Hidden Within

40 | alone together

I've never seen Devon's eyes light up the way they do when she first sees me in my dress.

Her expression slackens from the moment her gaze falls on me, eyes widening as her lips shape into a circle. I can't resist grinning as she halts in place, staring as if she's never seen anything quite like me before.

"Hadley," Devon murmurs in a breath, hesitantly walking up to me. "Wow. You look . . . God. You're beautiful."

"You think so?" I try to play it cool even though I'm nervous. I hear Mason and Kai speaking in the kitchen, their voices fading to background noise as I meet Devon's gaze. Our group had agreed to meet at her house before heading to school for the dance. Mason had been kind enough to give me a ride. Yet I can't think of anyone but the girl in front of me in this moment. There is only me and Devon, she and I, alone together.

"Your eyes . . ." Devon says in a daze. "They're as blue as the sky. Mesmerizing."

I study Devon, taking in her appearance. She's as attractive as ever in her button-up and khakis, which is very Devon in style. She's never been one for dresses and frill, tending to choose comfort over classy. Of course, she can pull off anything.

"Stop trying to flatter me." I roll my eyes in a playful manner, though the compliment leaves butterflies flapping around in the pit of my stomach. "You're just trying to get me out of this dress."

My teasing goes in one of Devon's ears and out of the other. She merely continues to stare at me as if I am the most breathtaking thing she has ever come across. In this moment, I suddenly understand that I am loved. It's clear as day in Devon's expression, the gleam in her dark eyes, the slight smile she gazes at me with . . . she loves me. It is written all over her face. The thought is thrilling and terrifying. To be loved by someone in the way this girl so blatantly loves me . . . I know I must be careful with her heart, as I have been the girl so lucky as to win it over.

I can't hurt her. Not without shattering my own heart in the process.

"I'm so lucky, Hadley," Devon whispers as she creeps closer. "I get to call the most perfect girl mine."

I snort. "I'm far from perfect, Devon. Trust me."

"You're perfect to me," Devon says dismissively. She wraps her arms around me, locking me in my place of comfort, my very own safe haven.

"I love you," I blurt. I'm unsure of where the words came from. I could have sworn I hadn't been thinking them. Instead, I had been feeling them . . . with every fiber of my being. Shock passes over Devon's features as she takes my sentence in. Studying her, I realize I mean the words. I don't think I've ever quite loved someone the way I do her.

It's not as if Devon and I haven't said the words before in passing, though I can sense that the way I have delivered the sentence is different this time. There is a weight to my words that has never fully been there before, a serious undertone that gives the three simple words a much deeper meaning.

I worry that I have been too blunt. Devon's silence frightens me into overthinking. Maybe I should have waited to say anything. Maybe I should have kept the thought to myself.

Devon's expression morphs into a grin, her eyes crinkling at the corners as her dark irises gleam with a new light.

"I love you, Hadley," Devon whispers. "You have no idea."

I've kissed Devon Parker more times than I can count on both hands, yet it somehow feels different when her lips meet mine. Her lips are warm and familiar against my own, yet foreign and new all at once. The tenderness and vulnerability brought on by our former confessions reflects in our kiss, bringing us closer. I can't seem to get enough of her, wanting more, more, more. I want to give Devon all that I am, to show her that I am hers just as she is mine.

Our blissful moment is interrupted by our friends, who must have entered the room while we were preoccupied.

"Oh, please," Mason groans. Her voice tears Devon and I apart, the two of us smiling against the other's lips. "If you two don't stop making out, we're going to miss the whole dance."

"Yeah," Kai speaks up. "It's not like you're not gonna be in bed together all night afterwards. Let's go!"

Devon and I simultaneously roll our eyes, sharing a knowing stare.

"Fine," Devon mumbles, reaching into her pocket for her keys. "You guys better let Clover know we're on the way. She'll be pissed if we don't tell her we're going early."

"Already on it!" Mason cries as she heads for the front door, waving her phone in the air. "Now, let's go get our dance on!"

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a/n: i am exhausted