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“I want to tell people about us”
Those are the first words that come tumbling out of her mouth as she barges into his dorm room clumsily.
She knows launching herself towards him (without warning) whenever she feels like it is a bad idea. His roommate, Andre, could be home at any moment, and a main factor of their whole ‘secret relationship ’ thing is not telling their friends about them, which includes roommates.
Sure, she likes Andre enough. He’s a music major and a good friend to Beck, and the few times they’ve hung out together he’s been exceptionally kind to her. But that doesn’t make him exempt from not knowing about their relationship.
No, the whole point of having a ‘secret relationship ’ is to put emphasis on the ‘secret ’ part. They started off dating without telling anyone because it meant their relationship could be something that was just theirs.
They never needed the world’s input, or wanted it for that matter, and if they suddenly announced that they were dating, it’d make them instantly susceptible to everyone else’s (unwelcome) opinions.
So that’s why, for the first five months of their relationship, they’ve kept it to themselves. They silently agreed on doing so, never truly feeling like it was a matter worth discussing.
They both knew what they wanted, and that was each other, which was good enough for them, so why add anything else to overcomplicate things?
But they’re in college for god’s sakes, that’s what her mind can’t stop telling her. They’re adults. They should be able to have a relationship without letting other people dictate it.
They can do whatever they please and screw anyone who tries to tell them differently. Point blank.
That’s the conclusion her mind comes up with in the middle of her psychology class.
And that’s what pushes her to practically sprint to his dorm once she’s let out of the lecture hall. She has a shift down at the radio station in an hour, but she doesn’t care, she needs to talk to him now.
She’s ready to tell people about them, she knows it’s the right decision to make, she can feel it.
She’s prepared for all of the ridiculous and derisory things people are going to say about them, even if it’s none of their business. Her and Beck can take it, there’s not a doubt in her mind.
However, what she’s not prepared for is the almost alarmed look that glosses over his face once the words leave her mouth. It’s not even a small amount of apprehensiveness that graces his features, it’s a lot, it’s panic. True and utter panic.
Fuck.
“You want to do what?” He’s standing up off the bed at her words as she closes the door behind her.
“I want to tell people about us,” she repeats herself, looking him up and down to see if he’s displaying any signs of agreement.
He’s not. Though, she should’ve known he wouldn’t be agreeing with her based on his initial reaction to her outburst.
“Why?” He asks carefully.
“I just think it’s time, don’t you?-”
“No,” he cuts in, which she ignores.
“-I mean, we’ve been together for months now. And it’s not like we’re really keeping it a secret for any particular reason,” she finishes with a huff as she places herself on his bed. He joins her and takes a spot next to the headboard.
“Okay, but even if we’re not keeping our relationship a secret for an exact reason, it’s still better this way,” he chimes back.
“I don’t understand why you’re so against telling people about us. Do you have another girlfriend you’re not telling me about or something?” She attempts to make him smile with a humorous tone of voice, but he doesn’t falter.
“No, of course not.”
She rolls her eyes. She knows he’s not dating somebody else, obviously.
Honesty and Loyalty are such important attributes to him that if he even came close to cheating on her, he’d be down on his knees begging for her forgiveness in a second, the guilt eating away at him.
“So then what’s your reason for not wanting people to know about us? You must have a reason.”
“I just think it’ll overcomplicate things,” he truthfully lets out.
Her eyebrows furrow in confusion and he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Don’t you like where we are now? Why are you suddenly so eager to change everything?”
“I’m not eager to change everything,” she bites back. “And I do like where we are, trust me. I just think telling people wouldn’t be such a bad thing. We’ve been together for awhile now, and our friends and family don’t know. Hell, even your roommate doesn’t know.”
“I told you, it’ll overcomplicate things,” he sighs again and she begins to nervously mess with the necklace he’d gotten her for her birthday a few weeks before. He notices her fidgeting and reaches up to stop her, taking her hand within his.
“Aren't you tired of sneaking around?” She questions and there’s a quick flash of accordance in his eyes .
He is tired of sneaking around, just like she is. But there’s something holding him back, she's sure of it, she just needs to figure out what it is. He needs to tell her.
“I know you agree with me, Beck. It’s written all over your face, and I know you well enough to know that you’re not telling me something.”
He hesitates and she criss-crosses her legs beneath her, glancing at the clock to see how much time she has left before she needs to be at the station. Forty minutes. Okay, she can work with that.
“Beck,” she stiffens, “can you please be honest with me.”
He looks into her eyes and recognizes the pleading look she’s giving him. Usually it’s reserved for when she wants him to do something manageable. Like watch one of those ridiculous, indie-horror movies she loves so much,
But this time, her gaze is sincere. After all, he knows her just as well as she knows him. And the sincerity practically dripping from her ever-present, yet reluctant smile lets him know she’s close to begging him to open up to her.
“Alright, you want to know why I think we should stay a secret?” She nods enthusiastically at his words. “I’m worried telling people will inevitably hurt us.”
Shock jolts through her body. Whatever she’d been expecting, it’s nowhere near close to what he’d just said.
She can’t stop herself from being confused. How will people knowing about them inevitably (his words, not hers) hurt them? She has no idea.
Sure, some people might say things. But who cares? Certainly not her. And he shouldn’t either.
“You think telling people will hurt us,” she speaks slowly and he nods.
“I know what telling everyone will do to us, Jade.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“I know hearing other people’s opinions will make us miserable, and resentful,” his voice grows more and more despondent, “and eventually you’ll get so tired of hearing what other people have to say that you’ll leave. And I’ll end up losing you-”
“What?” She interrupts in distress, her eyes widening. “What makes you think you’ll lose me?”
He looks right into her eyes at that and regretfully shakes his head, before dropping his gaze to the necklace that sits along her collarbones. “Because you’re going to wake up one day and realize you deserve better than me. Don’t you see? We’ll tell our friends and family, and then they’ll tell other people, and then everyone will know. And when everyone knows, they’ll start to form opinions on us. And once those opinions are formed, they’ll be voiced out and we’ll have to listen, even if we don’t want to. And eventually, what they’re saying will get to our heads so badly that we may actually begin to believe them. How long do you think you’ll put up with that?”
Disbelief begins to hurtle through her. “You honestly think I’m going to break up with you because of a few shitty things some people might say?”
Beck doesn’t respond, but his tired and stony expression tells her that yes, he does believe that.
She’s angry at this point. Very angry. Maybe even furious.
She shoots to her feet and reaches down to pick up her bag that’s resting on the ground, resisting the urge to smack some sense into him.
“What makes you think I’m not going to stand by you?” She asks.
He doesn’t answer. And his silence irks the living fuck out of her.
“You know what, Oliver? Screw you.” Her breathing is noticeably irregular and uneven, but she doesn’t care. “Clearly you don’t know me at all if you think I’m the type of person to just give up on a relationship the moment it hits a few obstacles.”
He finally speaks up at this, his voice low and sullen. “Can we please not talk about this anymore?”
Un-fucking-believable.
She gapes at him, her jaw completely dropped, unable to fathom what she’s hearing. And unable to listen to any of it for even a second longer.
“You’re right, we’re done talking about this,” she slings her bag over her shoulder while reaching up to grab ahold of her necklace. “Because I’m leaving.”
And with that, she’s pulling the necklace off and throwing it on the ground in front of him.
That gets his attention. Frowning, he slowly rises off the bed and tries to move towards her. “Jade-”
She cuts him off. “No, I mean it. I’m done. I’m not listening to this bullshit anymore. I’ll leave you to your sulking and one man pity-party, and maybe when you’re finished, we can actually have a rational conversation.” She starts to walk towards the door, her anger practically seeping out of her. “And just in case my reaction to your idiocy doesn’t make it clear where I stand with us, let me spell it out for you,” she whirls around to scowl at him. “I love you, you stupid fucking jackass.”
And with that, she’s storming out of his room and slamming the door behind her.
It takes him much, much longer than it should for him to snap out of the shock-ridden trance he’d fallen into. His mouth keeps opening and closing, and his eyelids are blinking at a rapid pace as he stares at the door Jade just slammed closed.
She’s absolutely right. He is a jackass. And he did doubt her commitment to their relationship. And-
Wait. She loves him?
Love. That was a new word for their relationship vocabulary. Neither of them had said it before.
Well, until now.
His mouth opens again, and stays open. Agape, in fact, because the last words have finally registered in his incredibly idiotic brain. She loves him.
Even after he indicted her for a hypothetical future breakup, and pretty much told her she was going to bail on him when things got tough, she still told him she loves him.
And he let her walk away.
Fuck.
What the hell is the matter with him?
Before he can rationalize what he’s doing, he bolts out of his room and is taking the stairs two at a time down to the dormitory lobby. There’s no way Jade could’ve called a cab or made it to the bus stop yet, and he knows she walked from class so she doesn’t have her car with her. That means she’s probably on the front steps of the building, or nearing the end of the street.
Which means he can still catch her.
He skids into the front hall like some sort of fast-paced cartoon character only to freeze when he finds Andre by the door. Then he hears a car engine roar from outside and his heart hits the floor like a ton of bricks.
“She caught a ride from somebody else, said they were from her psych class,” Andre explains quietly.
“How did you-” Beck starts before Andre intervenes.
“I was about to come into the room when I was stopped by the sound of your scarily loud argument,” he hesitates, “and to be honest, I always had my suspicions that you guys were more than friends.”
Beck curses under his breath in frustration, flinging open the door in time to see the retailing headlights of a car. Damn it.
He spins around and hurries back upstairs, grabbing his phone and dialing Jade’s number. It goes straight to voicemail the first time, so he calls again. And after a few (treacherously long) rings, she finally picks up.
“Jade, please come back, I need to make this right with you,” he practically begs.
There's a delay, five seconds, then ten, before she answers.
With a sigh, she says, “I need some time to digest your stupidity. Plus, I have a shift down at the radio station soon. I promise I’ll call you back when I’m ready to talk.”
And before he can even attempt to protest, she’s hanging up the phone.
Shit. He drags both his hands over his face in agony, fighting the urge to strangle himself to death. How does he manage to always screw up in some way when it comes to her?
Footsteps echo in the hallway and when Andre appears at the door, Beck has to stifle another curse.
“I can’t deal with a lecture right now, man. I really can’t.”
“Wasn’t gonna lecture you,” Andre shrugs, “just wanted to see if you’re okay.”
Beck sinks down to the edge of the bed and slowly shakes his head, “not in the slightest. I fucked up with her. Again.”
“Damn right you did,” Andre props his elbow up against the wall and sighs, “I’m pretty sure the entire building could hear her reaming you out.”
He pauses and then shakes his head, “actually, I take that back, I’m pretty sure the entire campus heard it.”
Beck groans, “seriously?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think worrying about everyone hearing your argument should be at the top of your priority list right now.”
He makes a good point. At that moment, his only priority is fixing things with Jade.
Because, if he's being honest, over the past few months of their relationship, he's reached several conclusions.
One, he's never had more fun with a girl before.
Two, he never wants what they have to end.
And three, he can say without hesitation that he's fallen in love with her.
Those thoughts have been clouding his mind like a fog ever since they started dating. And for weeks now, every time she's smiled at him, or laughed at something he's said, he's almost slipped and told her everything.
Which he promised himself he wouldn't do (even though it's been really hard not to. He swears every time her eyes light up she's practically asking for him to kiss her senseless and say he loves her).
But now that the thought of losing her is a possibility, he knows telling her is something he has to do.
Even if it's not enough for her to take him back, he still wants her to know, he needs her to know.
God, he shouldn’t have spewed all of that bullshit. He hadn’t even meant it. Especially not the part about her breaking up with him. That was just his fear talking. And she was right, he was having a pity party. He was so freaked out by how fast she was moving, and how quickly she wanted things to change, that he hadn’t even heard her out properly.
He lets out another groan. “What if I’ve lost her for good?”
Andre instantly shakes his head. “You haven’t,” he reassures.
“How do you know that?”
“Because she told you she loves you,” he stops to smile, “you stupid fucking jackass.”
I love you, you stupid fucking jackass. Not the words a man wants to hear. The first three? Hell yeah. The last four? Pass.
“How do I fix this,” he breathes out.
“Quick. Write her a sappy poem or something,” Andre suggests while picking her necklace up off the floor.
Beck scowls at the idea as Andre puts the necklace back into his hands.
“I'm not joking, I seriously believe I’m onto something here,” Andre continues eagerly. “I think you should come up with an astonishing grand gesture, something that’ll sweep her off her feet.”
Beck groans. If he’s going to come up with some sort of grand gesture, he needs direction. Precise direction at that. He begins to fidget with her necklace just like she does when she gets nervous.
“Have any bright ideas?” He asks Andre with a hopeful smile.
“I’m afraid not,” Andre mischievously shrugs. “You’re going to have to fix this one all on your own.”
There’s a pause, and then…
“You stupid fucking jackass,” he finishes with a smile and Beck falls backwards onto the bed with a groan.
She’s still fuming with anger as she walks into the media building twenty minutes later. Normally, she can get her anger out fairly quickly (albeit either by kicking someone or screaming).
But this time, she can’t seem to expel the boiling rage that’s coursing through her veins. Every time she thinks it’s gone and that she’s calmed down, her mind reminds her of their fight. And how much of an idiot he is. And suddenly, she’s mad again.
She can’t believe he actually thinks that telling people about their relationship will just lead to her dumping him. As if she’ll just throw him away like some old, busted-up toy the second they announce they’re together, easily moving on and finding something new and shiny to play with.
Asshole.
She hates him. Him and his stupid, idiotic mind.
But god does she love him too.
That’s probably the reason why she didn’t want to keep them a secret any longer. Because she knows she loves him, and why should something as simplistic and raw as that be hidden from the world?
Based on their argument though, she can’t tell if he feels the same.
When she bursts into the radio station, she spots her co-workers Cat and Tori in the producer’s booth. Tori’s balancing a phone between her shoulder and ear while simultaneously talking, as Cat hastily jots something down onto a notepad beside her.
Jade frowns at this, noticing that her other two co-workers, Trina and Robbie, are already seated in their booth as well.
Both of them being strangely prepared for the segment they host about relationship-advice to begin.
(Don’t ask Jade why two people who aren’t dating have a radio talk show about relationship advice, she honestly couldn't give you a good answer. She just knows it’s a hit for the station, and probably their most popular show.)
Robbie’s messing with his glasses and Trina’s bent over a sheet of paper placed on the table, most likely an assignment she needs to complete.
The entire situation is strange. Trina and Robbie are never on time.
Is she late? Jade can’t stop herself from wondering. She glances at the clock on the far wall and to her surprise, she’s actually early.
So what the hell are Cat and Tori doing in her booth? She’s supposed to be the only one scheduled to produce Trina and Robbie’s show.
She takes a step forward, only to halt when Tori comes out of the corridor and stands in front of her. She moves some hair away from her face and nervously smiles when she sees Jade.
“Hey,” Jade greets her. “What are you doing here?”
She knows Tori doesn’t usually hang out at the station unless she’s scheduled to host or produce, and she’s doing neither of those things today.
“Oh, hey,” Tori flashes her an almost guilty grin. “I just popped by to drop off some coffees for everyone at Trina’s insistence. But I thought I’d stick around and watch the show too.”
She swiftly shoves a coffee in Jade’s direction and Jade can’t stop the smile that takes over her face, because if there’s one thing that’s bound to make her feel better, it’s coffee.
“You totally just made my day,” she takes the drink from Tori’s hands, bringing it up to her mouth. “And trust me, my day’s been absolute shit, so it desperately needed to be made.”
“Oh no, what happened?”
And just like that, her bad mood’s returned like an unwanted rash.
“I just got into a fight with somebody, it was stupid. But that’s all I’m gonna say on the subject because if I talk about it any more, it’ll just piss me off again, and then I’ll be too distracted to produce dumb and dumber’s show.”
They both turn to glance at the main booth, where Trina is using the reflection of her water bottle to adjust her makeup while Robbie is engrossed with his phone. His chair is tipped so far back that Jade predicts a very hysterical disaster will occur in the near future.
“God I love them,” Tori snickers. “I don’t think I’ve ever met two people who are worse at giving advice.”
“Yeah well, that’s what makes them so great for our show, the fact that they’re so bad everyone finds them hilarious.”
As Jade brings her coffee up to her lips, Cat saunters into the room and wanders over to where they’re standing.
“I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick,” she informs them.
“Okay, but don’t leave us out here alone with dumb and dumber for too much longer,” Tori shrugs as Cat begins to walk away before suddenly facing them again.
“Wait, you’re telling me the nicknames ‘dumb and dumber’ actually correspond to each of them?” She turns on her heel. “I thought it was more of a general thing, which one’s dumber?”
The second the question leaves her mouth, a muffled crash reverberates from the booth, and they all turn to see Robbie tangled up on the floor. The sound of Trina’s laughter echoes as he stands back up. And while he straightens his shirt out and re-arranges his chair, Jade rolls her eyes.
From behind the glass, Robbie catches their annoyed stares and mouths, “I’m okay!”
Cat sighs, “I take back my question about who’s dumber.” She leaves to go to the bathroom while Jade makes her way into the booth, Tori following after her.
“The first caller’s already on hold,” Tori admits. “I screened her and wrote down all of her info on the notepad.”
Jade’s forehead creases, “you opened the lines before I got here?”
“Not on purpose, I swear. I was trying to call my mom and pressed the wrong button, but then the phone started ringing so I just assumed I should take the caller's info. She says she has an urgent question about makeouts for Trina to answer.”
“That’s going to be interesting.”
“Isn’t it always?” Tori smiles before sitting down as Jade conducts her pre-show check.
The blinking lights coming from the phone tell her there’s more callers waiting to be screened and she talks with some of them, verifying their motives before putting them back on hold. She’s about to screen one more when Trina and Robbie kick off the show without asking.
“What’s up everyone?” Trina loudly greets, “you’re listening to Whatcha-Need with Trina ‘N Robbie.”
Cringing, Robbie leans forwards to speak into his microphone. “Before we get started, I’d like to ask everyone to please use their indoor voices today,” he glares over at Trina who shrugs innocently. “I’m talking to you Trina Vega, screaming into the mic is completely unnecessary.”
And so it begins.
“Anyways,” Trina bites back, “let’s chat with our first caller. Who are we talking to?”
And since Jade’s not eager to hear Trina discuss makeouts with some stranger, she leans forward to screen another call. Only to freeze in her chair when a familiar voice comes through the speaker.
“Hey, this is Beck.”
Her pulse speeds up without approval.
Oh god.
What is he doing?
“Tell us what you need dude,” Robbie supplies.
Her boyfriend audibly clears his throat before talking. “Well here’s the thing, Robbie and Trina,” he pauses. “Actually Trina, a female opinion is definitely appreciated for this. I’m hoping you guys can give me some advice on how to win my girl back.”
Robbie chuckles into the mic, “oooh man, I’m guessing someone found himself in the dog house, didn’t he?”
Beck sighs, “big time.”
“What’d you do to piss off your girl?” Robbie pries. “We need details before we can dispense a multitude of our solid, concise wisdom.”
Every inch of Jade tenses as she awaits Beck’s response. God, she can’t believe he’s about to air out all of their dirty laundry to this stupid radio show.
“Long story short? I may have accused her of doing something I know she’d never do. I projected my insecurities onto her and made some presumptions I shouldn’t have-”
“I’m gonna stop you right there, my man,” Robbie halts him. “You just threw around some pretty big words and I’m going to need you to dumb it down for my co-host Trina.”
Trina smacks him in the arm as he says that and Jade can’t stop the laugh that rips out of her throat.
Beck sounds like he’s trying not to laugh too as he rephrases himself. “Bottom line? I screwed up. I said some stupid shit that I didn’t mean when she suggested that we start telling people we’re together, and it really pissed her off. She ended up storming out of the room.”
Robbie sighs, “girls are crazy.”
“Hey Beck,” Trina drawls.
“Yeah?”
“You sound hot. Are you sure you even want this chick? Because I’m free tonight if you’re interested.”
A strangled, uncomfortable cough comes from Beck’s side of the call. “Oh. Um, thanks for the offer. But yeah, I want her,” he pauses, “I’m in love with her.”
Jade’s heart soars for a second. He’s in love with her?
And then just as fast as it soars, it sinks again. Wait. What if he’s only saying it because she said she was in love with him first?
“I’ve been in love with her for a few months now, actually,” he continues, and his confession gets her heart pounding. “I didn’t tell her sooner because I thought it’d scare her off.”
“Dude, you should’ve told her.”
Jade’s startled by Trina’s eager response, maybe even a little touched. At least until she finishes the sentence.
“Coming from a girl, if you say the L word right off the bat, we’re more likely to hook up with you faster.”
“Uh-huh, I’m sure,” Beck says as if he’s in agreement with her, but Jade’s known him long enough to pick up on the hints of sarcasm in his voice. “Anyways this girl...I’m pretty sure she’s the love of my life. She’s intelligent, beautiful, and funny as hell. She forgives people even when they don’t deserve it. She-”
“Good kisser?” Trina cuts in.
“Oh yeah, the best.”
Jade swears her face is on fire at this point and it’s taking everything in her to hold back the smile she so desperately wants to let out.
“But the kissing’s just a bonus,” Beck adds on. “It’s everything else that matters most.”
Out of nowhere, a shadow crosses her peripheral vision. She turns her head, expecting it to be Cat returning from the bathroom.
But her breath hitches when she locks gazes with Beck. His phone’s pressed against his ear still, and he’s wearing blue faded jeans along with a jacket, and his eyes shine with sincerity.
Their esteemed hosts notice him through the glass too, and their gasps echo through the air.
“Holy shit, we’ve been talking to Beck Oliver ?” Robbie gasps.
“Wait, this entire time, you’ve been talking about Jade ?” Trina’s voice is laced with disbelief as her eyes shoot back and forth between Jade and Beck.
Jade doesn't know whether to rush out of the booth and jump into his arms, or hide under the desk in embarrassment. Big, public displays of affection freak her out, especially with so many people listening, she hates it.
But at the same time, she can’t take her eyes off of him. She can’t breathe, or move, or form a single coherent thought other than that he loves her.
“Anyways, I’m hanging up now,” Beck tells the hosts with a smile. “I think I can take it from here.”
The line cuts off and Jade shoots a panicky glance at the switchboard of incoming callers. Shit. The show’s still on air, she’s supposed to be screening more people.
To her relief, Tori shoves her away from the desk, grinning hugely. “Go,” she orders, “I’ll cover the rest of the show.”
“Are you sure?”
“That was always the plan,” Tori smirks. “Who do you think screened the call?”
Flashes of Tori’s previous guilty expression rush through Jade’s mind.
“I can’t believe you kept your relationship with Beck a secret for this long,” Tori complains. “Next time something like that happens, you tell me.”
“Deal.”
“Now go,” Tori forcefully pushes her out of the booth, but Jade doesn’t need to be told twice.
She hurries towards the door, and when it’s opened, she quickly throws her arms around Beck’s shoulders. “I cannot believe you just did that,” she blurts out.
His laughter trickles against her head as his arms slide down to curl around her waist. “I figured nothing short of a grand gesture would convince you of how shitty I feel about what happened earlier.”
She tips her head back so she can meet his eyes and raises her eyebrows. “Good, you should feel shitty. I can’t believe you said all that stuff. I don’t plan on ever breaking up with you”
“Well that’s reassuring, considering I’m never breaking up with you,” he brings one hand up to rest against her cheek. “Actually I think I’m gonna marry you one day.”
Shock jolts through Jade and she fights the urge to step back. “What?” She quickly asks, not sure if she’s supposed to be scanning his entire body for an engagement ring or not. He wouldn't actually propose to her right now, would he ?
“One day,” he repeats with a chuckle at her panic-stricken expression. “I mean it Jade, I’m in this for the long haul, no matter what.”
She swallows a lump of emotion and bites her lip. “Did you really mean what you told Trina and Robbie back there?”
“You mean...that I love you?”
She nods and he wordlessly smiles down at her.
“I meant every damn word. I’m serious, you’re it for me.”
His heartfelt words unleash a flood of warmth inside her, but despite that, she can’t help but gaze at him with uncertainty. “What about everything you said earlier...about how you don’t want us to end up potentially miserable and resentful….” she bites her lower lip. “I don’t want that to happen to us, Beck. I don’t want either of us to turn bitter, or hateful, or-”
His fingers trace along her jaw. “We won’t,” he promises. “What I said was stupid, and not true, and it won’t destroy us. I won’t let it. Think of it this way, life could be a never-ending tunnel of absolute darkness, but I know I’ll be able to get through it as long as you’re with me.”
She bursts out laughing at that.
“What? You think that’s funny?”
“No, I think that’s the cheesiest fucking thing anyone has ever said to me,” she grins in spite of her words. “Not to mention cliché as hell.”
“Yeah, but you liked it anyways, huh?” He smirks.
“I loved it,” she swears her heartbeat is racing, “I love you. ”
“Even after I acted like a jackass today?”
“Yep.”
“Even though I’ll probably act like a jackass again? Because I can’t promise not to. Apparently, I’m hopeless when it comes to you.”
“No you’re not,” she eases up and kisses the side of his jaw. “Sure, you’re a bit inept. But you’re also ridiculously good at planning romantic gestures, so if you screw up again, I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’ll be able to get me back.”
“Only ninety-nine percent?”
“Well it depends on how badly you screw up. If you pick a fight with me like you did today, then obviously we can work through it. But if I’m over at your place and find out that you have secret serial killer lair? No promises.”
“Jesus Christ, what is with you and saying weird, horror-movie type shit like that?” He grins. “Hey, maybe that should be your profession, something to do with horror.”
“Not a bad idea,” she loops her arms around his neck and smiles. “Question.”
“Hit me.”
“Can I kiss you now, or are you still groveling?”
“Depends on whether or not my girlfriend requires more groveling from me.”
She hums, leaning in and bringing his mouth closer to hers. “Nope, I don’t think so.”
And with that, she kisses him deeply, and her mind feels like it’s spinning as he tightens his hold around her waist.
As she presses harder into the kiss, she feels him reach down into his pocket and pull something out. She doesn’t stop as he brings whatever he’s grabbed towards their faces. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see that it’s her necklace, the one she’d thrown at him earlier.
She breaks apart from the kiss and laughs lightly as he moves some of her hair away, and then securely fastens the necklace back in it’s rightful place around her neck.
After checking to make sure that it’s not going to fall off or become loose, he brings her into another kiss, grinning maddeningly.
“Love you, Oliver,” she murmurs against his lips.
His laughter warms her face and she smiles before he brushes his mouth over hers again and whispers, “love you too, gorgeous.”