Page 82 of The Story Of Us

“So, do we tell her?” she asks again.

“Let’s tell her together. I feel bad that I’ve been lying to her, too. And I was kind of mean to her a couple of times whenever she mentioned you, so this will probably help her realise why I was like that.”

“You want to tell her everything?” Violet lifts her head from my chest to look at me, the prettiest brown eyes staring into mine.

“Yeah, why not? She’s important to both of us.”

Violet nods, her chin pressing into my chest right above my heart, but I don’t even mind the sting of pain there when she’s looking at me like this.

“Okay,” she says before nuzzling into me again, and it’s not long before she’s yawning and drifting off to sleep.

I stay as still as possible, waiting until I hear that change in her breathing that tells me she’s deep asleep, and then I move her off me slowly, shifting her body so that her head is on the pillow, and then I tuck the covers around her.

“Jaanu, jaanu, jaanu,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her forehead before I leave.

VIOLET

The school year seems to be going by in the blink of an eye, and it’s already half-term break again. Isaac and I are both going home this week because he needs to talk to his parents about Oxford, and I just want to spend time with my mum.

We’ve still managed to keep our relationship a secret from Izzy as we’ve waited for the perfect chance to tell her. But time seems to be getting away from all of us, so we decided to tell her today before we all go home tomorrow.

I texted her last night and asked her to come and see me before she went home with Isaac, telling her that I had a book I wanted to give to her. In reality, there is no book, and Isaac is pacing around my room while he tries to figure out how he can explain our relationship to her. It’s cute watching him go back and forth, murmuring under his breath, but then there’s a knock at the door and he stops and stares at me, eyes wide as he shakes his head.

“I actually don’t think we need to tell her,” he whispers, standing in front of me to block my way to the door.

“Isaac.” I cross my arms across my chest, rolling my eyes at how dramatic he’s being. “It’s fine. I’m sure she’ll be okay with it.”

“But what if she hates me for lying to her?”

“I think she’d hate me. You’re her brother.”

“That’s exactly why she’ll hate me!”

I shove him to the side as the knocking continues, and he presses himself against the wall behind the door.

“Oh my god, you’re ridiculous,” I say as I open the door and take his hand to drag him away from the wall.

“Hi Vi-” Izzy’s smile drops as her eyes dart back and forth between me and Isaac. I grab her hand and pull her into my room and this is a situation I never thought I would be in—holding hands with both Evans’ siblings.

Izzy is still gawking at us, her mouth open as she points at where my hand is joined with Isaac’s.

“What is going on here?” she asks as I let go of her and she steps away from us.

I look at Isaac, but he seems to have suddenly found a very interesting spot on the ceiling to stare at. I dig my elbow into his side quickly and force his attention on me.

“Tell her.”

He glances down at me with a bewildered look on his face as if I’ve sprung this entire thing on him by surprise. If he didn’t look so adorable right now with his hair all mussed from running his hands through it, I would be annoyed with him. Instead, I just sigh and look at Izzy again.

“We’re together,” I tell her, suddenly lost for words, and I realise maybe Isaac wasn’t being overdramatic when he was thinking about what to say to her. “I’m dating your brother.”

“I can see that,” she says, looking down at our hands again. Isaac squeezes my fingers.

“It’s a long story.” Isaac finally finds his voice. “We started seeing each other last year, but then we broke up for a little bit, and now we’re back together.”

“That seems like a very short story.”

Isaac sticks his tongue out at her, and she does the same to him. I can already tell this will devolve into childish bickering if I don’t jump in.

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