"Yeah. She's not your type."

"Oh, Percie. It seems that Hailey has a magnet with bad boys."

I tried hard not to end this conversation with a bloody brawl in the cemetery. "I take my words back that you and Hailey could be friends." I rose to my feet. "Stay away from Hailey."

"Jeez, Matthews." He rolled his eyes. "Loosen up a bit. I like Hailey. I wouldn't deny that, but a part of me, I know I have no fight against you. And I don't think I'm ready to be in a relationship right now. Just to be clear, you both are good together that I wanna gag."

"Bitter much?"

He checked his watch. "You better go. Her classes are just about to end."

"You skipped classes too."

He offered his hand for a handshake. "See you at school?"

"See you later."