I'll Love You For A Lifetime [Heartstopper, Tara x Darcy]

Year 9: She's a very special friend, isn't she?

Tara's pov

After Darcy fell asleep, I had a stunned sort of silent breakdown. She had told me before that her family was pretty crappy but she had never told me it affected her that badly. I quietly pulled a blanket over her and then fell asleep next to her, my arm around her torso, promising myself to keep her as close to me as possible for the rest of the day.

The next morning I went down before Darcy had woken up and talked to my dad about what had happened- an overview of it as she had not told me what exactly had happened, and I knew she was not going to tell me any time sooner. It was too personal.

Darcy woke up and climbed down the stairs looking abash. "Sorry about last night," she said, scratching the back of her neck, "I overreacted."

Typical Darcy. Doing anything to water down whatever she is going through.

"It's okay," I said. "Come here. Let's skip school today."

"Yeah," she said, "I don't have my uniform or books anyway."

I stood up and walked up to her, still standing by the stairs. She had a bit of colour on her cheeks and her eyes still had a ghost of the tears that had leaked out of them last night.

I pressed my forehead against hers and clumsily intertwined our fingers together.

"Isn't your father at home?" she asked. She had started to get more worried about getting caught than I was. Sometimes, she wouldn't hold my hand at school or in the streets, which sort of confused me since she was out and I was the one in the closet. Maybe it was her way of dealing with the discomfort of acting like besties in public.

"Yeah," I said.

She looked down at our hands and raised her eyebrows at me. I sighed, "Stop thinking about things so much. Relax for a bit."

"Oh," she looked like she hadn't thought about the fact that relaxing was an option.

I leaned close to her and kissed her on the cheek, startling her.

She frowned, but an amused sort of frown, edging to a smile, "You are acting weird."

"I said 'I love you' last night," I said, which was true, "it felt really good." I paused, "I want to say it again. And again. And again." I kissed her on the lips with ever pause.

"Say it then," Darcy said, "I. Love. You."

I chuckled. She sounded like she was teaching a toddler to speak full sentences, so I responded likewise, "I. Love. You."

"I love you," her eyes were closed now and she leaned back against the railing of the stairway as she kissed me. "I love you," I said, my heart expanding and twisting, about to burst any moment.

We heard the floor creaking overhead and stopped. I chuckled as Darcy turned around and checked the stairs.

"You are acting really weird today," she said, shaking her head, "Jeez, are you lovesick or something?"

I bopped her nose with my finger, "Shut up and let's have breakfast."

We walked into the kitchen and made some toast and tea while Darcy hummed Girl in Red's lines 'my girl my girl my girl, you will be my girl' softly under her breath. I could not stop smiling and neither could she.

She ate breakfast slowly and I was done before her, giving me the opportunity to feed her while my dad did the dishes. I dabbed her face clean with a napkin, making her roll her eyes.

"So what do you want to do today?" she asked me and I said the only thing on my mind, "cuddle and sleep with you."

"All day?"

"All day. I'm a very boring girlfriend."

"I like it best when you are boring," she grinned, "I mean...we could make it very interesting, couldn't we?"

"Shut up," I grinned back at her, pinching her arm.

"Ow," she said, rubbing the spot with her other hand. I poked out my tongue.

***

That night after Darcy had left for home despite my many offers to make her stay over at my place again, I walked over to my dad reading the newspaper. I had told him many times that he could simply read news from the phone but he said he preferred the newspaper, something I would never be able to understand.

I knelt down beside his chair and curled up against the leg of the chair. Earlier, whenever I joined him after the day, he would read out the newspaper to me as well and then we would discuss the worldly affairs in our little home. But today wasn't the same.

"Darcy is a very sweet child," he said, his eyes still on the paper, "she visited almost daily when you had sprained your ankle. I'm glad you became her safe space when she needed it."

"Yeah she is a good..." I paused because I did not want to say 'friend' at all, "person." I paused, "She is one of the people whom I have told about mom's death." He knew how much it meant to me as I hardly ever opened up about such sensetive things to anyone.

He nodded, "You two share a very special bond. It's visible."

I nodded against the wood of the chair and my dad glanced down at me only for a second but I saw something flicker in his eyes. He was silent for a long time before he spoke again.

"Almost like your mom and I did," he said in a quiet voice, and my heart jumped to my throat. This was it.

"Yeah," I said, my words almost choking in my throat, "I love her very much."

"I'm sure she loves you a lot too," he said, letting go of the newspaper and placing his hand on my head in an affectionate gesture.

"She does," I said, breathing in air to replace the emotion filling up my lungs.

Dad smiled, his eyes had moisture in them too, "I am so happy for you."

"Thanks dad," I said. I stood up and wrapped my arms around his neck, "It means so much to me."

He sniffed and cupped my face in his large rough palms, "My baby girl has grown so big." He paused as he looked at me and smiled, and then whispered, "You look just like your beautiful mummy."

"Dad," I said. I was tearing up.