Page 1 of It's Always Been You
Prologue
Molly
Twelve Years Ago
Iceland: Sophomore Year, Winter Break
“Maybe we should just go to bed, Mol,” Gabe says on a yawn, leaning back and stretching his legs out in front of him. “It’s fucking freezing, and we have two weeks to see the lights.”
He goes to stand up, but I pull him back down into his chair.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Gabriel. First of all, the aurora borealis is not just lights. They’re an interaction of solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, and they are freaking magic. Second of all, we did not fly all the way to Iceland in the middle of the winter and book a very expensive room at the most famous hotel in the country to go to bed at the very first opportunity we have to see them.”
Too worked up to sit, I push up from my own chair and put a hand on my hip. “If you want to whine about how tired you are like a toddler who missed his nap, then you should go to bed. ButI’m not closing my damn eyes until I see the northern lights and you can just…”
I break off when I see the cheshire cat grin spreading across his face and huff out a breath.
“You’re joking.”
Gabe grabs my hand and pulls me down on his lap, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the side of my head.
“Of course, I’m joking. After more than a year together, you should know that. You’re my favorite person, Mol. I would do anything for you, including risking frostbite to sit right here with you all night, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”
“What do you m?—”
The words clog in my throat as I look up. Bright light spreads over the horizon. Rivers of green and blue swirl in the dark, moving and dancing across the star-studded sky, changing shape, color, and intensity even as we watch. Magic is too simple a word for this. It’s enchanting. Ethereal. Otherworldly. Life-changing. I can feel my cells reshaping, rearranging themselves to make me into someone different than I was five minutes ago for having seen this.
A tear slides down my cheek, my body not big enough to hold the enormity of my feelings at bearing witness to this phenomenon of physics and chance. Gabe catches the tear with his thumb, wiping it away, his fingers brushing gently over my cheek.
“Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” I breathe, my eyes glued to the sky.
“It is.” The intensity in his voice has me tearing my eyes away from the lights to look down at him. One hand still on my cheek, Gabe’s eyes are fixed on me. His pupils are blown wide, and the reflection of the Northern Lights dances in the dark orbs. The awe in his gaze isn’t for the lights, though. It’s for me. The lovepouring off him hits me in the chest, making my breath catch and my heart pound.
“Gabe.” All I can manage is his name. Any words I could conjure would be insufficient to meet this moment.
“Rory,” he murmurs, voice soaked in love.
“Rory?”
“Like the aurora borealis. The lights remind me of you. Magical. Colorful and gorgeous and one of a kind, and takes my fucking breath away. I love you, Rory. Always.”
“Always,” I whisper, as he wraps his other arm around my waist and brings my mouth to his in a searing kiss. It’s passion and a promise. It’s tongues and teeth and more and mine and always and only you and forever. We kiss each other under the Northern Lights, hearts beating in sync, wrapped in the undeniable certainty that we are each other’s missing piece. Two souls braided together, ones nothing and no one could ever separate.
Always. Forever. Until the end of time.
Ten Years Ago
University of California at Berkeley: Senior Year
“Fuck, Rory, you could not possibly be any hotter right now.”
I whirl around, my back hitting the barre and toe-shoe-clad heels dropping to the floor. Music soars over the studio speakers, and my heart hammers against my ribs from surprise and exertion.
“Jesus Christ, Gabe, you scared the shit out of me. How did you even know I was here?”
He saunters toward me, gray joggers riding low, navy T-shirt emblazoned with the Captain America shield hugging his well-defined chest, and mouth curled up in a sexy smirk. It’s giving hot, sexy nerd and good lord, it gets me every time.
“Your text said midterm over, brain melted. I took a guess.”
