Page 183 of Only With You

“So this is nothing. If you want to cry or yell at me, then by all means please do it, please fucking fight with me. Please do what you want.” I swallow the thick emotions clogging my throat. “And while you’re at it, take my heart with you, because it doesn’t feel like mine anymore.”

My thumb glides across her cheek, catching the last tear before it follows the tear path the others left.

“Like I said, I’m in too deep,” I rasp, pouring the last bit of my soul to her.

The last of her hiccups are gone, and the only sound beside her sniffles is the music coming from her record player.

She stares at me pensively, eyes glassy, red and swollen, and then something sparks in them. They become incandescent, filled with warmth and hope.

She cracks the faintest smile. “You keep saying you’re not good with words, but then you say all of this?”

“I’m still not. I’m just saying what I feel.” I smile.

Julianna grabs the hem of my jumper, sinking her teeth into her bottom lip. “I don’t think my words will ever amount to yours, but I like you a lot. Nothing and no one has ever felt like a safe haven until you.”

Safe haven.

No words have been more constant than the words Mum uttered. Even after her death, they still haunt and taunt me as a reminder of what a failure I am for letting her die. But for the first time, those words don’t blare in my ear. They don’t berate me because her words, like a sun, shine over a desolate part in my brain.

“Won’t amount? You realise you just called me your safe haven?”

Her lips grow. “Because you are. Even when we weren’t getting along, you always made me feel safe.”

My heart expands and my stomach goes berserk with an array of wild animals and fireworks.

Her brows pinch, eyes going big. “Wait, what are you doing here? Don’t you play tomorrow at two?”

“Yeah, I do, but—no, wait, what areyoudoing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in California right now?”

She stills, going quiet, then blows out a debilitated breath and tells me about the conversation with her mum.

“So, I told her I was sick. Knowing Mom, she’ll act like I’ve never told her anything, but she’s passive-aggressive and won’t fail to make comments. So I’m staying here, because I don’t think I can deal with her right now.”

Anger burns my veins and it takes everything in me not to say anything because I know she doesn’t need that right now. She already feels like shit. She almost cried again while telling me. God, I really hate her mum.

“Come with me.”

She looks excited for a moment, but it fizzles away. “I can’t. I mean, I can, I have the money for it, but knowing Mom, she’ll be checking my bank accounts, because she already suspects that I’m lying. And before you say anything, I have my own money, but it’s not like I make a lot from the museum.”

“That’s not a problem.” Letting go of her, I grab my wallet from my back pocket and hand her my credit card. “Come with me.”

She pushes my hand away, a small crease settling between her brows. “I can’t use your money.”

“You can and you will.” I take her hand and place it in her palm, then close her fingers around it. “You’re my girlfriend now. It’s my job to take care of you.”

Her brows lift. “Girlfriend? I don’t recall getting asked.”

Grabbing her hip with one hand, I tug her to me and cup her jaw with the other. I stare at her for a moment, soaking it all in, adoring every inch of her, and my body flames. “Be my Love?”

Her cheeks taint a rose colour, the sweetest smile curls on her lips, and her eyes glimmer. “How can you say you’re not good with words?”

I sheepishly shrug. “Well?”

“Yeah, I guess I’ll give you the pleasure of dating me.” She laughs when I narrow my eyes at her. “I’ll be your Love, if you’ll be mine?”

“Only yours.” I pull her in, sealing my lips with hers.

Snowy white and electric sapphire swirl in my head.

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