𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒 | 𝐆𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬

69| This Love.

"Well, I better follow through on this then, huh?" He smiled. We both nodded.

"Come here, you two." He laughed, pulling both of us in for a hug.

We both pulled away after hearing his phone ring. "Probably work," dad sighed.

"On a Sunday?" Rory and I said.

"Hey, I've got a lot of responsibility now, okay?"

"Sure." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." Rory teased.

"Be right back," he said, smiling at us again before walking away.

I looked at Rory, my faint smile softening. "Do you think he means it?" She asked me, her voice fragile.

I took a deep breath, "I think he's gonna try his best. What that means? No clue, but I'd I'm give it about a month before we can start to try and trust him." She smiled, hugging me.

"But," I said, wrapping my arms around her. "Don't get your hopes too high, okay?"

"I know," Rory said, pulling away. Reluctantly, I smiled as well.

"I'm gonna go see Dean for a minute, Patty and Babette are beginning to fight over him, I'll be right back." She laughed. "Okay," I nodded.

After she left, my eyes lingering on her frame, I looked around. The wind kept my body from getting too hot, but I also didn't mind the small chill. Varying from straying to the trees to the road to the scenery, my eyes fell on a person.

Jess.

My face dropped just as fast as my heartbeat began to quicken. I felt my legs starting to carry me, without my knowledge or permission, but I didn't dare stop them. He took a step forward, his arms immediately wrapping around me the moment I was close enough.

His hands—his soft, gentle hands that I'd grown to know so well found my waist, and mine his neck. I buried my head in his shoulder, needing to be closer to him. Desperately. He smelt like him and it made my chest tighten even more. Sweet, soft, and free.

He tightened his grasp as if to hold me closer, but I moved my hands to his shoulders, lightly pushing away.

His eyes met mine.

And my lips met his.

Every thought in my head exploded to a pure, pounding white, as something dark twisted inside of me, snapping any sense of restraint I had, bending all my rules until the point of breaking. His lips pulled mine apart, his tongue sweeping my bottom lip. I felt my hands move to his hair, tugging just above the nape of his neck.

I felt my heartbeat merge with his, his breath becoming my own. His body heat melted into mine, flames of desire bursting all around us. He felt warm and safe. He felt like cotton under my hands, then like silk.

When I finally got a hold of myself and pulled away, I felt him smile against my lips, my forehead leaning against his.

"That wasn't very friendly now was it, princess?"

I rolled my eyes, laughing. "You can remove the word friendly from your vocabulary, idiot."

His fingers rubbed small circles against my back, his hands still leaving a trail of heat wherever they went, even through my dress.

"Yes, ma'am." He mumbled.

I pulled open my eyes and when I look at him I couldn't understand how nobody saw what I saw.

Nobody saw the perfect boy who held open doors for me, nobody saw the boy who loved to read, nobody saw the boy who had fun perfecting magic tricks. Nobody really saw him. Not in the way he deserved.

All they saw were the negatives, the flaws, but what people didn't seem to understand is that's everyone. In the words of Hanna freaking Montana, everyone makes mistakes. Everyone messes up. But nobody could just let themselves see him.

"You're here," I whispered.

"I'm here." He nodded, letting my head fall into his shoulder.

I took a breath, my hands trembling as I clung onto him. "Are you staying?"

I was scared to hear the answer. I was scared to let myself believe him, whichever way he replied. I was scared to let myself admit what I really felt for him. I was scared to fall even deeper for him. But when these next two words left his lips, I knew I was done for.

I knew I had completely fallen into the endless void of Jess Marino.

"I'm staying."

And, here we go.

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