Page 109 of Written in the Stars
Darcy lifted the potted plant in front of her. “It’s cilantro. Because I’ve liked you for longer than I knew how to say, before I could say it. Before I could say it the way you deserve to hear it. But I have and I do. I like you exactly the way you are, Elle. Boxed wine and glitter and astrology and most of all”—Darcy sucked in a gasping breath—“I love the way you make me hope. You make me hope and you make me happy. You make mesohappy, Elle.”
Astrology involved a certain balance between prediction and manifestation, preparation and action. This though, Elle never could’ve seen this coming. This was too good to be true, even better because it was.
“Yeah?” she whispered, eyes wide and unblinking because if she blinked, she’d cry and she wanted to be able to see Darcy’s face, watch her, drink her in. Memorize this moment, a picture-perfect snapshot she’d cherish for the rest of her life, for as long as she could remember.
“I told you I didn’t know how I felt.” Darcy set the cilantro plant on the table between them and stood. She brushed her palms on her thighs, shoulders rising with her inhale. “I lied. I know how I feel and I’m five hundred percent certain that on a scale of one to ten, I want to be with you, exactly as you are, infinity.”
Elle pressed her fingers to her lips, both trembling. “Infinity? That’s... that’s a big number.”
And Darcy saying it was an even bigger deal.
Darcy rounded the table and reached out, grabbing Elle’s hand in hers. Darcy’s hand shook and something about that little tremor made Elle flush with warmth from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Darcy cared enough that she wasshaking, shaking like Elle. “Technically, infinity isn’t a real number. But what I feel for you? That’s real. It’s the realest thing I’ve ever felt, Elle.”
Thumb stroking the back of Elle’s hand, Darcy met her eyes. A spark. A connection, the kind that couldn’t be faked.
Elle pressed up on her toes and wrapped her free hand around the back of Darcy’s neck, smiling into the kiss. Champagne fizzing and shooting stars, fireworks and late nights riding in the back of a too-fast car, lights of the city whizzing past, the bridge of her favorite song blaring. None of it held a candle to this moment, this feeling burning in her veins and warming her chest, bubbling in her stomach and erupting goose bumps along her skin.Magic.
For the first time, Elle didn’t need amaybe, didn’t need tohopebecause sheknew.
This was it.
Boom.
End game.
A lifetime of butterflies.
