Page 78 of The Story Of Us

I can’t stop the tears from escaping now, and we’re both sitting here crying, but I think we needed it, we needed to get all of this out and it feels cathartic.

“I just don’t want the same to happen to you. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did.”

“I know, and I love you so much for that. I appreciate every single thing you’ve done for me, but I need to make my own mistakes to learn from them. I’m so sorry for everything that he did to you -”

“You don’t need to apologise for anything he did. He gave me the greatest gift in the world by leaving and letting me be your mother.” She gives me a weak smile, her chin trembling as she lifts our joined hands and kisses my knuckles.

“I’ll always be yours, Mum, and I’ll always come back home, regardless of what I do or who I’m with.”

“I know, meri jaan.” She holds my cheek with her free hand, her thumb running back and forth across it as I lean into her touch. “When did you get so grown up?”

“Six years of school can really age a person,” I joke, and the small laugh she lets out is enough for me to realise that things between us are good now, that they’ve always been and will always be because she’s my mum and I’m her daughter, and that’s all either of us needs to be.

“Whatever choice you make, I’ll support it. I’m sorry for letting my insecurities get in the way of your decisions.”

“It’s okay, Mum, really. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, meri jaan.”

30

VIOLET

Isaac and I decide to come back to school a day earlier than everyone else. Every moment we spend together now just feels like we’re making up for lost time, trying to reclaim as much of it as we can. Mum was completely fine when I told her I wanted to go back a day earlier, and when I finally opened up to her about where Isaac and I stood, she was happy for me. Our relationship is stronger than it’s ever been, and nothing can break it now.

I go to his room this time, and I barely have a chance to knock on the door before it’s open, and he’s pulling me into his arms. I let out a huff of air as he crushes me to his chest and stumbles backward into his room, kicking the door closed.

“Isaac.” My voice comes out muffled and he finally loosens his grip on me just enough so that I can raise my head to look at him.

He stares down at me, moving his hands up to stroke my hair a few times, and then he’s holding my face in both of his hands as he leans down to kiss me. I can feel his smile, and it’s still there when he pulls back.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” I say, because even though we spoke to each other constantly over the break, it doesn’t compare to actually being with him.

I nudge his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and he takes that as his cue to lean down again. As much as I want to keep kissing him, there’s something that I want to talk to him about that’s been bothering me for a few weeks. I hold my hand between our mouths, and he kisses my knuckles instead.

“Okay, did you miss me, or did you miss kissing me?” I tease.

Isaac hums to himself for a second, fingers tapping against my cheeks as he pretends to be deep in thought. He tilts his head to the side, eyes focused on the ceiling, and I playfully shove at his chest to put some space between us. But he doesn’t let go and holds me tighter instead.

“I missed you so much. The kissing is just a fun bonus.”

Then he squeezes my cheeks together, peppering my face with kisses all over until we’re both laughing, and I’ve forgotten why I was pretending to be annoyed with him in the first place.

“Okay, wait, we actually need to talk about something.”

Isaac pulls back, his face lined with concern as he looks down at me. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, don’t worry.” I cradle his face in my hands to comfort him and press a kiss to his cheek before I look into his beautiful green eyes. “I was just thinking, we keep saying we want it to be different this time, and it already is. It’s so much better this time.”

Isaac smiles at me, his face bright because he knows it too.

“But if we want to do it differently, what do you think about telling our friends? I hated that I couldn’t talk to anyone about you before. I kept having to make excuses for why I was so happy all the time.”

I don’t add that I had to make excuses for why I was so distraught when we broke up, but I know his mind goes there, too, because he frowns a little before he kisses my forehead.

“Luke already knows about before. I ended up telling him after we met up that first time to discuss the project. I didn’t tell him everything, though, just that we started talking, and it turned into something more, and then I hurt you.” He lets out a deep sigh at that last part and I stroke my thumbs across his cheeks, give him a small smile to let him know that I’ve forgiven him.

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