Forever, Yours ➹ Timothée Chalamet

18 | Glass Hearts

VERA

_

"SO, TOMORROW NIGHT'S THE HEIST," Avery said.

The hazy room was filled with cigarette smoke and the dying light of a setting sun, all four of us nearly tired out from our previous row of storytelling. No one knows entirely how it happened, but as soon as I walked through the door, Sam was already sprouting out tales of what happened at lunch. It somehow led to Avery talking about a stray dog he found in an alley, to Timothée talking about a quote from his poetry book, and an hour later we were all burned out.

But when it settled, so did reality.

"You're kidding," I exhaled, glancing at the floor, "I can't wrap my head around how fast this is all going."

Timothée and I were on the couch, cuddled (my gosh, I know) up against each other for solitary warmth in the freezing room. He was the one who suggested it, surprisingly. I was originally pacing around by the windows, when he opened his arms towards me and said: "Vera, come here."

And then he pulled me onto him.

And I also died for a second, emotionally.

But after the hour of storytelling, the two of us seemed to have gotten comfortable with the position, and now I had my back against his chest, leaning the side of my head against his as I spoke to my friends. One of his arms was resting on the back of the couch, while the other was on my thigh. I felt like I was floating.

"You have to, Vera," Sam said from his armchair, "once the heist actually starts, you can't let the speed of it all confuse you."

I nodded, shrugging my shoulders. "I won't."

"It's get in and get out."

"With some thievery in the middle," Avery added, smirking, "and occasionally some fighting, but that's not your end of the plan, Vera."

Fighting?

None of them mentioned fighting before. There was a getaway car, a distraction, a coordinator, but no fight. In that moment all I could see was the thought of my friends beaten up and bruised after something went terribly wrong during the heist. Where would I be if something like that happened? What would I do?

"Stop it," Timothée said quietly from behind me, "I know what you're thinking."

I made a point not to flinch. "No you don't."

"I promise that nothing will happen unless necessary."

"And if it is necessary?"

"Then it happens," he sighed, "Vera, we know how to handle issues like this, because they've taken place before."

Avery and Sam exchanged a glance across the room, nodding their heads in agreement. They weren't regular thieves, I knew, but they had involved themselves in vigilante situations previously. It's why they started the book club. It's why they've been training for this heist since the beginning.

"Remember when I said we scammed Bella's ex-boyfriend?" Timothée said, shifting his seat on the couch to look at me, "we never mentioned that it got rough."

I narrowed my eyes. "How rough?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because we got ourselves out of it," Avery added, crossing his arms against my chest, "we usually do."

"And if you can't?" I said, standing up from the couch, "am I supposed to stand there and watch it happen?"