Page 53 of Advice from a Sunflower

“She tried, but I wasn’t going to give up the chance to spend the night with you uninterrupted.” I try to offer him a sexy, enticing smirk but I’m pretty sure it falls flat under the weight of my fatigue.

“Let’s get you into bed.”

A loud squeal escapes me when he bends over and scoops me into his arms to carry me up the stairs. His brows knit together in playful warning, reminding me that his mom is still in the other room. I lift my arm to cover my mouth and quietly giggle as we ascend the stairs, but Eli pulls it away and replaces it with his lips.

Once we reach his bed, he gently lays me onto it and eases down beside me. We turn to face each other and stay like that for what feels like forever, simply staring into each other’s eyes. I’m still in disbelief that we’ve made it here. That he’s capable of looking at me with anything but disdain and that he finds me worthy of his heart.

I realize that I’ve misunderstood my friendship with Eli the same way I had with Marnie and I wonder how many other people I’ve written off based on pure miscalculation. Has my view of these crucial relationships been skewed my entire life?

The thought is interrupted when Eli’s hand moves between us and cups my cheek. “What’s putting that look on your face?”

I can’t help but smile, remembering all the times he’s asked me that same question throughout our lives. I’m not sure how I’ve ever been so stupid to have missed how he feels about me.

“Nothing. I love you,” I murmur before finally closing the distance between us.

We don’t waste any time tearing away any piece of clothing that finds itself in our way. When all obstacles are removed, Eli gets to work showing me exactly how he feels about us finally being together. It isn’t anything like it’s been the past few weeks, when he was trying to prove his point. He’s somehow even more generous with me this time around.

His tongue has made its way around every inch of my body before I can even get my hands on him. I’ve been brought to the edge of ecstasy three times and can’t take any more teasing. Once he hands over control, I’m eagerly grabbing his length and putting everything I have into bringing him over the edge. When I’ve done all that I can with my hands and mouth, he climbs off the bed and pulls me over to the edge, lining us up perfectly.

“You’re finally mine,” he marvels, gazing down at me in disbelief.

“You’re finally mine,” I repeat. I know exactly how it feels to finally be able to say those words. The obstacles that have been overcome to get here.

There’s something monumental about this moment together. This isn’t our first time. Not by a long shot. But it’s the first time we’re here without any boundaries or doubts. Nothing is standing in the way of us claiming each other and finally righting the wrongs that have been made. We’re no longer fighting fate, and it feels amazing.

As if he feels the shift happen right along with me, he leans over and places a tender kiss on my lips, and then gently pushes into me.

I know it seems foolish to constantly let my guard down around the people who have spent a lifetime hurting me. Between my mom, Marnie, Eli, and even Emma, I have every right to walk away from this place and never look back. But I've learned that maybe I've miscalculated things. Maybe Marnie is right, and I have been focusing on the many negatives in The Hollow to make it that much easier to leave. In my time back here, it's been made clear to me that my perception of how things have happened has been a little skewed. I've even been completely wrong about some of it. My own feelings clouded my judgement so much that it was hard to see the true reality. So, while the easy thing to do is write everyone off, I think the brave thing would be to hear them out and forgive.

Just as they've forgiven me.

I had an Ethics professor at Cornell who always went off on tangents. As a student, it drove me crazy. Why was she wasting precious class time to talk about her life or whatever menial thing she read that day? But now I understand that there were always life lessons weaved into her ramblings. Things that would help us far beyond studying any ethics case or cramming for an exam.

One day, she went on and on about sunflowers. She explained to us that through their early stages of development, the heads of the sunflowers follow the sun throughout the day, changing direction as their stem grows in different spots. At night, they reset and prepare to do the same thing the next day. One snarky student interrupted to ask what sunflowers do on cloudy days, when the sun is nowhere to be found. "Do they grow at all on those days?" He had wondered, a teasing grin plastered on his face.

My professor simply smiled at him and said, "Even on the darkest days, sunflowers are capable of finding the sunlight."

I think we all need to take advice from a sunflower and be sure to find the sunlight and grow with it, even through the darkest times.

Epilogue

Eli

One year later

“I think I forgot to unplug the toaster before we left. I should go back,” Lyla mutters from beside me as she reaches for the car door.

“It’s fine,” I chuckle, tugging her into my arms. “You’ve earned this, Ly. Give yourself the chance to soak it all in.”

She nods into my chest, holding on for a few seconds longer while she pulls herself together. When she steps away from me, I can see the determination set in her face. She’s worked so hard to get here and she isn’t going to let her anxieties get in the way.

She grabs my hand, and we begin walking toward the theater with her leading the way. As we pass a poster for her movie plastered to the side of the building, she stops to stare at it in disbelief. A couple in a tight embrace takes up most of the poster with the movie name,When Time Stood Stillwrapped around them in a playful script.

“It’s still so weird,” she whispers, tracing her fingers along the movie name.

“It’s exactly what you deserve,” I assure, smiling down at her with nothing but respect. I’d like to say I helped her get here, but that would be a lie. Mouse earned this all on her own.

Natalie is already yelling when we make our way around the corner to the front of the building. It took me a long time to get used to her annoying bleach-blond friend. The first time I came to Lyla’s apartment with her, Natalie was waiting with an armful of groceries and a grudge. She openly begged Lyla to take B-List Brad back right in front of me before allowing me to introduce myself. Since then, our relationship has been rocky, but we’ve been forced to be cordial with each other, especially since I moved out here nine months ago.

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