Page 66 of The Story Of Us

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me that I am not too late, that such precious feelings are gone forever.

I stop reading, focusing my eyes on the pouch instead, my trembling fingers pressed to the knot where it’s tied. Isaac’s hand covers mine as he takes it from me to open it, and I will my hands to stop shaking so much so that he won’t see how nervous I am.

He turns my hand over, laying it flat before tipping the contents of the pouch into it. At first, all I see is a chain of silver, but then Isaac’s fingers run gently over my palm as he untangles it to reveal a small pendant with the letter I.

I look at his face, and then he pulls the collar of his hoodie aside, reaching in to pull out a matching necklace, but his has the letter V on it.

I squeeze my eyes shut, closing my fingers around the necklace as I feel tears running down my cheeks. There’s a shift in the air as Isaac comes towards me, and then I’m wrapped in his arms, my face buried in his chest where I want to stay forever.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He whispers, holding me tightly, and I let out a noise that’s caught between a half laugh half sob.

Isaac pulls back but he’s still standing close enough to me that our shoes are touching. His hands are on my face as he tilts my head up, thumbs brushing away the tears like I did for him a few weeks ago.

“It’s a happy cry.” He lets out a small laugh, and I open my hand between us to look at the necklace again. “Will you help me put it on?”

“Of course. Turn around.”

I pass it to him and do as he says, lifting my hair as he steps closer to me, placing the necklace around my neck and fastening it. I fiddle with the pendant, making sure the I is centred, even though I want it directly over my heart, and turn around to show him.

Isaac lets out an unsteady breath, his eyes fluttering close for a second before he opens them again.

“How does it look?”

“Beautiful.” He says, but his eyes are focused on mine, and he hasn’t even glanced down at the necklace.

I twist the pendant between my fingers, reaching out to do the same to his, and he lets me, dipping his head slightly so that we’re closer.

“When did you get this?”

“A while ago,” he says, his fingers joining mine as we hold the pendants close together. “I wanted to give it to you on our birthday last year before everything happened.”

I lean up to place a kiss on his cheek, hoping that it’ll say enough, that he’ll understand I don’t blame him anymore, that I forgive him. His answering smile tells me it does.

“I’ve been wearing mine for longer since that first day back last September.”

Surely, he doesn’t mean the day we made things official, but the nervous look on his face confirms it was.

“That long?”

“I thought it might be a bit too much to give to you then, but it’s always been you for me, Violet. I’ve been keeping your one in the inner pocket of my blazer, right over my heart.”

I don’t need to hear anything else from him, and I drop the pendants, closing the distance between us as I throw my arms around his neck and hug him tightly.

26

ISAAC / VIOLET

ISAAC

Before we leave the store, I buy the copy of Persuasion for Violet, thanking the lady profusely on the way out for all of her help. I spent the past week talking to her a lot, asking her if I could arrange it in her store and then asking for her help to set the clues in each book. She was more than happy to help once I explained the situation, mainly focusing on Violet being someone I really cared about, and I wanted to do something special for her.

It wasn’t hard to think about what clues to use—I’ve kept track of every book she’s ever told me about, my own personal list of recommendations from the person I trust the most. The last one made me the most nervous, though. My heart was beating ridiculously fast as I slipped the necklace to the lady as Violet went looking for the first book. Following her around the store was like taking a walk down memory lane, and I hope it was the same for her.

The way her face dropped when she couldn’t find the last book had my stomach sinking, and I hate that for even a second, she thought I didn’t know her favourite book. She’s spoken about it so much, and from reading her copy of it, the margins filled with annotations and comments, I knew those lines were some of her favourites. It helps that they expressed how I felt, too, constantly on the verge of being optimistic but terrified of what would happen between us.

Then I got worried that giving her the necklace might be too much since it was technically only our first date. But I didn’t want another day to go by without her knowing how I feel about her, even if I can’t say the words just yet.

We hold hands on the way back to my car, and I suddenly wish we were closer to school. The thought of having to let go of her so I can drive us home makes me wish we could just walk instead. I open the door for her and close it after she gets in before going around to the driver's side.

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