Page 89 of Glad You Exist

“El. El, we’re here, baby.” I pat her arm, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Shifting in her seat, Liz rubs a hand down her face, inadvertently taking her sleep mask off in the process. It doesn’t matter anymore since we’re already here.

I catch the telltale signs of her figuring it out. Her brows meet as she shoots up in her seat. She locks eyes with me before her mouth falls open at the sight of Kim and Kyle waving from behind. Then her hand flies to her mouth as she gasps when she sees—

“We’re—we’re at the cabin.”

Her voice is still groggy from sleep, but her tone conveys a gamut of emotions.

I hold my hand out to her, rendered mute from her reaction.

She blinks back tears as her gaze quickly flies back to me.

I should have expected it, but I don’t see it coming.

Liz’s arms come flying around my neck as she hurls herself into my chest. We fall back onto the ground. I grip her waist tight to keep her on my chest and shut my eyes, grateful to the snow for cushioning the fall.

“Oh my god.” I hear Kyle’s booming laughter as Kim scream-laughs in tandem.

“You can stop laughing now.”

Kyle shakes his head as he throws another log on to the fireplace, chuckling to himself. Again. “No can do, Lizzy. I get to use this for at least a year’s worth of teasing.”

He waves his phone at me before tossing it back on the floor next to him.

Kim had been recording the “surprise” with her phone and caught the exact moment that I launched myself onto Brad and we fell back onto the snow. She then forwarded it to our group chat that somehow now included Aunt Rose, Dan, and Summer. I have a strange feeling she also sent it to Aunt Jen, her mom, and Aunt Simone, Kyle and Summer’s mom.

Now everyone I loved is privy to one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

I bury my face in my hands and curl up on the end of the couch.

“Cut it out.” Kim admonishes before dissolving into yet another fit of giggles.

I hear Brad’s silent rumbling of laughter next to me and I groan inaudibly. I’m so embarrassed at what I did.

It’s been a few hours and I’m still having trouble looking him straight in the eye.

It took him an hour to coax me into even looking at him again after we got here.

Brad’s arm wraps around my shoulders. He gently tucks me to his side, squeezing me until I let my hands fall from my face.

He leans in and whispers, “I love you,” pressing a kiss on the shell of my ear.

That does it. I feel the tension leave me as my body relaxes into him.

“This is weird, right?”

Kim’s question cuts into the comfortable silence that has descended on us.

Aunt Rose ordered food to be left for us. We had dinner after Brad and I changed out of our wet clothes. Afterwards, we relocated to the living room, just like old times.

We then spent the next few hours just talking, playing board games, and catching up.

It’s now past ten and we have finally called it a day, too exhausted to keep playing.

Kim is settled into the nook by the fireplace, her legs crossed under her. Her gaze sweeps the room. Kyle is sitting next to the fire by her legs with a beer in hand while Brad and I are curled up on the couch sharing a steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Aunt Rose has packed the kitchen with a week’s worth of food, but Kyle brought booze and beer for my birthday celebration tomorrow.

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