Page 104 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

“Intrigued?” Thayer repeats, sitting next to her. “That’s conservative. We’redyingto know. It’s about time some of the drama in our lives came from you two.”

Nera and I join them and I laugh as I sit in one of the comfy chairs. Things seem to have mellowed out with their love lives. Rogue and Bellamy are back together after a lot of drama and Rhys and Thayer are officially dating.

“I’m surprised you two were allowed a night of freedom.” Nera points out.

Bellamy flushes and Thayer smirks before adding, “Certain promises were made.”

“Of the bedroom kind?” I ask.

“Yes, but don’t think I don’t see you trying to turn this back on us,” Thayer answers, pointing her finger at me. “Don’t change the subject, tonight is aboutyourbedroom adventures.”

I groan, grabbing a pillow from the couch next to me and fidgeting with it on my lap.

“Just tell us.” Nera says, a pleading note in her voice.

Bellamy tops up my champagne and leaves the bottle within reach like a good friend. I meet her gaze. “Remember our toast at the beginning of the year?”

“To not let Rogue and Phoenix ruin our lives?” she asks with a laugh, “Obviously I didn’t do a great job of keeping that promise.”

“Yeah, well me neither.”

Nera freezes with her glass halfway to her mouth, waiting with bated breath for my next words.

“So, you mean that he’s ruining your life…,” Thayer pauses, searching for how to phrase it, “...biblically?”

I shove my face down into the pillow on my lap and nod.

Squeals erupt from around me as I hear, more than see, all three of them lose their shit.

“Holy shit,” Nera says, “Finally.”

“This is like when the main characters in a novel get together after three hundred pages of claiming they hate each other but the tension and sexual chemistry have been clear to everyone around them from the beginning.” Bellamy adds, clapping her hands happily.

Thayer turns towards her, agreeing. “Literally. Shakespeare couldn’t script this.”

“I was talking about booksa lotsmuttier than what Billy is capable of writing, but yes, you get my general point.”

“Tell us everything, Six.” Nera says, leaning in towards me, a rapt expression on her face. “Did you resolve whatever issue there was between you two?”

Thayer and Bellamy turn back towards me expectantly.

“No, we’ve made a rule that we’re not allowed to talk about it.” I explain to them everything that happened when we were younger, the treehouse, the note, the bike ride, the accident.

The funeral.

Phoenix blaming me for Astor’s death and the years of hatred that followed.

There’s such a sense of relief from finally talking about it, like a physical weight being lifted from my chest. The situation still exists, but at least I feel like I can breathe a little more clearly. Especially when I have Nera clutching my hand in fervent support.

“I never knew he blamed you for his brother’s death,” Nera says, sadly. “You have to know you have no blame in this at all. It was a tragic accident.”

“I know that, although it took me a while and a lot of therapy to work through the survivor’s guilt. But I also understand how he thinks I’m to blame. He’ll never be able to see me as anything other than the girl who could have saved his brother, but didn’t.”

“So how are you sleeping together now then? It sounds like none of this is resolved, at least not on his end.”

“Well,” I say, extending that one syllable before finally biting the bullet, “we’re engaged.”

I’m met with a long silence so quiet, I swear I can hear the champagne bubbles fizzing.

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