Page 6 of #Beautiful

Chapter 5 - Lena

The pizza place we love is crowded as all get out, so I told Declan I’d wait outside. It’s always easier for him to get through crowds. One of the perks of being almost six-foot-four now. If he gets much taller, I’m going to look like a dwarf dating a giant. I’m not super small, but even five-foot-seven doesn’t compare to Declan’s height. Standing out front, I sit on the bench facing the pizzeria window and quietly watch him through it.

There’s a small group of guys chatting him up, and by their body language, I’m pretty sure they’re recapping the game to him. Declan is humbled when people stop him to gloat over how well he plays. He’s never really let it go to his head, and even when he isn’t in the mood for it, he never refuses to chat or acts rudely toward others. His dad brought up his possibilities for the NFL over the summer. While Declan hasn’t really talked to me about it, I know it’s something he’s considering.

It’s not like I’d mind or wouldn’t support him. I know my boyfriend, so even if he decides to move in the pro-football direction, he won’t until he finishes his degree in Sports Medicine. Declan has always been the guy with a fall-back plan, and considering playing pro won’t change that about him. Hopefully, if it does go that route, it won’t change the humbleness in him that I admire so much, either.

“Well, if it isn’t Declan’s little beluga,” someone says near me, causing my head to snap up.

Rolling my eyes, I keep my mouth shut. Jackie is my height and weighs about ten pounds— if she was soaking wet with a brick in her pocket. She works at the bookstore but is also a junior majoring in Fashion. She’s had a thing for Declan since last year, and she doesn’t hide it. Declan doesn’t know it, but she made a point to text me this summer and let me know she danced all over him at one of the away games. She’s head of the cheerleading squad. So I put two and two together and figured out that was the night Declan called me, high out of his mind, all upset.

I never brought it up to him because I already know he regrets everything he did and didn’t see a point in rubbing salt in an already gaping wound.

“You know,” Jackie says as she sits down on the bench next to me, “it’s only a matter of time before he dumps your chunky ass for a real woman. High school infatuation doesn’t really last in adulthood.”

Turning my head to face her, I narrow my eyes. “But apparently, high school bullying does. Why don’t you go lay under someone who doesn’t have taste, Jackie, because Declan and I don’t have time for your sorority-slut games this year.”

The smile leaves her face, and she leans in. “I’ll remember that when I’m riding Declan’s cock, showing him what being with a real woman is like. Fucking you, he’d have to roll you in flour first just to find the wet spot.”

I’m not a violent person, but my fists clench at my side as I push myself off the bench. Jackie does the same, and it takes all of a second before we are facing each other nose to nose.

“Lena,” Declan shouts before appearing at my side, “what’s going on?” His arm goes around my shoulders, making Jackie back up a few steps.

“Nothing, babe,” I say, putting my arm around his back.

He’s holding a carry-out bag in one hand and doesn’t take his other arm from around me. “Come on. The crowd here isn’t to my liking. Better we just go home.”

“You sure about that, Declan,” Jackie purrs, making me see red.

“Listen, you little bi—”

“The only thing I like is my girlfriend,” Declan says calmly, cutting me off. “And you won’t ever be one one-hundredth of the woman she is.”

If we weren’t in front of the person giving me a hard time, my jaw would drop. Instead, I stare up at my boyfriend, and when he looks down at me, he doesn’t hesitate to lean down and kiss me. Jackie’s scoff is music to my ears, and by the time Declan stands tall again, she’s gone. He doesn’t glance back as he turns us and guides us back toward the PTF house. Walking with my hand in his, I have to admit this is the best it’s felt since everything last year.

I wish Declan stood up to Sigma Nu like he just did Jackie. In the end, he did. But if he could’ve done that at the beginning of last year, things would’ve been so different. I guess it’s stupid to wish things were different. It’s almost like looking back on everything that happened in high school. A million regrets and wishing I could’ve made different choices and saved my friends, stopped the horrific things that happened because of it all. . .

By the time we get to the house, I’m in my head, and it’s a place I don’t like being anymore. The depression that hits me at times is just as bad as it was when I first met Declan, and while I haven’t talked to any of them about it, it scares the crap out of me sometimes.

“Lena,” Declan says, pulling me back to reality with a start.

“Yeah?” I look up to find us standing on the porch of the house, his eyes on my face, the corners tight with concern.

“Don’t let people like her get in your head,” he says, reaching up with his free hand to cup the side of my face. “I love you, and nothing and no one is ever going to make me screw up with you like I did before. I promise you that.”

Leaning into his touch, I smile as best I can. “I know. She’s a jerk. Thank you for standing up for me like that.”

Pulling me in, he hugs me to his chest, his arm going around me, the bag swinging behind me as he tries not to drop it. “Hey. You don’t need to thank me for that. I’ll always stand up for you. Because at the end of it all, it’s me and you, babe. Always. Even when everyone else moves on with their lives, and we get through school, you’ll always have me, and I’ll always have you.”

He lets me go and smiles as he opens the front door to the house, standing to the side so I can go in first. The place is quieter than I expect, and Declan closes and locks the door with hardly a sound. As we make our way through the living room, we find Darcy and Justus crashed on the sectional, the Food Network on the television. I chuckle to myself and head to the steps.

Declan and I tiptoe to my room, and as I’m taking my jacket and stuff off, he sets the bag from the pizzeria on the bed. “I’m gonna run down and grab us some paper plates and stuff from the kitchen, hon. You want me to grab you a drink?”

“Water, please?”

“Sure,” he says before heading back out.

After getting into my pajamas, I start getting the food out and setting it on the bed. The smell makes my stomach growl, but looking at it all, it also makes my anxiety go up. It’s been a while since I ate this much without purging right after to feel better. I’m not going to be able to do that with Declan in here. . . but maybe, I can sneak out to the spare bathroom in the hallway.

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