Page 6 of One Lovely Lie

I wait with bated breath, anxious for him to reemerge, and sigh with relief when he comes back moments later dressed in his Manchester United pajamas. They have little soccer balls and goals on the pants and a large logo printed on the oversized shirt. The sight almost has me giggling.

“You’re going to head home like that?”

He shakes his head as he dives onto my bed and begins to crawl under the covers. “Nope. We’re going to have a sleepover, just like we did before all this shit.”

I want to tell him it’s notshit. I want to reinforce the importance of his behavior. I want to remind him he’s the reason we’re in this situation, but I can’t.

I can’t tell him all of this when his dark eyes are shining impossibly bright and when his lips are set in a grin so wide it might break his face.

I shuffle my feet and look at the still-open window, observing the way tiny specks of snow land and melt on my floor.

“You know, if you don’t want me to stay, I won’t.”

I do know this. Despite how insistent and reckless Magnus is, it’s hard for him to go against my wishes—impossible actually.

There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other.

But there’s something in his tone that quells the nagging voices in my head, telling me all the reasons he should leave.

His voice can take on many different tones, depending on the situation, but there are only a few that come naturally to him.

Sarcasm, dry wit, low drawl, and wicked indignation.

But there’s only one that has always been reserved for me.

Unabashed, honey-dripped, caramel-coated, tooth-decaying sweetness.

I shake my head with an incredulous sigh as I shut the window and then climb into bed beside him. We face each other, several inches away, with only our fingers grazing, but it’s the most comfortable I’ve felt since the first day of class.

I swallow loudly and watch him as he smiles at me. I need more reassurance. I need to know that my best friend isn’t going to go back on his word. I want to hear him say it one more time.

“Promise me?” I whisper.

“Promise.”

“Cradle to grave?”

“Cradle to grave.”

He kisses my forehead as he throws one leg over mine, bringing us so close together that I have to bite my lip to keep from letting it show just how much I like this. He nuzzles his nose against my neck, one hand wandering under my sweater to rub against my stomach.

We cuddle all the time. It means nothing. We’ve known each other our entire lives, so this is perfectly normal. He doesn’t feel the rush in his blood when he nuzzles my neck, nor the electricity in his skin when he burrows closer to me.

I’m so pathetically in love with him that these moments mean everything to me.

We stay connected as we fall asleep. This innocence is our tiny escape from everything going on in the outside world. It’s the light that battles against the darkness. It counteracts the cruelty of his parents, nullifies the beliefs of my parents, and soothes my doubts and worries.

Because if this is how I can have him, this is how I’ll have him. If this is all he can give me, I’ll hold it close and never let it go.

Because we’re forever.

Chapter 2

SeniorYear

Daniel

As I watch Magnus make good use of our lunch hour with his new hookup of the week—making out in the corner of the courtyard without a care in the world—I can’t help but think back to the promise we made three years ago in the dark of my childhood bedroom.

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