Chapter 34
Theo
A knock on my bedroom door startles me from the laser focus I’ve had on the racing video game Ronnie boy created.
It’s finally out worldwide, and it’s wild knowing my good friend did all of this. His creativity is the reason so many people will have fun and make memories. It’s amazing what happens when you follow your dreams, and I can’t wait to find out what will happen when I do the same.
I pad toward my door, swinging it open to find Robin there with a … gift in her hands?
“Uh, hi,” I say, confused. “What do you have there?”
Robin and I are friends, but we’d never exchanged gifts for the holidays. Or were we supposed to, and I totally missed the mark? Shoot, maybe I could quickly order something.
“It’s not from me, calm down. You panicked quicker than Dale did when I told him I was pregnant,” she chuckles, handing over a rectangular present covered in pink wrapping paper and topped with a red bow.
My heart stills because I know without a doubt who this gift is from.
“What is this?” I ask, not tearing my eyes off the small sticker that says
To Theo,
It’s a little late, but Merry Christmas.
Love, Marcela
“My lips are sealed,” she mimes with her finger across her lips as she slowly backs away and heads down the stairs.
I close the door behind me and sit on my bed, my hands shaky as I hold the gift.
Is this a gift she wanted to give me before I broke up with her and it’s just getting to me now? Or….
Before I get lost in hypotheses, I rip the paper apart and uncover what looks like a red journal. Unsure what it’s supposed to mean, I open the first page, reading the title that says “How I Fell in Love with My Best Friend, by Marcela.”
And then everything quiets around me, except for the rapid beating in my chest as I read those words over and over again. I know she considers me her best friend. If this means what I think it means … holy crap.
I flip to the next page, and find a drawing of Marcela and I sitting on our bench. The words below are what take my breath away.
It all started when you were there for me after all that happened.
Next is a picture of us looking at the stars.
I found myself opening up to you when it had never been so easy to do it with anyone else.
After that is a picture of us sitting in a booth at Beers ‘n’ Cheers, laughing as we sit beside each other.
You make me laugh more than anyone ever has, and your smile brings me an immense amount of joy.
The next page is us in my truck, my arms wrapped around her, the day we went to dinner at her parents’ house.
The way you protect and stand up for me doesn’t go unnoticed, and makes me feel safer than I ever have.
I flip to see a picture of us on the football field, her wrapped in my arms.
I never realized how a set of arms could feel like home.
And the next image is a picture of me on the horse with Mason.
The way you love everyone around you makes me feel immensely lucky to be one of those people.
My eyes nearly bulge out of my head at the following photo, it’s Marcela on her bed, hair splayed on her pillows with her mouth open in pleasure, but the sketch only goes to her collarbones.
No one has ever made me feel the way you do.
The second to last page is a picture of me giving her a bouquet of flowers.
The way you effortlessly made me smile with your small gestures.
My hands shake as I flip to the last one, seeing a sketch of Marcela and I sitting on the bench at our spot, staring at the night sky with the words below,
Those are just some of the ways I fell in love with you.
I choke on a sob, my emotions rearing at the realization that my dream girl actually loves me back. In what world did this actually happen? Marcela is in love with me ? I get the girl I’ve always wanted?
I’m about to pull my phone out and call her when I close the book and see that there’s a sticky note on the back.
Meet me at our spot. I’ll be waiting there - Celly.
My mouth breaks into a widespread grin at her note as excitement fills my veins. I quickly get dressed, and within minutes I’m speed walking down the street towards campus, right to our spot.
It only takes me about ten minutes to get to the bottom of the hill, and within seconds, I’m propelled to the top. My eyes instantly land on her sitting on the bench. And just like that, it suddenly seems easier to breathe and I feel lighter than before, just seeing her for the first time in a week.
“Celly,” her name falls off my lips in a breath.
Her head snaps over to me, a wide smile erupting on her face. I jog the last few steps to her, and I pick her up in my arms the moment she’s standing, spinning us around as she clings to me.
I’m hit with her scent of mint chocolate, and I revel in the familiarity of it. I let it wash over me, breathing her in and relieved that she’s here. That she loves me.
We’re silent for a few minutes when I set her down as we hold onto each other, her head nestled into my neck while I cradle the back of her head.
“I love you,” she whispers, so faintly I nearly miss it.
I pull back and she lifts her head to look at me.
“Say it again,” my voice hoarse with need as my hand strokes her cheek.
“I love you,” she says louder this time, confident and sure.
I shake my head, in disbelief that this girl loves me back.
“I love you too,” I say, my eyes dipping to her lips.
We slowly inch our lips closer, until our breaths become one. Then I take her lips with mine, for our first real kiss. She melts in my arms as she kisses me back, this one different than ever before.
It’s real, it’s raw, and it’s full of love.
Each press of our lips against one another are unspoken promises and I love yous.
I’ve never been so happy, so full of life and joy that it hits me then how goddamn miserable I was before. When I was living my father’s life instead of my own. When Marcela wasn’t mine.
This is how I should have felt all this time, and now that I know what it feels like, I’m going to do everything I can to keep it.
We slowly part, her eyes flitting up to mine as we drink each other in.
“I missed you,” I whisper as I play with the ends of her hair.
“I missed you too.”
“Was part of it because I’m ridiculously good looking? I tease, making her giggle.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re so handsome, but no, that wasn’t it,” she shakes her head, a shy smile forming on her lips.
“Hmm, was it my ability to make you come more than once?”
Her cheeks flush and she smacks my chest. “N-no … but that’s a good point.”
She takes a deep breath before locking her gaze with mine again. “It wasn’t just that I missed you, which I did. A lot. When I thought back to our fake relationship, I realized that none of it was ever fake . I never had to fake being happy with you. And there was no way I could deny how much your kisses made me feel, no matter how much I wanted to play it off as nothing. I was so afraid of falling that I didn’t want to admit it to myself. But I’m done denying how I feel.”
“I’m here to catch you, Celly. I’ll always be here,” I say as I plant a chaste kiss to her lips before she pulls away to finish her thoughts.
“That’s exactly why I’m here, because I know you’ll catch me.”
“Always.” I smirk, loving the raw vulnerability I’m getting from her. While we’ve always been open and honest before, I can tell there’s a slight difference now. She’s fully giving herself over to me now.
“So …” she trails off, looking adorable as ever. “Do you want to get dinner with me?”
I huff a laugh as my hand caresses her cheek. “I want to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with you.”
Marcela nods as tears pool in her eyes. “Me too. Does this mean we’re real dating now?”
“Yeah, we’re real dating now. Even though you’ve always been mine.”