Page 81 of The Story Of Us

Her door is propped open, and I let myself in, closing it behind me before I walk over to where she’s sitting cross-legged on her bed. She moves as if to get up but I lay on her bed, tugging her down beside me so we’re lying on our sides, face to face. Her hair fans over her face from how I’ve pulled her down, so I tuck it behind her ear and cradle her cheek. She brings her hand up to cover mine, our hands fitting perfectly together like they always do.

“Are you okay?” she asks after turning her head to press a kiss to my palm.

“I got my LNAT results.” I keep my voice quiet, and I watch as she closes her eyes. It’s like I can see the silent battle happening in her head.

She’s always proud of my achievements, but with the Oxford offer and now this, I know it takes a lot for her to pretend to be happy. No matter how many times I’ve reassured her that I’m not going there, I know she still has some tiny doubts in her mind, and it’s my fault that they’re there in the first place, so all I can do is keep telling her that our plans are safe.

“My parents called me right after, and I told them I don’t want to go.”

She opens her eyes and squeezes my hand before giving me a weak smile.

“I’m so proud of you, Isaac.”

I shift closer and press a kiss to the tip of her nose.

“They want to talk about it when I go home for break. I told them I wanted to do a gap year, but there’s only so long I can keep that lie up.”

A sigh escapes me, and then another squeeze of my hand from Violet.

“We’ll figure it out,” she reassures me, and I believe her, even though I know we both have no idea how we can do it.

“We will,” I tell her, and then we just lay there for a bit in comfortable silence.

I love these moments with her when we can say nothing but feel everything. She can feel my love in the way my thumb strokes across her cheek, and I can feel hers in the way she tightens her grip on my hand, keeping me close to her.

I don’t know how long we lay like that, but Violet’s phone ringing breaks the silence, and she throws a hand behind her to reach for it, patting the bed wildly. I let out a small laugh before I sit up, leaning on my elbow as I reach over her to get it and pass it to her. Our faces are so close when I do it that I can’t resist kissing her, and she pushes at my chest playfully until I’m lying on my side again.

A small gasp escapes her as soon as she checks her phone. The worry must show on my face because she turns her phone to show my sister's name lighting up her screen.

“Do I answer?” she asks, sitting up, and I follow her so we’re both sitting on the edge of her bed.

“Yes? No? I don’t know! Do you usually call each other?”

I know Violet and Izzy talk a lot, but I have no idea what kind of friendship they have.

“Sometimes?” She swipes the screen to answer the call before I can say anything else. Her voice is so high-pitched when she says ‘hi’ that I know Izzy will immediately figure out something is up.

“Hang up,” I whisper, reaching for her phone, but she pushes me backward with a strength that I had no idea she even had. I take my glasses off and throw my arm over my eyes as if I can block out the fact that my girlfriend is talking to my sister right now.

I completely blank out their conversation, not catching a single word until I hear Violet say she’ll text her later. Violet flops back beside me on the bed, and I roll on my side to face her. She stays facing the ceiling as she holds her phone to her chest.

“Don’t you think we should tell her?”

“Izzy?” I ask, even though there’s no one else she could be talking about right now.

“Yeah, I mean, I consider her a friend, and, I don’t know, it feels weird that you’re my boyfriend and she doesn’t know.”

“I’m your boyfriend?” I tease her to try and hide the way my heart just did fifty somersaults at the fact that she just called me that for the first time since we got back together.

“Are you not?” she jokes back. “Guess I’ll find someone else then.”

She doesn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before I’ve pulled her closer to me, rolling onto my back so that she’s pressed to my front and looking down at me, her smile lighting up her entire face.

“No chance. I’m yours, and you’re mine, remember?”

“I’m yours, and you’re mine.”

She drops her head to kiss me, and I could get lost in this moment forever. I loosen my grip on her as she moves off me to curl into my side and rest her head on my chest.

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