“I...” Drake hesitated, powerful emotions of his own brimming to the surface. The truth was, he [i]had[/i] felt that pain before... but he wasn’t sure if it was the right time to share it. This was something that he’d only ever before told Aaron Sawyer, his most trusted friend. The universe didn’t need to hear about his greatest mistake. But maybe Caroline did. He gulped, pushing back the bile he felt rising in the back of his throat. Even now, all these years later, the memory sickened him. “... my wife committed suicide because of me,” Drake started out, his voice shaky as he tried to push back the emotions rising up inside of him. Caroline didn’t need to know the whole story—only that he understood her pain. “When she went through with it, she didn’t just kill herself; she killed our unborn son too. And she blamed me for everything that had gone wrong in their lives.” He’d run away from her. The situation had been a million times more complicated than that, but in the end, he’d abandoned her when she’d needed him most. When she needed Michael: the dashing rogue who’d give up his freedom for her, she’d been met with Drake: the callous outlaw who yearned for the stars. And the betrayal had broken her. It wasn’t too different from what happened between him and Caroline, he silently reflected. “But eventually I had to come to terms with what had happened. That I’d fu[i]c[/i]ked. That I [i]was[/i] to blame with everything. Before that, I still thought that I was the hero of my story... that I could change if I tried. Now... I’m fine with being a douchebag.” The words were said spitefully, but they weren’t aimed at Caroline. They were directed at himself.